Review: Pizzeria Madre

This post is written by Matt, the Beer Baron

Pizzaria Madre

111 Wellington St. (Near Grey St.)

London, Ontario

519-432-4333

Like beer, pizza is one of those things that can range from merely adequate to monumentally fantastic depending on who is making it. Also like beer, margherita pizza has a limited number of ingredients (flour, water, tomato, cheese, basil, olive oil), so it really relies upon the right combination of skill and equipment to be great.

I am happy to report that the newly opened Pizzeria Madre at 111 Wellington Street in London is home to some truly great pizza — including a margherita pizza that I’ve been pining away for since having it earlier this week.

Pizzeria Madre — Italian for mother, and named in honour of the mother or starter dough they use in their dough making — is a bright and nicely renovated space with a small bar and a second room off of the main dining space.













While the decor is modern and welcoming, the heart of the place is the imported Italian pizza oven tucked away in the back. A hybrid oven running on a mix of natural gas and wood, it operates in the 750-900 degrees Fahrenheit range, which means it is capable of creating crusts that are both chewy and crisp — the holy grail of pizza crusts.








We started with a green bean salad with roasted local corn, arugula, pecorino, and lemon chilli dressing. I don’t know how long they will be able to keep this item on the menu now that the local corn harvest is nearing its end, but while it is here, it is absolutely lovely, light and crisp.



As mentioned, I had the margherita, which is what I tend to order any time I’m at a new pizza place. It is such a simple pizza, which means it can’t hide its faults if it isn’t well made. Thankfully, Pizzeria Madre delivers. Their margherita pizza has a perfectly chewy yet crisp crust, fresh and alluring sauce, and deftly balanced cheese and oil. (If you don’t eat the crust, there is something seriously wrong with you.)



The Clockwatching Tart ordered one of her favourites, a patata pizza with a cream sauce under shaved potatoes, rosemary, cheese and chile peppers. While the chiles were a little hot for her tastes, the pizza itself was perfectly cooked and wonderfully delicate. (The portion size also allowed for a slice for lunch the next day.)



If it isn’t obvious by now, we both absolutely loved Pizzeria Madre — and it is only going to get better. They are currently awaiting their liquor license and hope to have it in the coming weeks. They have two draft taps and plan on serving London-made and Ontario-made craft beers, along with other craft beer selections, wine and cocktails.

The only thing that could have made my margherita pizza better would have a local craft beer to pair with it, so there is no question at all that I will be back.








Find our more about Pizzeria Madre at https://pizzeriamadre.wixsite.com/book.

Road Trip - Bayfield, Ontario

Wow, it's been a while since there's been a new post on this blog! Since we moved last December there has been lots going on and now that it's summertime, we're really enjoying our new yard and garden. 

This is one of the things we've been spending time on.  Our house's previous owner planted beautiful perennial gardens so every week brings a new surprise.  

But last weekend we decided to take a break from our garden and head on a little road trip to Bayfield, Ontario.  Bayfield is a little village on the shores of Lake Huron, between Goderich and Grand Bend.  It's only about an hour from home.  We've been there on day trips several times but this time we stayed overnight at The Little Inn of Bayfield, located right on Main Street in the centre of town. 

The Little Inn is an historic property recently under new ownership and it was a perfect place to stay. We had a little room with a king sized bed on the second floor. Service at the front desk was beyond friendly and helpful. In fact, service was absolutely fantastic everywhere we went in the Inn and its restaurants and bars. 

The first thing we did when we arrived was make a beeline to the Inn's weekly Backyard BBQ, every Saturday this summer from 11:30 am until 3:30 pm or until the food is gone. It's all you can eat for $19.99 per person and the food was surprisingly delicious!  We had pulled pork, ribs, chicken, brisket, corn, potato salad, pasta salad, coleslaw, amazing biscuits, and even pie for dessert. 

We also ordered some craft beer for Matt and a bourbon sour for me.  The BBQ is served outside in a lovely back garden with plenty of sun and shade. The service was once again terrific, especially from the young man handling the grill.

Next we headed for a walk down Main Street, which is great for shopping.  And then we walked down to the marina and main beach.  There are three beaches in Bayfield and we had a lovely time swimming in the lake.

