Rosso Pizzeria

I remember when I first started University Da Capo was one of the first "new" restaurants that I went to with my friends. Heck, maybe it actually sparked the beginnings to this blog. Anyway, once Da Capo closed a while back, I wondered what would be replacing it.. luckily, it's replacement Rosso serves up pretty similar fare.

Rosso Pizzeria - 8738 109 Street - Edmonton AB

Walking into Rosso Pizzeria, you're greeted with a darker environment - the red walls and warm wooden tables make the restaurant feel more intimate than before. The U-shaped counter still exists in the middle of the restaurant, dividing one side from the other. And to be honest, it's a little high compared to the rest of the tables, as it blocks everyone's view from seeing the newly installed wood-fired pizza oven. Wasn't that oven supposed to be one of the highlights of Da Capo's reinvention?

Nonetheless, what is impressive is their array of beer and wine available. A vast display decorates the top of the bar, and there is so much variety to choose from. Pizza and beer... a perfect combination in the eyes of many, right? But if you're not in the mood for drinks, Rosso does have the Q water system installed, and serves the water free of charge.

If the drink list isn't overwhelming for you, the number of food choices available is comparable to the drink list! Our table spent a good amount of time looking through the choices on the menu, and it was tough to narrow it down because a lot of the food sounded great. I will have to mention that you do have to have a fairly good grasp on your Italian food words, as a majority of the menu uses Italian to describe the ingredients.

We started out the meal with the Antipasto Misto ($15): cured meats, assorted cheese, olives, artichoke hearts & roasted peppers. On our board we had prosciutto, and two types of salami. The selection and proportion of charcuterie meats to bread was perfect, and combined with the fresh, mild cheese, this was a nice dish to start off the meal before diving into the pizzas.

My personal choice for the meal was the Margherita Pizza ($13): san marzano tomato, fior di latte, fresh basil, because I feel that a good Margherita pizza can tell you a lot about the restaurant. It's a simple pizza that you really shouldn't be able to mess up. The red sauce was thin, which helped ensure the pizza wasn't too soggy in the middle. With little bits of cheese here and there and a sprinkle of basil, this was a simple, tasty pizza.

Next up was the Prosciutto Cotto Pizza ($15): san marzano tomato, fior di latte, cotto, mushrooms. The ingredients were heavier on this than the margherita, and the mushrooms added extra moisture, making this pizza soggier in the middle. However, I did like the combination of ingredients, as the prosciutto wasn't overly salty. For all the red sauce pizzas, you can upgrade the mozzarella for buffalo mozzarella for an additional $3, which I don't feel is entirely necessary, but to each their own.

Lastly, we finished with a white sauce pizza, the Rappini E Salsiccia ($16): fior di latte, rappini, local fennel sausage, robiola. I typically don't enjoy pizza bianca, but this one wasn't bad. I really enjoyed the stronger flavour of the fennel sausage, and despite having the unique texture of the rappini, it was a little stringy and hard to chew. The pizza dough was cooked nicely though, as it had a soft texture and wasn't overly dry.

For dessert, we took a peak into their case of gelato and were faced with a ton of different options. From mascarpone to mayan chocolate, I settled for something really different - halva. Halva is actually a dense, sweet dessert typically found in the middle east, but in the gelato form at Rosso, it was a sesame seed gelato. The smooth, creamy dessert was studded with sesame seeds and had a light sweetness to it. It was the perfect sweet finish to the meal.

But if gelato isn't your thing, Rosso offers up choices like custard and tiramisu for your sweet tooth. Being close to the university campus, Rosso is a great spot for a quick dinner with friends after class. The pizzas here at Rosso remind me of those from Famoso. Thin crust in the middle with puffy, crisp dough on the outer edges. The pizzas cool quickly and have the tendency to become soggy fairly quickly, so I would recommend trying to stagger your orders for pizzas, or request to have them come out at different times. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Manicure Monday: Pink Flamenco

May long weekend! Hope you're all having an awesome Monday so far - it's a holiday where I am, so I get to have today off to... catch up on all the homework I probably should've done a couple days ago. Whoops! Can't blame me though - the weather here has been absolutely gorgeous and I've been spending lots of time sitting out on patios just enjoying the act of doing nothing.

