Here’s what caught our attention.

#1 – EPIC KidZone

This is a model kids’ activity centre for the eco-conscious, food-loving family. Children are invited to plant one of 500 seedlings in raised garden beds. Representatives from Growing Chefs! were on hand to help my toddler plant a snap pea in a biodegradable pot to take home. We also got a packet of sunflower seeds to add to the garden. It’ll help us lure bees to the strawberry and blueberry plants that have just begun to flower.

Don’t forget to enter your name to win one of the 16 raised garden beds that are on display. I had forgotten, and now I’m tempted to return just to be in the ballot.

#2 – Abeego Food Storage

Beeswax is the new cling wrap. No, really.

Abeego is natural, reusable, eco-conscious food storage created with hemp/cotton fabric infused with a blend of beeswax and plant extracts. The fluid-resistant coating keeps food fresh and is easy to clean. Simply hand wash Abeego in COLD, soapy water and enjoy the long life of this breathable, plastic free innovation. Three styles to choose from: Abeego Wrap, Abeego Snack and Abeego Square.

Even Abeego’s cards were made out of the fabric. As I took one to go, I was told that it covers your opened wine bottles in a jiffy. Haven’t seen a business card this food-functional since Meat Cards.

#3 – SpiceWorks’ butter chicken mix

I can’t be bothered to custom-blend Indian spices now that I’m running around after a toddler, but I’ve been reluctant to invest in a mix from a grocery without knowing what it tastes like first. There were other exhibitors peddling butter chicken and its kin. SpiceWorks won the taste test by a green mile.

Happy that the list of ingredients reads like a page from a recipe book, as opposed to a chem lab. Bonus: no MSG and gluten-free.

We are so making this for dinner this weekend.

#4 – 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Program

Whole Foods Market has committed to rating all their chicken, beef, and pork suppliers against the respective standards developed by Global Animal Partnership. It’s like the SeaChoice of livestock: each supplier is rated between Step 1 and Step 5+, with Step 5+ being the most “animal centered”.

Every chicken, beef, and pork product sold at Whole Foods carries a minimum rating of Step 1.

It’s another positive step (heh) towards transparency in our food systems.

#5 – Lunapads

If beeswax is the new cling wrap, then cloth menstrual pads are the new cloth diapers. While Lunapads does not at all fit under the All Things Food theme, I just had to include them in my highlight reel. It was the only EPIC exhibitor I was planning to throw dollars at before I even showed up. Got 2 maxi pads with liner at the show, with $14 worth of enclosed coupons for use at London Drugs ($2 off) or their online store ($5 off when you spend $30+).

I sincerely hope that it’ll be easy to surpass the mental block of what washing these items entails, because I am sick of having single-use plastic against my lady parts!

Visitor Info for EPIC Sustainable Living Expo 2012

Take the time this weekend to check out this great showcase of sustainable products, services, and initiatives. Buy online instead of at the door to save yourselves a few bucks, too.

EPIC Sustainable Living Expo
Vancouver Convention Centre West
Friday, May 11: 1pm – 8pm
Saturday, May 12: 11am – 7pm
Sunday, May 13: 11am – 5pm

My favourite time to be outdoors in Vancouver is when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Our new neighbourhood is lined with aged blossoming trees, shaped with an artist’s precision by city stewards. The avenue that we frequent the most, from a distance, looks as if a guard of bonsais had been trained to rain pink and white petals on Marpole denizens.

The sakura zensen, or cherry blossom front, is an official weather pattern in Japan, where citizens emerge from their homes in droves during the fleeting Ohanami season. Ways to reflect upon and admire the sakura are numerous, but for many, it begins with a picnic under the blooms, often enjoyed with treats and tea. Celebrations can also linger beyond dusk, getting tipsy as the night goes on.

You can approximate this Japanese tradition in Vancouver if you know where to go. My top picks, in no particular order:

Nitobe Memorial Garden (UBC)

My shutter finger goes wild at this beautiful Japanese garden retreat in UBC. This year, one of the trees is laden with tags that people write on with messages to loved ones. It’s said that the well wishes will spread as the petals scatter in the wind.

Bike the Blossoms – April 28, 2012

Got bike? Follow the flowers with your cyclist brethren on the 28th. Your route will be lined with petalled trees, and vendors that you pass will sometimes have goodies for you to enjoy when you pause.

