One recent Wednesday I happened not to be working any of my three jobs, or scheduled to play for any of my three baseball teams (summers are the busy season, baby). Faced with such an opportunity of free time... well there was only one true choice: pizza field trip!
I went out to the Bloorcourt neighbourhood here in Toronto with the intention of trying three pizza spots that all happen to be within of a few blocks of each other, the first being Levant. Levant is a tiny little restaurant that has received many accolades since opening in 2021, notably appearing 7th on BlogTo's "Best Toronto Pizza" list (take that particular ranking as you like... all good places on there but not having Napoli Centrale, Defina or Bello on there certainly raises an eyebrow from me).
Anyhow, for a pizza place to be considered among such excellent company definitely grabs my attention, and so Levant is a place I'd been intrigued to try for quite some time. They open at 4pm on mid-weekdays so I killed some time at the nearby Long & McQuade (I needed guitar picks) before heading in.
The interior is quite nice: small and cozy, colourful tiled walls, wooden tables and shelves... almost like a middle eastern restaurant meets a living room, meets a cafe. Levant is indeed a fusion of Sicilian and Palestinian cuisines, and the aesthetic matches the mission.
While their full size pizza options are intriguing (two different options on the same pie is a cool idea), they offer slices and so I elected to try two of those. The pizza I really wanted to try, their Crispy and Creme, sadly wasn't available... so I went for their shawarma slice (their most popular apparently) and their take on a pepperoni slice.
Starting with the shawarma slice... it definitely tastes like a shawarma all right. You've got the tender slow roasted meat (a mix of brisket and lamb according to the menu), sweet pickled shallots, a couple cherry tomatoes and a parsley pesto as your base sauce. It's a bit odd to eat this combination of flavours in this format: the style of this pizza is, as you can see, a thicker square... and so this is more like an open-faced foccacia sandwich with shawarma fillings. It is quite tasty and interesting, although the pickled sweetness dominates the overall flavour. There isn't much of the meat (on this slice anyhow) and it is a very bready pizza. The bread is soft and enjoyable at least.
Moving onto the pepperoni slice. Well... again this is a tasty slice and there's a good mix of gooey cheese, tiny pepperoni cups and the drizzle of honey does provide some syrupy sweetness. The tomato sauce here really is where the fusion of middle eastern and Sicilian food happens... there are hints of earthy spice and very muted acidity.
Throughout the many pizzas I've reviewed I've always mentioned how I value creativity in a pie, whether that be with topping combinations or overall composition. Levant definitely gets points in that department, as I haven't ever tasted a pizza quite like this before. The meeting of cuisines is indeed a successful one. However, while the flavours are unique there just isn't quite enough of them. Aside from a dominant element (the sweetness of one slice, the cheese in the other), the tastes of both slices seem muted to me... there isn't anything truly vivid or absolutely delicious.
Overall... this is good pizza but a Top 8 in Toronto? Not remotely close. It's extremely interesting and both slices were enjoyable, it's just that it feels like there's something missing to truly elevate it into the territory of fantastic. They get a point docked as well for not translating well on the reheat... it got very stale despite the best efforts of my toaster oven.
I wouldn't say "you have to try them!" but if you're in the area and craving a slice, definitely visit Levant instead of the Pizza Hut across the street. The uniqueness of the flavour fusion and overall tastiness of the slice (when fresh) gives Levant a solid "B" from me, probably enough to land them on the fringes of my Top 50 in Toronto.
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