This week on my nails, I've got another classic OPI shade that reminds me of summer. Pink Flamenco is actually from the 2009 Fall collection, but its another one of those polishes I love the use over and over again. This polish is a hot pink with a strong blue tone in it, making it more of a bright purple-pink shade. The formula is smooth and full opaque in two thin coats - it dries to a gorgeous shine and levels itself out beautifully. I was able to wear it for 3 full days before signs of tip wear started to show - something to keep in mind if you don't like to change your polishes frequently!

A Big Thankyou: Lace Dress & Emerald Accents

I have a lot of things to be thankful for. The past couple months my life have been a whirlwind adventure - with school, family, jobs, etc. But one thing has kept me mostly sane - and that is this blog here! I need to say a big thank you to all of you that support me in this blogging journey, because so many great things have come my way. I've been able to connect with countless individuals throughout the world, and locally the support has been amazing. For those of you that are unaware, a couple months ago, I was shortlisted with a nomination for Yeggie - an award recognizing social media in Edmonton. I was nominated for Best in Food - and although I didn't win the award, it was a honor just being nominated with all the other deserving individuals.

So with this post, I thought it would be suitable to share with you what I wore on the night of the awards banquet.


H&M Eyelet dress (similar) (love this) | Shoedazzle Heels (similar)
Aldo Clutch (similar) | Oia Jules Necklace
Who knows where this adventure is going to take me next? All I can say is that I will continue to work hard and be thankful for everything I'm given. So thankyou, thankyou, thankyou - I cannot thank you all enough for being here on this journey with me.

xo Andrea

SWICH things up!

This past Mother's Day, I had the chance to preview the food that will be available from a new food truck here in the city this summer. SWICH food truck is going to be hitting the streets soon, and they're pretty impressive - they make everything from scratch! Literally everything. Bread, meat and spreads.

The lunch time pop-up event at Lan's Asian Grill was a great way to introduce some of their artisan sandwiches that will be available. With three planned sandwiches and dessert planned, the SWICH team started off the meal with mimosas and Bourbon Thai Tea.

First up was the Thai Ham Sandwich. Ham cured with lemongrass, kefir lime leaves, and fish sauce, shaved and topped on a fresh baked hoagie with tamarind mustard and a tomato. The enjoyed that the hoagie had a slight chew to it, but the star here was the ham. It was so tender and easy to bite into - not to mention the mix of flavours used in the brine marinated the ham perfectly and it wasn't overly salty. I would eat this ham all day.

Next up was the Thai Green Curry Chicken Sandwich, which was hands down my favourite of everything I tried that day. Between two slices of pillow soft pretzel bread was a smooth green curry deli chicken, pickled bamboo and green curry aioli. Seriously a huge flavour explosion with every bite - I'm not a green curry fan, but I loved this sandwich. Every part of it!

The last savory sandwich for the meal was a Montreal Smoked Wagyu Beef sandwich. There's now a producer in Southern Alberta that produces Wagyu, a smooth marbled beef, and SWICH is proud to be the only truck in Edmonton to serve it! After being cured, brined and smoked, the beef is shaved thin and served with a sauerkraut aioli and dry roasted red cabbage inside a ciabatta bun. The sauerkraut flavour was light, and each bite into the slightly chewy bun yielded a certain creaminess to it from the beef. The smokiness was apparent, but not overwhelming.

Dessert for the meal continued on with the sandwich theme with an ice cream sandwich. Lemongrass ice cream slathered between two ginger cookies - I was a little hesitant upon hearing we had lemongrass ice cream, but this match was actually perfect! The ginger cookies had a bold ginger flavour as they are made with fresh ginger juice, and had crispy edges and a soft middle. The combination was sweet and spicy, and a really great palate cleanser for the end of the meal. I can't wait to see what other dessert sandwiches they have in store!

After the SWICH popup experience, I cannot wait for their truck to hit the streets. They should be out by the end of May, with a lot of potential locations that they'll be disclosing in the near future. It's pretty impressive that they make everything from scratch.. That's a lot of dedication and hard work. Once the truck is out and about, make sure to give them a try. They'll impress you and your taste buds will thank me!