Diverso by Ferraro

One of my favourite things is waking up late and heading to a local pizzeria with the lady for an afternoon of pies and beers.  After which the conversation inevitably leads to “should we have one more beer?” to which the answer is always yes.  Such a day went down a couple weekends ago at Diverso by Ferraro.  Diverso by Ferraro is the gas oven sister restaurant to the wood fired Ferraro 502 on Eglinton.  It was a slow lunch on a bone chillingly cold day which worked in our favour as we got to chat with the manager Robert Chee who was a super nice guy.  

Robert told us they do a single day ferment for their pies and cook them in a gas oven with a stone floor.  Both of these facts were evident and certainly not in a bad way.  From the few photos and reviews I’d seen online I was expecting a thin crust pie but that’s not what we got.  Those of you who read this blog know I’m not crazy about thin pies so I was excited by what I saw.  We ordered the Pizza Calabrese (Tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy hot sausage, fire roasted onions, hot peppers) and the Pizza Portobello (Tomato sauce, mozzarella, gorgonzola, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, portobello mushrooms).  The Portobello in particular surprised me in it's char and overall look.  Not leopard spotted like you might find in a wood fired oven but great, dark, bubbled char on the crust that really gave credence to the quality of the pie.  There was a touch of stray flour on the end crust but nothing too bad. The pies did lack a bit of the chew and the more complex flavour that comes with a longer fermentation but again, all things considering I was quite impressed.  It served it’s purpose. It was a crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and a sturdy vehicle for the toppings.  

The tomato sauce was simple; just tomatoes, salt and pepper.  I love a good but understated sauce.  It was there, it was tasty, but it wasn’t making a sloppy mess of my pies.  The Calabrese pie was my favourite.  Very spicy but not too much so, with a nice touch of acidity from the hot peppers.  Also, onions and sausage are just one of the best combinations in my book.  The cheese seemed to be your standard issue, utilitarian mozzarella but was stretchy and helped hold the toppings together.  

The pie itself seemed to be the size of a Neapolitan pie, roughly 11 or 12 inches, though it was thicker and sturdier.  My point being, for such a small pie the toppings were cut very large.  Almost half inch cuts of sausage, long and thick julienned red pepper, giant artichoke hearts, massive pieces of mushroom.  Though the crumb of the pie was sturdy enough to keep most of the pie together it was rather top heavy.  I found myself placing fallen toppings back on my pie throughout the meal.  That was really my only complaint.  Flavour wise it was all there and I really enjoyed these pies.  

Diverso fills a much needed gap for me with Toronto pizza.  In fact, it’s tough to classify.  It’s obviously not Neapolitan or Roman style.  It isn’t the thin crust “authentic” Italian you can get almost anywhere that advertises they do pizza.  It also isn’t thick crust take out pizza.  It’s authentic, at home style Italian pizza done in a restaurant.  I realize that’s not so much a classification as it is a description so I’m inclined to call it neo-neapolitan.  Small, single serving pies with great char but done in an electric oven and with a thicker crumb.  Also, the prices were great.  $13 for almost every pie on the menu.  You can’t get a margherita in most joints for that much.  Neo-neapolitan pies and Diverso by Ferraro - definitely worth a visit.       

PS
Their chili oil is effing amazing. That is all.