For dinner we headed to the Black Dog Village Pub. We've had lunch here many times and we were looking forward to being able to stay longer and enjoy their extensive beer and cocktail list.  Unfortunately, service wasn't quite up to their normal standards so we were only able to order one cocktail each with dinner.  

The food was fantastic though!  This cauliflower & quinoa salad was so good I can't wait to attempt to make it myself. 

After dinner we were still thirsty so we headed to the Ashwood Inn's bourbon bar.  This place has been nicely renovated and has a huge patio.  

We headed back to our Little Inn for one last cocktail in their wonderful bar.  

We had a great sleep and in the morning we were delighted to find that breakfast was included with our room rate.  The breakfast buffet had eggs, bacon, sausage, cold meats and cheeses, excellent chicken and roasted vegetables, salads and desserts, plus juice and coffee. It was an unexpected treat. 

Before leaving Bayfield we stopped at the cutest bird store I've ever seen. Porter's Hill has a great selection of bird feeders and seed, plus other great gifts. And the service is extremely knowledgeable and friendly.  We will be back here for sure. 

On the way home we stopped by one of our favourite places, Twin Pines Cider House. We've been here several times but were pleased to see they now they have a new tasting room on the main floor.  We picked up some cider and glasses and headed home. 

It's so great to have such a wonderful getaway so close to home. Bayfield is definitely close enough for a day trip, but it was very relaxing to stay overnight. We will be back soon for sure!  

  

The Beer Baron - One Beer, Six Years of Ontario Craft Beer Memories

This post comes from Matt, The Beer Baron. Find him on Twitter & Instagram @geekcanuck

The London Wine & Food Show might need to consider a name change, as there are just as many -- or more -- spirits and craft beers to sample as there are wines, which is no bad thing.

While exploring the craft beer section of the show, I ran across the friendly folks at the Side Launch Brewing Company booth.

After a nice chat with Marissa Begin, Side Launch Marketing and Event Coordinator, and her colleague and a sample of Side Launch Wheat, I thought about just how much the craft beer scene in Ontario has changed since I first tried that beer. Better still, I was reminded of how awesome that beer is and how friendly and welcoming the craft beer scene is. 

In 2010, I organized a beer pairing dinner called Hops for the Hospital in support of medical imaging technology at London Health Sciences Centre. With the help of Milos Kral -- now of the wonderful Milos’ Craft Beer Emporium -- my goal was to pick four of the better craft beers available in Ontario at the time. 

One of the easier choices to make was Denison’s Brewing Company’s Denison’s Weissbier, an award-winning Bavarian-style wheat beer, which has since then been rebranded as (you guessed it) Side Launch Wheat. 

In preparing for the event, I came in contact with Denison’s and now Side Launch brewmaster Michael Hancock, who couldn’t have been kinder and more supportive. Despite the fact that Denison’s Weissbier was an award-winning beer and consistently among the most highly rated beers in the province on Ratebeer, Denison’s was just a small operation and Hancock couldn’t afford to come to London for the event. He graciously sent along some glassware and his apologies, despite the fact that I had e-mailed him out of the blue and he had no idea who I was. 

So, when I heard that Denison’s merged with Side Launch in 2013 and then rebranded Weissbier as Side Launch Wheat and debuted their spiffy new cans in 2014, I couldn’t have been happier for Hancock and happier to know even more craft beer lovers in Ontario would get to try his beer.

Side Launch Wheat looks like a good weather forecast: sunshine with just a bit of cloudiness. From there, things get even better when you smell it and get notes of wheat, banana and spices. It is pleasantly carbonated and smooth and all the scents are backed up in the taste, the cloves you might expect and even a hint of bubblegum that Hancock says is a classic trait of the style. It speaks to how far the Ontario craft beer scene has come (and to my own affinity for darker beers and trying new styles) that a beer this fantastic hadn’t had a regular spot in my fridge -- a problem I've now rectified. 

The other three beers we served at Hops for the Hospital, (Black Oak Summer Saison, Mill Street Tankhouse Ale and Wellington Russian Imperial Stout) also tell their own stories of the changing and growing craft beer market in Ontario.

At the time, Black Oak’s 10 Bitter Years was one of the first superstar beers in Ontario. It wasn’t brewed year-round and was hard to find. If you found out someone had it on tap, your plans for the evening were set. It was also one of the first Imperial IPAs on the scene and now there are dozens to choose from each summer. While we would have loved to have it at Hops for the Hospital, we settled (albeit happily) for their Summer Saison. These days, Black Oak brews 10 Bitter Years year-round and it is pretty easy to find at the LCBO -- who knew how spoiled we’d be?


