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Review: An ode to pizza perfection at Gastronomy Gastown

There is pizza, and then there is pizza...

How do you create a satisfying restaurant experience?

There’s obviously no definitive answer. I know, it’s a very broad question — maybe a touch too philosophical. 

So much goes into a restaurant. The decor. Colours. The layout of the bar versus the tables. How a place is lit. Cutlery and plate choice. An open or closed kitchen. What servers wear. The drink menu. The food menu. The ingredients.

It’s a never-ending list, an agonizing amount of time each owner and team must decide on, all built on constraints of money, space and time. Changing it after it’s done? Forget about it. Budgets are budgets. 

All of these thoughts bounded through my mind as I entered Gastronomy Gastown in February on a Wednesday evening.

The place had been on my list for a while after reading VanMag’s review of their 24 Carrot Gold pizza. The pizza felt like an attempt to play into the worst trends on Instagram. Gold on pizza? These trends never fail to annoy me. But there was clearly talent on display in the pizza photo. I knew I had to try it. 

I try not to tear down restaurants. If I find a place I don’t like, and it’s a small, not-so-popular establishment, I won’t write about it. I’m not here to crush the dreams of hard-working people trying to make a living in this city. 

But as I walked in, I felt worried. 

The worry I felt was the restaurant’s design choices. The imposing sign out front, a black background with generic font did no favours, though the pizzeria sign certainly piqued my curiosity. 

Stepping inside, it immediately felt jarring. The almost plastic-like chairs, the simple tables, the white, red and black colour scheme, it didn’t sit right. It wasn’t a haphazard design, but it just wasn’t appealing. Others may disagree, but it just felt off. 

The menu left me disoriented. Pizza, alongside oysters, bone marrow, and fish crudo, beef tartare, lamb kefta meatballs, it all felt like the team had picked a bunch of their favourite dishes and threw it on the menu. Creativity was there. But it was missing a narrative, a story they wanted to tell. Their website says they focus on “elevated contemporary twists on classic dishes” with Italian influence. A bit too vague for my liking. 

As we settled down at the bar, we grabbed a happy hour pizza and a couple drinks, as the waiter punched in the order. 

You’ll notice earlier that I said I don’t do teardowns of small restaurants. But so far the review has been less than positive.

That’s because no matter how I felt about the design, the menu, the feel of it all, it didn’t matter. Not one bit. Because the pizza is, and I write this without a hint of overreaction, in the running for the best pizza in the city.

It’s that good. 

I should’ve known as soon as I walked in. A massive wood-fired pizza oven stood near the back, built directly into the wall. You could almost smell the fire in the air.

Putting aside the rest of the dishes, the thoughtfulness of each pizza was clear, alongside some memorable names. Fungilingus with preserved lemon cream, candied mushrooms, taleggio, spinach, truffle pecorino cheese and aged sherry mist. “Fig”ure it Out, with marinated figs, spicy Calabrian sausage, fior di latte, gorgonzola, confit red onions, balsamic glaze and pickled mustard seed.

The creativity and attention to detail lavished on each pizza were immediately apparent. But ingredients are only a small part of the equation. Pizza is defined by the dough, so how did it measure up?

Gastronomy Gastown pizza

Gastronomy Gastown Big Pep Energy. Vancity Lookout/Geoff Sharpe

We ordered the Big Pep Energy, with pomodoro sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella, chinese chili crunch, honey and a misting spray of sherry vinegar.

I’m not a pizza dough expert, but I’ve cooked my fair share of sourdough, leavened big and poolish, and fell down a YouTube rabbit hole of New York pizzeria dough recipes.

As the blistered, charred bubbly dough was placed in front of us, I instantly knew this was a dough handled by masters. My inquiry over it was politely declined — the dough master’s years of experience and specially crafted dough were not to be shared.

The first bite still lingers in my mind. Soft, airy and foldable, bouncing with air pockets, the crust had a complexity of colours rivalling any dough I’ve seen. A crispy charred outer exterior of the crust gave way to a light interior full of complex flavours. I’m not sure if it’s sourdough, but the fermentation taste is there. 

The combination of honey, chili, pepperoni and pomodoro makes you wonder why no other place combines these ingredients. Each bite highlighted a different ingredient. In one bite, it’s the honey, the other, the chili. In many ways the pepperoni was an afterthought as the other flavours. They were excellent but it was the dough that stood out.

At between $18-$29, these pizzas aren’t cheap. But if you come during happy hour, you can get a few of them for between $15-$18, which is an absolute steal.

The decor, the ambiance, the design, those things pale in importance, for me anyway, compared to the food. Are they doing something different and special? Was it memorable? Would I feel excited taking my friends here?

For Gastronomy Gastown, the answer is emphatically and definitively yes. There are many places making pizza in the city, but only a few doing it well. Gastronomy Gastown is one of them. 

I still am not a huge fan of their design. But I can put aside my feelings about decor and ambiance when it comes to such high-quality food. If this is how they approach their pizza, I cannot wait to try the rest of the menu. 

The quality of the dough, the creativity in pizza ingredients, the steaming beautiful pie as it’s placed in front of you, it all comes together in a perfect balance. Pizza lovers, pizza eaters and the pizza curious should all make a beeline straight to Gastronomy Gastown. 

Atmosphere: A bit industrial, but a comfortable space where no one is too close. A good date night if you want to impress them with your savvy pizza knowledge.

Noise Level: Easy to hear each other. 

Recommended: The pizza or anything that graces the pizza oven.

What I wish I ordered: The 20-layer lasagna, tiramisu (made from house-made lady fingers), bone marrow, one of their many custom pizza dips.

Drinks: $15-$18 for cocktails, $8 wine for happy hour and $10 featured cocktail.

Price: $$, pizzas ranging from $18-$29 with an average price of $24.

Other details: Vegetarian options including pizzas, wheelchair accessible, non-pizza dishes are celiac friendly but veggie options are limited. They also have takeaway frozen pizzas you can make at home!

Other places

  • Thank You Pizza is another place serving up excellent pizzas. They bring in a truck with a full-blown pizza oven, and park it outside Honeybees. Any of their pies are excellent, if a little less creative than Gastronomy Gastown.

  • Nightingale by the Hawksworth Group is a worthy addition to your pizza cravings, they make the list of Selected Restaurants on the Michelin Guide. 

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