It's been a while since there's been a pizza review around here! Well, truthfully it's been a while since there was anything around here.
Hey though... as they hopefully will continue to be, rumours of my demise were premature. So, what better way* to shake off the cobwebs around here by checking out a well-regarded pizza joint in the east end of Toronto?
*for the record the answer is: no. There is no better way. All stamped and certified and everything.
Slowhand is a small pizza spot on the corner of Pape and Queen Street East, assuming the old location of the demised (not a rumour) Billy's Burgers diner. As of December (2022 here), Slowhand has only been open a few months, which I personally know because I had an interview there back in April before they opened. It was on the more memorable side of job interviews: noting my experience working concerts, the two owners and I conversed way more about bands and shows we'd seen instead of the actual job itself.
After all, it is named "Slowhand" as a direct Eric Clapton reference (Clapton may be a mega-asshole but that's great nickname for a guitarist). Most of Slowhand Pizza's offerings likewise have some kind of musical association (such as their "Mushaboom" pie). I didn't end up getting the job and even if I had it wouldn't have meshed with my summer schedule anyhow. However... in that interview they told me they checked out this very site you are reading now. Noting the significant and extensive history of reviewing pizza around here, they coolly asked I review them once they opened.
So! Here we are one 1/2 year later to follow through. Let the scribes stencil that I followed the "better late than never" approach. I was extremely fortunate that a dear friend and invaluable sometimes pizza sidekick joined me on a chilly Friday night for the occasion, and we split their Peter Piper pie with a garlic dip. I also got myself a beer because baby, it's/was cold outside.
Might as well start with the beer, actually. No bourbon and scotch though. The beer Slowhand offers is a collaboration with the extremely nearby Avling Brewery... these three collaborate options rather minimally described as "Lager", "Pilsner" or "IPA". Certainly a direct approach.
I went for the pilsner, and like its title this flavour is direct and simple. Very not a bad thing: terrible beers are offensive in how there is too much of something unpleasant and/or too little in anything resembling substance (*cough* Bud anything *cough*). With this Avling pilsner, you get that good initial barley hint but the rest is smooth and refreshing, lingering just long enough. Thumbs up.
Okay, enough making everyone thirsty for suds (damn you empty fridges everywhere). Lets get into the pizza. Slowhand is a hybrid of pizza styles: the Detroit influence is fairly obvious with the rectangular pan baked thing, but the other region of the formula is actually San Francisco. Not the Hilly City's pizza but it's famed sourdough bread... unique among sourdoughs supposedly because the foggy climate there affects the yeast differently. I've had sourdough pizza before (though I can't quite recall where. Botham's maybe?) but never in this particular style, meaning that Slowhand right off the jump is doing something quite unique here.
Comparing this Detroit style pie with their Leslieville neighbour and soulmate Descendant, Slowhand isn't quite as girthy. This here is flatter and more simplified... making it logistically easier to eat at the very least. The Peter Piper pizza is as you see above, with pepperoni, pickled jalapenos, dollops of ricotta cheese and a healthy drizzle of honey. This results in a nice mixture of multiple flavour elements: hot pepper heat, light creaminess to cut into that spice, salt and crispiness from the pepperoni and syrupy sweet to compliment that pork. As a combination of toppings its exceptionally done, and each topping matches the other in equaling quality. The sparse but dangerous peppers ooze with sneaky heat, the ricotta irresistibly light and delectable in texture, the pepperoni the right balance between greasy and crispy, while the honey doesn't stickily smother the multiple textures of the entire affair (beyond being problematic for us bearded fellas... constarnitt).
This is really good stuff... so good that the regular mozzarella is fairly lost in the stronger flavours atop of it. The sourdough nature of the bread tastes on the subtle side and likewise a bit dulled in the delectable crunchy edges of the Detroit style... you do get some of that tang more in the centre of the pie and it is quite differently nice when you encounter its presence. I suspect it shines more on some of their other pizzas that aren't quite as busy as this one.
Have to mention the garlic dip also. It's very strong with the taste and texture of mayonaisse, but with a very sharp garlic kick. Interestingly, it compliments this particular pizza very well... yet when using what was left as a dip at home for a different pizza, it didn't work at all. Can't really explain it... must be some kind of mystical sourdough thing.
Anyhow, le verdict. I would absolutely recommend Slowhand Pizza as a place to try, and very worthy of a trip to Leslieville. It gets a firm grade of 'B++' in my endlessly expanding book/log, placing them probably somewhere in the 20-25 range in Toronto (possibly wrestling for a spot with Revolver, for context). Perhaps the biggest compliment I can give is how curious I am to eventually go back. Any pizza I grade out in the 'B-ish' range certainly gave a good showing, but many of them (for whatever reason) leave me with little ambition to ever repeat a visit. The Toronto east-end proximity to me doesn't hurt their chances obviously, but regardless Slowhand is a pizza spot I without a doubt look forward to trying again.
A REMINDER... SINCE ITS BEEN A WHILE... THE GRADING SCALE!
A (One of the very best you'll ever have)
A- (Mind-meltingly good)
A-- (Super Stellar)
B++ (Stellar, but lacking the mind-melt "oomph" for an 'A')
B+ (Great)
B (Pretty Good)
B- (Good... imbalanced but still possibly worth a visit)
B-- (Solid)
C++ (Moderately Enjoyable)
C+ (Okay, Has Its Appealing Charms)
C (Decent but Flawed)
C- (Flawed)
C-- (Very Flawed)
D++ (Tastes Like Pizza At Least)
D+ (Resembles Pizza At Least)
D (Looks Like Pizza At Least)
D- (Calls Itself Pizza At Least)
D-- (Calls Itself Pizza And Is Lying)
F (That Sewer Juice Is Starting To Look Appetizing)
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