Mill Street’s Tankhouse Ale spawned countless knock-offs and even an inevitable backlash in one memorable blog post by Ben Johnson you should definitely check out. Mill Street was recently acquired by Labatt, which is representative of the times in itself.

As for Wellington Brewery, its Russian Imperial Stout is still wonderful but also downright ubiquitous. It has been easy to find those little red cans of awesomeness at most LCBOs for a few years now -- further proof of how spoiled we’ve become in just six years. In fact, most craft beer geeks probably move right past Wellington’s standard stout and seek out their many variations of stout in their Welly One-Off or Welly Re-Booted series. Wine-barrel aged, bourbon-barrel aged, milk chocolate, latte spiced… the list goes on and on.

So, thank you to Side Launch Wheat and the Side Launch team for reminding me not only of how awesome Side Launch Wheat is, but also of how far the craft beer scene in Ontario has come. Here’s hoping that in another six years, I’ll be looking back at how far we’ve come yet again.

The Beer Baron - Road Trip: Elora Brewing Company Edition

This post comes from Matt, the Beer Baron. Find him on Twitter at @geekcanuck

I don’t know if it is all the agriculture in the area leading people to appreciate local fare or just a happy coincidence, but the Guelph area (which is about 90 minutes from the Clockwatching Tart home base) is one of the best craft beer parts of the province – a fact we’ve certainly taken advantage of in the past.

In fact, Guelph’s Wellington Brewery is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a cask beer festival in late September, so the area has certainly earned its craft beer bona fides. So, it was no surprise when I learned that the area would be welcoming a new craft brewery, this time in nearby Elora, Ontario with the aptly named Elora Brewing Company.

At this year’s London Beer & BBQ Show, I got to try Elora Brewing’s Lady Friend IPA, which was much more malty and balanced than most IPAs and was clearly one of the stars of the show to me. At the time, they were still building their brewery, so another brewer was making their beer for them using their recipe, so once their actual brewery recently opened, it was with much excitement that we loaded up the Subaru and headed for Elora.

Build in an old hardware store right on the main drag of the adorably cute “downtown” Elora, Elora Brewing Company is quite beautiful, with exposed stone walls and lots of Edison bulbs, wood and steel for a vibe that is very clean and modern but certainly fits in with the vibe of a town best known for the gorge and natural beauty.

So, the town itself and the brewery – with its still gleaming brewing equipment standing proudly and brightly lit in the back in contrast to the stone and wood up front – are both beautiful, but what about the food and beer?

The Beer Baron - Craft Cider Cruise

This post comes from Matt, the Beer Baron. Find him on Twitter @geekcanuck

Despite not having too much of a taste for craft beer, the Clockwatching Tart has visited more breweries and craft beer shows across the continent than most beer geeks, all in the name of adventure (and being  good spot about one of my many obsessions). So, when I saw the chance to repay the favour by trying to win her tickets to the Toronto Craft Cider Cruise, I couldn’t resist. With a little luck and our thanks to Thornbury Village Cidery – who produce the lovely Thornbury Cider – we were off to Toronto to indulge our love for Ontario craft cider!

The Craft Cider Cruise took place aboard The River Gambler and before we delved into the wonderful array of Ontario craft ciders, we needed a bit of food and much to our surprise and delight, it was fresh, well made and delicious.

Trip Report - Akumal Bay Beach & Wellness Resort, Mexico

When Matt and I travel, it's usually not exactly relaxing. We generally like to explore new places like San Diego, Iceland or Nashville, and end up walking or driving a lot. Or we go to Las Vegas which is always fun and exciting but not exactly restorative.  

We took this picture right in front of our resort!

This time we decided to indulge our love of swimming and snorkeling and visit an all inclusive resort. We did some research and looked for places that had good snorkeling right off the beach so we wouldn't have to take excursions away from the resort to snorkel. We read about Akumal Bay, which means "place of the turtles" in Mayan. It's a sea turtle feeding ground and nesting area, and the bay is generally always calm enough for snorkeling right off the beach.  We couldn't say no to snorkeling with sea turtles so we booked it!

