Fiazza Fresh Fired (Review)

This Thanksgiving, we are thankful for friends, family and the deliciously new Fresh Fired Fiazza. This past Thursday, we decided to indulge on pizza and pop at the newest wood fired pizza restaurant to set up roots in Ottawa's ByWard Market.

The atmosphere is refreshing, casual and cool. The menu is traditional yet unique with pre-made specialty pizzas, create your own pizzas and specialty salads. And the service is....well non-existent. Fiazza is what you would call an upscale cafeteria, but in a good way. Orders are taken at the counter where your pizza is prepared fresh with a variety of topping options and then put into the wood burning oven. Once your pizza is ready, you simply pay at the counter and find a table for you and your guests. The eclectic design of the dining area with wood seating and modern light fixtures adds a touch of elegance to an otherwise casual establishment. Orders are prepared within a flash, so you won't have to wait long to devour the delicious pies with your Harvey and Vern's soda pop or Kichesippi pint.

We decided to order three different specialty pies, including the Carnivore, the BBQ Chicken and the Sicilian (with added mushrooms). They were all delicious in their own unique way.

Carnivore ($9.95)

The Carnivore was covered in premium pepperoni, local spicy Italian sausage, locally smoked bacon, red sauce and Fiazza cheese blend. If you're a meat lover, this pizza would definitely satisfy your taste buds. The BBQ Chicken had a fabulous blend of naturally roasted BBQ chicken breast, a natural BBQ sauce and red sauce blend, roasted onions, locally smoked bacon, and Fiazza cheese blend. The BBQ sauce added a unique twist on the traditional tomato sauce. The Sicilian was topped with local spicy Italian sausage, roasted peppers, blue cheese, red sauce and Fiazza cheese blend. I also added mushrooms as I find they are a staple to any pizza. Additional toppings can be added to all specialty pizzas.

BBQ Chicken ($9.95)

Sicilian ($10.95)

If you're feeling something a little less "carby" and "cheesy", they also offer made to order Caesar Salads and fresh seasonal salads. Don't forget about their fresh bakery that carries daily selections from local bakeries, including vegan, gluten and nut free selections. 

Fiazza also offers gluten free dough and Daya vegan cheese for a small additional cost.

All in all, we were impressed with Fiazza. We questioned the casual counter atmosphere at first, but the quick service, delicious pizza and reasonable price won our votes in the end. Stop by Fiazza for lunch or dinner with friends or on a date with that special someone. 

Verdict: 9/10 - delicious pizza

Hours: Sunday - Wednesday 11:00am-9:00pm. Thursday - Saturday 11:00am-10:00pm 

Price: $ Very reasonably priced. Specialty pizzas ranging from $8-$12 

Fiazza Fresh Fired, 86 Murray St. Ottawa ON 

http://fiazza.ca/

Fauna Food & Bar (Review)

After a two year wait, the much anticipated Fauna restaurant finally opened its doors at the beginning of September. As a result of constant disputes with the landlord, Chef Jon Svazas had to continually postpone the grand opening of his restaurant. In the end, issues were resolved and Svazas was able to turn his culinary dreams into reality.

Lola and I had long awaited the opening of this restaurant and as a result, we went into our dining experience with very high expectations. All of the hype and publicity really set the bar high.

Kimchi Caesar ($10)

When we first entered the space, we were warmly greeted and seated at a table in the far corner, which was one of the few tables that offered some level of privacy between dining parties. All of the other tables were closely packed together. We did enjoy the atmosphere of the restaurant though, which boasted a trendy and contemporary vibe, with bursts of orange throughout.

Having said that, the menu did not please us in the same way. We were disappointed to see the typical menu options that are popping up in so many of Ottawa's newest restaurants. There was of course the typical 'Steak and Frites', the always-present duck breast and the once-original-but-now-overdone pork belly. There was nothing exceedingly original or different that caught our eye, with the exception of the Kimchi Caesar (which we of course had to try). It was an interesting spin on the classic caesar with punches of soy sauce, black pepper and kimchi.

Sweet Potato Soup ($5)

Beet Salad ($12)

For our main courses, we decided to order a bunch of dishes to satisfy our wide-ranging palette. To start, we went with the Sweet Potato Soup with pork belly bits and truffle oil for $5 and the Beet Salad with goat cheese, pearled onions, arugula, almonds and balsamic drizzle for $12. We then ordered four additional dishes: Tempura Skewer ($16), Swordfish ($18), Pork Belly ($15) and Mushroom Inari ($14).

Mushroom Inari ($14)

Tempura Skewer (1-$8 /2-$16)

The Tempura Skewer was probably our favourite dish of the night, which consisted of scallops, chorizo, basil, cilantro and sweet chilli. The mix of flavours worked fabulously. The other three dishes, however, were just satisfactory. Nothing blew us away. The portion sizes were also extremely small for the price of the dishes.

Pork Belly ($15)

Swordfish ($18)

To finish off the evening, we had to try something sweet. We went with the Squash Sticky Toffee made with pistachios, apples, Dulce de leche, creme caramel and ice cream. It was deliciously sweet, but we couldn't figure out how the squash came into play.

Squash Sticky Toffee ($9)

Overall, I think we went into this experience with ridiculously high expectations and as such, we were let down. We were definitely hoping for much more creative menu choices, or at least something out of the ordinary.

Verdict: 6/10...underwhelmed....great atmosphere, but conventional menu.

Hours: Sunday to Wednesday: 5:30pm-10:00pm; Thursday to Saturday: 5:30pm-12:00am

Price: $5-$18

Fauna Food & Bar, 450 Bank Street, Ottawa, ON, K2P 1Y7

www.faunaottawa.ca