If you’re bereft of bicycle or not free that day, find your own viewing spot using these resources from the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival:

• Map of the most popular Vancouver viewing spots
• List of the viewing spots in bloom right now

The Urban Tea Merchant

The Urban Tea Merchant remains unrivalled as my afternoon tea service of choice, much of it due to its rotating collection of top-tier teas and the seasonality of its tea services. Their courtyard on Alberni is canopied by cherry blossom trees each spring.

The courtyard blossoms have already come and gone this year, but their Ohanami tea service, featuring several items infused with cherry blossoms, is still being served until April 30th. This menu ranks as my favourite high tea food pairing to date–it is not to be missed.

Sakura West Coast Tea Service

$30 per person (minimum 2 persons; 90 minute seating)

to begin
Tea Sommelier’s choice of chilled white tea

sweets
tea-infused macaron, chevron strawberry, chocolate truffle
edible spring flowers, Sakura! Sakura! tea-infused jelly, sous vide vanilla watermelon, green tea-infused melon ** LOVED THIS! **

savouries
open-faced smoked salmon & wasabi aioli with in-house ponzu jelly
miso-maple glazed sable fish wrapped in butter lettuce ** LOVED THIS! **
spring rice roll with honey & balsamic, shiitake mushroom and crisp vegetables
Japanese fish crackers, crisp soba noodles with tangy seaweed salad and sesame crumble ** LOVED THIS! **

My seasonal tea pairing picks for the Sakura service

Both of The Urban Tea Merchant’s Ohanami tea features pair beautifully with the Japanese-fusion menu.

Enchanted Beauty Tea: ”Sophisticated oolong tea leaves are handcrafted into a bouquet with amaranth and orange lily. This TWG Tea composition will bloom in the teacup.”

Sakura! Sakura! Tea: “An ode to spring, this fragrant TWG blend evokes Kyoto’s most celebrated season. A scattering of cherry blossoms and green tea yields a most aromatic and elegant fragrance.”

Where will you go for your cherry blossom celebration?

I’ve been emailing with course instructors Karen Ageson and Tessa Wetherill over the past few weeks (pictured above, centre and left). They’ve been kind enough to accommodate my barrage of questions about the course curriculum, so allow me to share their answers with you.

Where’s the instructional garden located?

The George Pearson Centre is a long-term care facility on 57th Avenue just west of Cambie. It’s home to 120 residents living with physical disabilities.In 2009, Jen Rashleigh (pictured above, right) founded Farmers on 57th, fundraising and negotiating with Pearson to cultivate some of their land into community-integrated gardens in exchange for programming with their residents. After that was all set up, she put out a call for urban farmers, and that’s when Tessa and I got involved.

View Larger Map

How big are the plots that the students will work in?

There will be 12 instructional plots on the southernmost end of the market garden. Plots will be 8 feet long by 4 feet wide, which is a bed width that will allow students to reach into the middle of the bed standing from either side.

What will students be growing this season?

We’ll be providing students with seeds for things that we grow in the market garden. There’s a list of these crops on our website.

There’s a whole host of reasons why we grow these crops and not others. We like having a good a mix of very dependable crops well adapted to our climate like lettuce, kale, and beets, plus some more difficult-to-grow, heat-loving plants that don’t like getting wet, such as tomatoes.

How much produce can each student expect to harvest?

The amount of produce coming out of each plot will totally depend on what each student decides to grow.

Can a student bring in seeds/transplants and grow something that’s not on the list?

Definitely. If someone wants to grow eggplant–another hot-weather crop–they should do that! There’s someone registered for the class that wants to grow burdock, which is a plant widely cultivated in Japan for its long root. We don’t grow it for market but I’m excited to see someone else grow it!

How do I register for the Organic Gardening Course?

We’re taking online registrations through the Marpole-Oakridge Community Centre. Email us directly with registration questions or payment plan options.

Organic Gardening Course

• Class meets at 6pm on every second Wednesday from April 4 – September 5, 2012
• $300 for plot, supplies, instruction, and season-long access to the garden

REGISTER ONLINE >>

[ED: As of this posting, only 4 spaces remain. Sign up soon!]

Where does the produce grown by Farmers on 57th go?

Most of our produce goes to members of our CSA. There is space available for this year. We give some of the extras to the farmers and apprentices, as well.

Every month, we donate produce to Community Kitchen, which is a program largely run by volunteers. They cook homestyle for residents of George Pearson who otherwise eat hospital food. There was also a juicing program last year, getting more fresh food into Pearson resident diets.