Road Trips: Winter/Spring 2015

We've taken several short trips so far this year but I realized I haven't mentioned them much here on the blog. So it's time to fix that!

Back in December we took a drive back to Lexington, Kentucky for a few days for Matt (the Beer Baron)'s birthday. He had a fantastic time at Beer School at the Beer Trappe where he tried plenty of beer and met some friendly locals. 

The Beer Baron: One Stout to Rule Them All

This post comes from Matt, the Beer Baron. You can find him on Twitter @geekcanuck

For St. Patrick’s Day, Ontario Craft Brewers are encouraging beer lovers to support craft brewers by drinking local stouts and seasonals. It is a noble and worthwhile goal but if you really want to raise a special pint, you owe it to yourself to track down not just a stout but one of Ontario’s amazing imperial stouts. Imperial stouts and Russian Imperial Stouts take all the lovely, malted notes of stout and dial it up to 11 with even more depth of flavor, complexity and awesomeness.

Half the fun of craft beer is sharing and the sense of community, so rather than just my own, personal preference for imperial stouts, I rounded up a group of eight stout lovers from my local beer appreciation group and decided that together, as a fellowship, we would find one stout to rule them all.

In the hopes that you have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day full of delicious, Ontario-brewed imperial stouts this year and beyond, we present our top-12* Ontario imperial stouts:  

12. Grand River Brewing’s Russian Gun Imperial Stout 8.0% ABV

There are no losers in this competition and Russian Gun’s No. 12 proves it. While it does mask its 8.0% ABV wonderfully well, it just came across as more stout than imperial stout, especially against the heavy hitters we gathered.

The Beer Baron - With a Little Help from My Friends

The craft beer community is just that: a community. While it is a community full of big beards, countless beer-based puns and people who would proudly try a pumpkin peach ale, it is absolutely a community and has always felt welcoming and supportive to me. Apart from the fact that I believe you could strike up a friendly conversation at a craft beer bar or festival easier than just about any place in the world, collaborations between craft brewers is another example of how strong the sense of community is.

While I can’t imagine macro brewers AB InBev and Molson Coors ever collaborating on a beer and what that hell spawn might actually taste like, I’ve been looking forward to a collaboration between my local London brewery, Forked River Brewing Company, and one of my favourite Ontario craft brewers, Sawdust City Brewing Co. for quite some time.

When the Sawdust City team headed down to London from Gravenhurst, Ontario on October 8, 2014 for Arts & Draughts, a beer tasting event in support of a local theatre, they stopped by Forked River and tweeted a picture of the two brewers working together to create a collaboration beer.

Now, after months of waiting, their first collaboration, a 9.1%, bourbon-barrel aged imperial brown ale called Deforestation, has finally been released.

Like the best porters and stouts, an imperial brown ale has enough body and character to stand up to barrel aging, which could easily overwhelm lesser beers. Deforestation has strong roasted malt notes and a nice touch of caramel and chocolate that balance wonderfully with the vanilla and oak of the bourbon barrel.

Unlike the oily blackness of an imperial stout – like Forker River’s own Weendigo, which is also barrel aged – Deforestation has a lot more carbonation and a luxuriously creamy head. Despite the fact that it is a pretty hefty 9.1%, it is a really approachable and downright quaffable beer… just be sure you are in for the night or have a designated driver before said quaffing.

With an enticing mix of aromas from the beer and the barrel aging process as well as a wonderful balance of caramel sweetness and both hop and dark chocolate bitterness, Deforestation was worth the wait and is further proof that collaboration and community and great taste are worth being celebrated and even…

*This post comes from Matt, the Beer Baron.

     

The Beer Baron Presents: Ontario Craft Beer Week - Road Trip Wellington Brewery

Post by Matt, the Beer Baron, introducing you to fantastic craft beer from Canada and around the world.

While every week is craft beer week in our house, this week (June 13-21) makes it official thanks to Ontario Craft Beer Week. Leading up to this week, I’d been patiently waiting obsessively checking the LCBO app to see if Wellington Brewery’s Chocolate Milk Stout had made it to my local store – but to no avail.

As it turned out, the perfect storm of Ontario Craft Beer Week, stunning weekend weather, my longing for Chocolate Milk Stout and Wellington’s announcement that they would also have two special IPAs available at their brewery store meant one thing: