Pizzeria Defina

My girlfriend and I had our first visit to Pizzeria Defina last night.  A new Neapolitan pizza joint in Roncesvalles.  They have yet to go live with their website and the only number available for them online says it is no longer in service.  That coupled with the fact that I can’t take a single review of this place seriously, I had no clue what to expect.  In short, very good.  Not life changing.  But very good.  I’ve learned in my adventures in pizza that it’s easy to make a good pie but incredibly difficult to make one unbelievable.  Defina fell somewhere in the middle for me.

They had a decent sized pie selection.  Both Roma and Neapolitan style pies, both done in their wood fired oven.  Caputo flour and San Marzano tomatoes.  We were told they flew in a pizzaoilo from Rome to teach them how to make the dough for the Roma pie.  Further on down the menu something caught my eye.  There was a small section with two pies under the title “fried pizza”.  I got excited as I’ve never had fried pizza.  Fried pizza is legit, though it may not sound like it.  Italian grandmas have been making this stuff for well over a hundred years.  Essentially you take a dough (in this case the Neapolitan dough), fry it in vegetable oil, top it and finish it in the oven.  We settled on two pies:  The Neapolitan beef carpaccio with arugala (their most expensive pie at $18) and the fried margherita ($13).  When the pies arrived I was pleasantly surprised as some of the photos I’d seen online didn’t have me expecting much.  Mind you, those photos were from week one and any pizzeria needs at least a good few weeks to learn their oven and calibrate their dough recipe to fit that oven.  The cornicione (crust) on the Neapolitan was soft and chewy (though not as chewy as say, Libretto) and the undercarriage had some great char markings as you can see in the photos.  They essentially lay beef carpaccio over the pie right before it goes in the oven and it cooks just slightly in the heat of the oven.  Great pie.  Carrie loved it.

Now, this is where we had two very conflicting view points:  the fried pie.  I personally quite enjoyed it.  It was incredibly fluffy, almost pastry like as again, it had been fried in vegetable oil.  It’s time in the oven was probably short because as you can see in the photo the undercarrage had zero char markings.  I feel though that this is calculated so as not to over cook the dough.  Again, it was incredibly soft and chewy.  I’ve eaten many pizzas in my day but never have I tasted anything quite like it.  That being said, this was a treat.  As in, I likely won’t ever be ordering a fried pie at Defina again.  Not because it wasn’t delicious, but because once is enough.  We equated it to a Double Down.  I tried it.  I liked it.  But I highly, highly doubt I’ll be rocking it again.  Mostly because the fried dough overpowered all of the other ingredients.  In short, recommended for someone into fried foods or someone looking for something new and exciting.  Carrie on the other hand hated it.  Didn’t dislike it.  She hated it.  She said all she could think of was a corn dog at the EX.  Valid point.  This pie is not for everyone.

So the verdict?  Great!  Pies were great and you’re getting them at a cheaper price than going to Libretto or Queen Margarita.  That being said, if given a choice of the three I’d take Libretto or Margherrita first.  But thats me.  I’m kind of a pizza asshole.  If you’re a casual Neapolitan lover or an expert in the neighbourhood and in need of a good, cheap pie you’ll be hard pressed to find much fault with this place.  Great staff, great pies, great space, love how the oven and pizzaiolo are focal points and the prices, for neapolitan pies in Toronto, can’t be beat.  Although I’ve got to say, the asshole in me was weirded out seeing Bud Light on the same menu as great Neapolitan food, haha.  A definite must try for anyone wanting a good pie at a good price.

ps
Sorry for the photos.  Low lighting + iPhone = bleh