Last year, we sold produce to the Growing Eden project. Participating families sat down every Friday in the garden for  a communal lunch, which is cooked with our produce. It’s a beautiful sight to see! And each Growing Eden family takes home a box of groceries, including our freshly grown goods, when available.

Would you consider supplementing the CSA program with an on-site public market?

We don’t have a market stand on site. We are considering taking extra produce to market in a shared urban farmer stand at one of Vancouver’s Farmer’s Markets (Kerrisdale would be the closest).

Learn more about Farmers on 57th

Farmers on 57th runs a variety of programs besides the ones described above. I’m in awe of the care they provide to residents of Pearson and the Marpole-Oakridge community. Cannot wait to learn from their master gardeners and see how I can give back after the course ends.

Are you interested, too? Visit their site, follow their social feeds, and get involved.

• Farmers on 57th website
• Email Farmers on 57th
• Like Farmers on 57th on Facebook
• Follow Farmers on 57th on Twitter

Moving from our 28th-floor Yaletown apartment to a duplex in Marpole has its perks. Immediate access to the outdoors. A lack of white noise from sirens, construction, drunken Granville Street revelers, or party-loving neighbours. A huge patio basking in the sun instead of a shady, windswept balcony.

Headlining our plans for this space is a fruit and vegetable container garden. Regrettably, I have zero skill in the sphere of caring for plants. Friends who have seen my black thumb in action might even laugh aloud at the idea of me cultivating an entire garden plot. But I am determined to educate my family and I on the rewards of a backyard harvest, and perhaps to save a few grocery bucks in the long run.

Supplementing our container harvest is an organic vegetable plot with Farmers on 57th. I signed up for the Organic Gardening Course that they’ll run every Wednesday evening from April 4th to September 5th. While the upfront cost is $300 per plot, it works out to about $25/week for the plot, instruction, supplies, plants, plus your harvest over the course of six months. There are only 12 plots available but there’s still space. Hope you sign up, too.

I really should have stopped there, but I couldn’t help myself with this last one. We’ve been driving by the traffic circle at Heather and 64th Ave since we moved into Marpole, and one day, a sign was posted on it about Green Streets. Drove home, hopped onto the website, and volunteered to be the garden steward for this traffic circle. I’ll just be maintaining what’s already there for now, but over the season, I intend to identify the plants that I’m dealing with–maybe with your help–and see if I can find a couple of colourful lavenders to brighten up the set.

What are you tending this year in your green spaces?

I’m excited to check out this year’s Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival! 3 months’ gestation is not going to stop me from furthering my wine education, though my tasting notes will mostly be secondhand or drawn from the archives.

Watch this space for spotlights on the Chilean winemakers present at the Festival. Tell me what you want to ask them via comments here, on Facebook, or on Twitter, and I’ll make sure to pass your questions along.

To help you navigate this week-long affair, I’ve compiled and will continue to update my favourite Festival reports and resources below.

Official Festival resources

• Website: playhousewinefest.com
• Buy tickets online: http://tickets.vancouverplayhouse.com/winefest/calendar.aspx
• Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/PlayhouseWinefest
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Playhousewine
• Twitter: @PlayhouseWine, or follow the official hashtag, #VPIWF

If you’re attending Festival events, consider downloading the official app to your iPhone to take notes and favourite the wineries that appeal to you in the tasting room.

Festival tips and etiquette

• Video: Anthony Gismondi’s 2012 guide to the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival [Vancouver Sun]
• Navigating the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival [BC Living]
• Who to meet and what to taste at the 2012 Festival [Daenna Van Mulligan, Wine Diva / Wine Scores]
• Printable list of what to taste at the 2012 Festival (3-pager) [Daenna Van Mulligan, Wine Diva / Wine Scores]

Festival highlights

• Video: 2012 festival preview with Anthony Gismondi [Vancouver Sun]
• Video: Executive Director Harry Hertscheg launches the 2012 festival [Playhouse YouTube Channel]
• 2012 festival launch tasting notes from The Wine Thief [Wine Thief]

Reports on Chile – 2012 Feature Region

• Chile cultivates a new image [Vancouver Sun]
• 15 great Chilean bottles [Wine Diva]
• Spotlight on Chilean Wineries [Wines of Chile press release]
• Chilean wines sparkle at week-long Vancouver festival [Globe & Mail]
• Best Chilean Carmeneres at the Fest [Vancouver Sun]
• From the Tiny Bites Archives: Wines of Chile Supertasting
• From the Tiny Bites Archives: Wines of Chile 2009 photo gallery

Reports on Cabernet – 2012 Global Focus

• 10 Cabernet Sauvignon Picks for Playhouse [Wine Access]
• Best Cabernets, the Festival’s Featured Grape [Vancouver Sun]

Wineries and Wine Media

Follow these personalities on Twitter  for live commentary during the week.

