Love Good Beer

Incendio West & Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company

Monday, May 18th, 2009 | Beer, Food and Recipes | No Comments

My obsessive drive to find the perfect pizza and beer led me to two Kitsilano pizzerias – Incendio West & The Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company.  Both of these restaurants are situated within a stones throw of each other and have both received positive reviews, they also happen to offer a selection of craft beer in both bottles and  on draft.  If I was making  the effort to visit one pizzeria , I figured I should make the most of the evening and visit both.  If I really want to find the best pizza and beer in the Vancouver area I will have to make sacrifices.  This particular sacrifice comes in the form of eating multiple dinners in one night – a sacrifice I am more than willing to make.

We started the evening at Incendio West.  Incendio West belongs to the Incendio Group which operates two Italian pizza & pasta eateries and Stellas Tap and Tapas Bar.  Currently one of Incendio’s pizza joints is undergoing extensive renovations after a fire caused damage to the kitchen and dinning room -  after learning about the fire I was not all that surprised to discover that the word incendio means fire.  Chris recommended Incendio’s Gastown location to me months ago stating that they offered great pizza and a good selection of craft beer.  I was saddened when he told me the restaurant had caught fire and would be closed for quite some time, but was equally happy to find that Incendio West was in full operation.

The beer menu at Incendio West is made up of bottled domestic and international beer – mostly light lager.  Their draft selection includes R&B wheat ale and pale ale, Shaftebury Cream Ale , Okanagan Spring 1516 and Pale Ale and Stella Artois.  Having never tasted R&B Sun God Wheat I decided to give it a try – it turned out to be a mild wheat ale and was not impressive.  R&B Red Devil Pale Ale proved to have a much greater depth in flavour, which paired nicely with a Incendio’s pizza.

I originally thought that Incendio West baked their pizza in a wood fired oven – I was wrong, they use gas.  I have no evidence to support that a wood fired oven creates a better pizza than gas, but my preference leans towards the wood fired option.  Gas may be capable of creating enough heat  to properly bake a pizza, but gas will never have the same authentic charm that a wood burning oven does.  The pizza at Incendio’s was  good – well topped with an appropriate amount of sauce and cheese.  My only complaint was the soggy crust, a sign of an undercooked pizza.  Looking around at other tables I found that almost all of the pizza lacked a slightly charred crust, which is a sign of a well cooked pizza.  Proper pizza cookery requires enough bravery to leave a pizza in a hot oven long enough to fully cook the crust, even if the pizza is starting to  char around the edges.

After feasting at Incendio West and a taking quick walk through the neighborhood and along  Kits beach we arrived at The Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company.  After spending an hour walking with hopes of burning off at least one slice of pizza, still none of us were hungry enough to sit down for a second meal, so we opted for takeout instead.  Takeout would give me a chance to enjoy a fresh slice of their pizza while saving the remainder for the next day.  Waiting for the pizza  gave me enough time to poke around the restaurant to see if they used a wood fired oven and to also take a look at their beer selection.  I am happy to confirm that Rocky Mountain bakes their pizza in a wood fired oven.  Their beer selection is quite impressive as well, offering beer from Howe Sound Brewing in both 1 liter bottles and on draft – R&B  Beer was also offered on draft.  Seeing a table with a 1 liter bottle of Howe Sound made me wonder why more restaurants don’t offer 650 ml bomber bottles.  A bomber is the prefect size for sharing and does not require the restaurant owner to commit to a full keg.  The pizza at Rocky Mountain was good, but although the crust was fully cooked, it was noticeably inferior to  Incendio’s Crust.

I have many  places still to visit in my pursuit of finding the greatest pizza and beer in Vancouver.  By the end of this summer I  hope to conclude my search – I gladly welcome any recommendations for places to visit.

Cheers,

Erik

Tags: How Sound Brewing, Incendio West, Okanagan Spring, Pizza, R&B brewing, red devil pale ale, Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company, Shaftebury, Stella's Tap & Tappas Bar, Sun God Wheat Ale, Wood Fired Oven

Cask Ale Sundays at The Whip

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 | Beer | 2 Comments

Two incidents made Sunday a strange day for me.  The first happened that afternoon during my soccer game.  I was subbing into the game when a spectator’s dog bit me on the thigh.  I’m not sure what I did to provoke it, but the dog lunged at me as I was running past it onto the field.  I’m still sporting fang punctures and a nasty bruise. How often does that happen? Had you asked me right then, I would have assumed that would be the strangest thing to happen to me all day.  I was wrong.

It was Erik’s birthday this week and the Wolfe family tradition entails going out for a meal together.  Tempted by the CAMRA newsletter, we chose The Whip to enjoy the cask ale they feature every Sunday.  Sadly, CAMRA members had already consumed the cask of R&B Red Devil Pale Ale by the time we arrived.  No bother, The Whip has an excellent beer menu and we were able to drink some tasty local craft beer.  I enjoyed pints of Storm‘s Hurricane IPA and Black Plague Stout, both of which were highly enjoyable.  Some undercooked yam fries aside, the food was also excellent.  I really enjoyed my Mexican chicken burger.

It was as we were eating that Sunday’s second strange incident occured.  We were enjoying our meals when a group of extremely intoxicated people arrived, taking a table near us.  They were no trouble, but I can’t say I enjoyed their company.  The serving staff quickly took note of their level of innebriation and cut them off.  I heard one remark “this is the third bar we’ve been kicked out of” only for the waitress to reply “this is isn’t a bar, it’s a restaurant!”  The group was allowed to finish their beers, giving one fellow the chance to expose himself in the middle of the dining room, perform the “windmill”, and place his genitals in his friend’s glass.  How often does that happen?

I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like it, I mean the incident, not the…  I don’t blame The Whip in the least.  Upon hearing of the infraction, the offending group was quickly removed.  The Whip’s staff even gave us coupons for a free pint and 15% off during our next visit.  We’ll definitely go back because the food, beer, and atmosphere were great.  Happy birthday Erik, you’ll definitely remember this one.

Pictures of our visit:

Erik and Holly enjoying their beers

The wife and I

Papa Wolfe

Kelly and Concord, they don't drink beer:(

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: camra vancouver, Cask Ale, Craft Beer, hurricane IPA, R&B brewing, red devil pale ale, storm brewing, the whip