June 3 , 2007

Everybody eats pizza. And everybody has an opinion about what makes a good pizza. Opinions that may be too strong at times. Any discussion of who makes the best pizza seems to quickly degenerate into a standoff between the pizza purists who insist that pizza is not worth eating unless purchased at dusk from a one-armed street vendor in Napoli and people who would rather order at Pizza Hut than eat thin crust.

In my view, pizza, more than many other foods, is very much a matter of personal taste. From its humble Neapolitan origins it has become perhaps the most global of snack foods. I've eaten it deep-dish style with corn and octopus in Taiwan and thin crust topped with little frites allumette in Portugal. For convenience sake, we can divide pizza in Montreal into two families,  American-style and Italian-style.

Most of the pizza offered up in Montreal is American-style pizza and most of it is pretty forgettable. American-style pizza covers a gamut of styles and regional variations. It can be deep dish or hand tossed and is  characterized by a thicker crust, the liberal use of toppings (especially cheese and tomato sauce) and the fact that pretty much anything can be put on it.  Italian-style pizza is loosely based on the Neapolitan method which mandates the use of high-gluten flour and short baking times at extremely high temperatures. It is characterized by a crispy yet elastic thin crust and the conservative  use of  traditional toppings, including herbs such as basil, not commonly found on American-style pizza. 

Personally, I prefer a good Neapolitan-style pizza over anything else. If it is made correctly it is simply divine. However, an average Italian-style pizza (and it is easy to get wrong) is much more difficult to stomach than an average American-style pizza, in which deficiencies in the dough or cooking can be covered up by the more liberal use of toppings.

Montreal has a few good purveyors  of pizza, but not nearly as many as you would expect to find in a city that fancies itself as a world class food destination. What is most surprising is that there are so few places that stand out from the crowd. Here are, in my humble opinion, the best of Montreal and some high profile places to avoid.

Bottega
65 St. Zotique E.
514.277.8104

In my opinion, this is the best pizza in Montreal and would not be out of its league in an Italian pizzeria. I have eaten here at least once a month since it opened. The crust is amazing. Crispy on the outside, and soft and buttery on the inside, the Neapolitan trained pizzaioli at Bottega use a wood-fired brick oven to produce thin crust pizza that is crispy and pliable at the same time and lightly topped with the fresh, flavor-packed ingredients. The list of pizzas includes a number of the traditional pizze you find on most pizzeria menus in Italy. For authenticity it can't be beat. Bottega also has a top notch selection of sfizi (small appetizers) including the best arancina I have had in Montreal. On the downside, the service is often uneven and a pizza here costs about twice as much as it would in Italy (or is just half the size-depending on your perspective).

Amelio's
201 Milton
514.845.8396

Amelio's is a McGill ghetto institution and a regular on my dance card (I lived two blocks away for about 7 years). This is American-style pizza at its best and the only American-style joint in Montreal that really shines. These hand-tossed pizzas are baked in an electric oven and the philosopy is to go heavy on the sauce, cheese and toppings. The 5-cheese white pizza is a crowd pleaser and the italian sausage is another favorite. A good vegetarian pizza also makes Amelio's stand out from the crowd. Amelio's is also a BYOW which makes it one of the cheaper dining options around. True story: in my university days I used to go to Amelio's with a group of friends every week (what we called the "Diner des Cons" although we never invited anybody else) and the objective was always to bring the funniest wine (name, origin or combination thereof) under $13/liter. Three of us once drank a box of wine over dinner. Classy! I'm pretty sure they hated us, but they were always nice. The downside is that they don't take reservations and you can pretty much always expect to stand in line.

Prato
3891 St. Laurent
514.285.1616

 Prato gets an honourable mention for its Italian-style pizza cooked in a coal-fired brick oven. Prato, which has a number of supporters, serves up a large selection of generously sized pizze, including some with innovative ingredients (such as that Montreal favorite--smoked meat). The service is friendly and the atmosphere is cozy, especially on a cold winter night. Personally, I don't think the pizza is really special, but if you can't get into Bottega (you are not alone) this is a good second choice.

Il Focolaio
1223 Philips Square
514.879.1045

They deliver downtown and a lot of my co-workers swear by this Italian-style pizza. I find it fairly ordinary--perhaps a notch below Prato (both in terms of the pizza and the atmosphere of the restaurant). I should note that a lot of my co-workers would probably tuck into a cardboard box if you smothered it in ketchup, but this cannot be held against Il Focolaio.

F&F Pizza (Fresh & Fabulous)
163 Bernard W.
514.279.8228

These purveyors of American-style pizza are heavy on image with slick design and marketing as well as a menu with some interesting pies including the BAP (Angus beef with brie) and the Carbonara (exactly what you would imagine). My experience here has been uneven. When it is done right it is a solid American-style pizza, but I have had a few too many pizzas with a flat crust and a soggy center. F&F appears to be actively attempting to franchise so a location may be opening near you soon (very soon if you live in Westmount). Warning--this is take-out only.

Pizzeria Napoletana
189 Dante E.
514.279.8228

One of the more intriguing mysteries of the Montreal food scene is that otherwise rational people will insist that Pizzeria Napoletana serves the best pizza in Montreal. Billing itself as seling "real Italian pizza as made in Napoli", the pizza here is about as Neapolitan as a Big Mac, although you may fancy a visit if you need a frisbee. It is really, truly not good. Do yourself a favour and walk the four blocks to Bottega.

Pizzaiolle
4801 St-Denis (and other locations)
514.847.0184

This Montreal-based chain of pizza restaurants make Italian-style pizza in wood-fired brick ovens. The menu includes the traditional Italian favourites as well as a couple of innovative offerings (chicken, sour cream and coriander). The St-Denis location, which is housed in old diner, is a nice place to have a meal if you are in the neighbourhood. The pizza is unexceptional but not bad by any means. The best of the artisanal pizza chains in Quebec.

Piazzetta
4097 St-Denis (and other locations)
514.847.0184

Piazzetta is a Quebec-based chain of restaurants serving a mish-mash of purportedly Italian food, including a mind numbing selection of an extremely thin crust pizza that looks a bit like a giant cracker and vaguely resembles Lazio-style pizza. While the restaurant has its adherents, I recommend avoiding the pizza, perhaps even at all costs.

Pizzedelic
3509 St. Laurent (and other locations)
514.282.6784

Pizzedelic is another Quebec-based chain that dishes out square Italian-style pizza. It has one of the most innovative menus in Montreal, including a pizza with shrimp and curry sauce. But, sadly, the execution is usually desultory and the pizza that looks so good on a menu is more often than not a disappointment on the plate. Drawback number two: being square, it cannot be used as a frisbee.