Festival Reps

• @PlayhouseWine – official Twitter channel
• Harry Hertscheg – Executive Director, Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival
• #VPIWF – official hashtag
• #Chile2012 – Wines of Chile’s festival hashtag

Wineries

• Wines of Chile
• Wines of Chile [Western Canada]
• Anakena Wines [Chile]
• Viña Caliterra [Chile]
• Viña Canepa [Chile]
• Carmen Wines [Chile]
• Clos du Soleil [BC]
• Cono Sur Vineyards & Winery [Chile]
• Hahn Family Wines [CA, USA]
• Hester Creek Estate Winery [BC]
• Kim Crawford Wines [NZ]
• Nk’Mip Cellars [BC]
• Road 13 Vineyards [BC]
• Viña Santa Carolina [Chile]
• Sumac Ridge Winery [BC]
• Tinhorn Creek [BC]

Media and Oenophiles

• Anthony Gismondi – Vancouver Sun
• Daenna Van Mulligen – The Wine Diva
• Terry David Mulligan – Tasting Room Radio, Hollywood & Vines
• Kurtis Kolt – Cherries and Clay
• Jake Skakun – Cherries and Clay
• Rhys Pender – Wine Plus
• Andrès Caballero – Winemaker for Viña Santa Carolina [Chile]
• Bradley Cooper – Winemaker for Black Cloud, Township 7
• Sandra Oldfield – Winemaker for Tinhorn Creek
• Korol Kuklo – Tinhorn Creek
• Lindsey White – Tinhorn Creek
• Andrew Moon – Tinhorn Creek
• Mark Butschler – Tinhorn Creek
• Wine Access Magazine

If there’s a tip, link, or channel that needs to be added, let me know and I’ll add it to the list.

Drink well and be merry!

Perhaps this is sufficient reason for some of you to forgive me for the lack of food commentary of late. Morning sickness crested last week but I’m still reliant on Diclectin (you wonderful drug, you) to calm the waves of nausea. Meat’s tough to neighbour, let alone ingest. Doesn’t make for a very adventurous diner, but I’m optimistic that my appetite will be back in full force by the time we explore Chile at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival in two weeks.

On Eating for Two: Post-Script

Typically, pregnant women are advised to stay away from practically all foods of gourmet interest: unpasteurized dairy, sushi, raw or undercooked meats, caffeine, alcohol, and more. I was paranoid and obsessed with eating rules in those first few months. I’m thankful that the experience taught me many lessons on how to eat prenatally without paranoia. I will indulge in occasional sips of wine in my later trimesters, and I’ll relish the charcuterie, sashimi, and aged dairies that our local purveyors stand behind. We’ll also crack open our well-referenced book, The Panic-Free Pregnancy, which was instrumental in pinpointing the non-edible issues that one shouldn’t stress over.

Hope you enjoyed peeking at our little one.

One of the reasons I accepted Van Houtte’s invite to fly a Foodist to Montreal last month was so that I can see, first-hand, what the bagel fuss is all about. I came home armed with 2 dozen samples from St-Viateur, whose bagels are rumoured to be quintessentially Montrealesque.

Not convinced, I called Foodsters to pick up contenders at a couple of bagel shops for a good ol’ fashioned Bagel Smackdown.

We then served the remainder to our Foodists guests when we invited them chez nous for a Montreal-themed potluck. The results? Our local bagel purveyors stood up quite well to the benchmark from Montreal, to the point where our guests couldn’t identify the supposedly superlative ones from St-Viateur.

Here’s where to start if you’re looking for Montreal-style bagels in town.

Solly’s: eat ‘em au naturel

Look at the photo above and decide which you’d pick up first. We thought that the bagel in the upper-right corner satisfied the hunger in our eyes best, and our readers on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagr.am heartily agreed. The cake-like interior was moist and springy; this translated to the most enjoyable chew before bagel met toaster. If you like to eat your bagel fresh from the shop and without dressings, head on over to Solly’s.

Siegel’s: lover of cream cheese

Siegel’s was our top pick for a toasty treat. The bagels were a little too bland and yeasty to eat straight out of the bag, but get them crispy and slathered with cream cheese and they couldn’t be beat. The smoked salmon cream cheese that you can grab at the shop was pretty memorable, too.

PHAT Deli: smoked meat and benny bagel delights

PHAT Deli wasn’t part of Bagel Smackdown but it gets honorary mention here. It’s the first place I wrote about when Tiny Bites began nearly 4 years ago, and it’s the first place that made me fall in love with the bagel. I’m still drawn in every now and then for an Everything bagel with freshly made dill cream cheese.

It’s is also the first place that comes to mind when I’m in the mood for a bagel-style Eggs Benedict. My favourite style of benny at PHAT is chock full of tomato and avocado. The replacement of bagel for biscuit makes this dish a lot more filling than usual, so split it with a friend if you’re a small eater like me.

Where do you go for a bagel fix?

From December 10-22nd, I’m a media sponsor for Foodsters’ 12 Days of Christmas Food Drive. Follow along as I share what my top 12 food and restaurant cravings are this season (with some poetic license to boot).

The trouble with Vancouver’s sprinkling of Filipino restaurants is that none of them deliver. It’s especially inconvenient when organizing a massive potluck, which Filipino families have almost weekly. Party staples such as lumpia, empanada, pancit, and palabok are so tedious to make for a crowd that almost everyone will get a restaurant to do it for them.  With the exception of lumpia, which is made fairly well in all the Pinoy eateries I patronize, your typical restaurant excels in the making of just one of these banquet-style dishes. My family either winds up ordering from the closest location–and in the process tolerates some mediocrity–or gets a volunteer to run all over the city for the good stuff.

Next time, I’m going to suggest that we get Foodsters to do all the running around.

Josephine’s: best palabok

My cousin was one of my bridesmaids in 2006, and she knew that food from Josephine’s Restaurant on Main & 10th was the fare I’d be craving on my wedding day. Her favourite item to order is palabok, a dish of rice noodles smothered in a shrimp-based sauce. Done right, the noodles are thick and have absorbed the essence of the tangerine-coloured sauce, and toppings are varied and generous: tiny shrimp, slices of hard boiled egg, tofu cubes, scallions, roasted garlic, chicharron crumble, and a hint of anchovy. I hardly ever see this served outside of a special occasion, and when that occasion arises, she and I trust Josephine’s to make it best.

Cucina Manila: best empanada

I may be critical about the in-store service of Collingwood’s Cucina Manila, but I cannot fault the quality of their catering division. This is the place my aunts go for empanada when they’d rather not make it themselves. The addition of raisin, egg, carrot, and peas to the traditional pork filling makes their version of these small, deep-fried meat pies rank above the rest.

PinPin: best pancit sotanghon

Fraser Street’s PinPin is my top pick for Filipino eating in the city, so it’s not surprising that they make a mean pancit. The regular menu offers a greater selection of pancit styles than do the rest of the pack. Pancit Sotanghon, whose star ingredient is the delicate, broth-infused strands of glass noodles, is the one sought after for a more auspicious meal.

Where does your family frequent for additions to their Filipino potlucks?

From December 10-22nd, I’m a media sponsor for Foodsters’ 12 Days of Christmas Food Drive. Follow along as I share what my top 12 food and restaurant cravings are this season (with some poetic license to boot).

Bella Gelateria is going to be a whole lot further way from our doorstep next month, so no more impromptu, gelato-induced strolls over to Coal Harbour for this family. Thankfully, my favourite gelato maker is equipped with take-out options that will work for my cravings from Marpole and your holiday needs.

Take-out choices these days lean towards the seasonal flavours Bella has churned out for the holidays. I dropped by for a quick Q&A with chef/owner James Coleridge and to spend my remaining holiday budget on our top picks.

James, what makes your gelato different from the competition?

To make the best gelato, we believe in using the best ingredients–and we try to source them as locally as possible. We use certified organic whole milk from BC’s Avalon Dairy…the ones that come in glass bottles. There are no artificial colours, flavours, or preservatives. We use real fruit and ingredients that spend 12 hours in infusion.

What flavours are in store for us this season?

Candy Cane is the most popular choice right now (pictured below, with the Eggnog).

The Crème Brulée, Eggnog, Salted Caramel, and Pumpkin Pie are also available every day. We have a number of other holiday selections like Gingerbread, Chocolate Mint, Cassatta (candied fruit), and White Chocolate and Candied Orange, but those will rotate and therefore be subject to availability. We post what is in store on Twitter and Facebook.

Parking is really expensive around here: $6/hr on the street. What can I do if I want to take some gelato to go?

For $15 inclusive, you can get a half-litre of gelato in your choice of two flavours. $30 gets you the 1L box, ready with 3 compartments for different flavours. It’ll last for months in your freezer, but I suggest you eat it when it’s fresh. Re-use the container for a refill and we’ll knock $1 off.

Don’t worry about parking…if you call ahead or submit an order from Foodsters, we’ll have your container ready to go. Just park right in front of the store and we’ll run it out.

[Editor's note: Yes, the container is styrofoam. They've tried more environmentally friendly options and thus far have not found an alternative that keeps the gelato up to snuff. If you happen to know of a product that could work, drop James a line. He'd probably be open to testing it out.]

Holiday serving suggestions?

We’ve had our share of company, local and from abroad, stop by before we fly out to Canmore tomorrow for the holidays. Our guests sip on Christmas tea from The Urban Tea Merchant along with bowlfuls of the Bella gelato we have stocked in our freezer: Bronté pistachio, marron glacé (candied chestnut), and pumpkin pie. Having a 1L container of gelato on hand has allowed us to have an interesting snack available when drop-in visitors give us a 15-minute heads up.

So far, every guest has been wowed, and I’m hoping there’ll be buzz about Vancouver’s Bella Gelateria in London and Amsterdam once our friends fly back home.

How would you serve gelato to your loved ones at home?

From December 10-22nd, I’m a media sponsor for Foodsters’ 12 Days of Christmas Food Drive. Follow along as I share what my top 12 food and restaurant cravings are this season (with some poetic license to boot).

by michellerlee

Razor-thin crust. Top shelf tomato. Toppings you can count on one hand. Blast from a wood-fired oven. Table accoutrements of infused olive oils – no parmesan or chili flakes in sight. That’s my idea of what pizza from Naples should be like, and that’s what you get when you dine at Nicli Antica Pizzeria: my choice for the best pizza in Vancouver.

It therefore pains me to no end that Nicli has a strict dine-in policy. It’s not easy to find a parking spot near its location in Gastown, nor is it appealing for other diners to have us come in with an incredibly vocal toddler and ruin the cool vibe going on inside–even if Nicli does provide patrons use of the coolest high chairs I’ve ever seen. If you, too, are disappointed that you cannot take a Nicli pie to go when the place is full or when you’re simply not in the mood to be out in public, chime in with a sympathetic comment here. Maybe enough voices asking for options will convince the pizzeria to reconsider.

Luckily, the pizza scene for homebodies is not entirely bereft of quality. Main Street’s Pizzeria Farina makes their fare in a similar, if less traditional, Napoli style, and their to-go service is booming.

After our failed attempted last week to get takeout from Nicli, we asked Foodsters to deliver a couple of Pizzeria Farina pizzas to our door. The $15 Funghi, pictured below, carries a more weight and topping than the minimalist magic of Nicli’s (topmost photo), but it still exceeded our expectations of a quality pizza with mushrooms. Arugula runs along the bitter and peppery, so keep that in mind if you aim to try it. The greens were a welcome addition for my husband, who loves pepper in everything; I had to cull some greens from my slices to keep the balance on the tongue.

The $14 Finocchiona was a major hit. Fennel sausage, provolone, and spicy pepper danced around in my mouth and convinced my normally miniscule appetite to make room for a second serving. It’ll be the first pizza I’ll reorder from Pizzeria Farina–the Calabrese and Pizza Speciale are next on my bucket list.

If you’re going to call Foodsters to get you some Pizzeria Farina pies, I suggest you order close to to the start of service at 5pm or give everyone a heads up for when you’ll need it. They only make so much dough on any given night, and when they run out–generally by 8:30-10pm–they close up shop. Keep tabs on their supply via Twitter or Facebook so you don’t wind up with a pizza craving that’ll have to be settled with Domino’s cardboard crust.

From December 10-22nd, I’m a media sponsor for Foodsters’ 12 Days of Christmas Food Drive. Follow along as I share what my top 12 food and restaurant cravings are this season (with some poetic license to boot).