In my (impossible) quest to try every reputable pizza in our fair city of Toronto, it is inevitable the journey will stumble upon a corporate restaurant giant or three.
This is why, if we're talking about Duke's Refresher, we have to mention SIR ("Service Inspired Restaurants"). You've likely never heard of this company in your life but may be familiar with their many various brands: Jack Astor's, Scaddabush (and their horrible pizza), Red's Tavern, The Loose Moose, Canyon Creek... and a now defunct Italian restaurant chain named Alice Fazooli's.
I don't think I ever went to one... but the downtown Toronto Alice Fazooli's had a solid run on Adelaide Street near John before closing over a decade ago (the same address, once condoified, briefly became Za Pizza Bistro... now it's a dispensary). Alice Fazooli's was one of those restaurant names that had wormed its way into the cavities of my memory, probably via some long lost radio jingle or it's "oooli" annunciation... thus how it sounded so familiar when I saw Duke's Refresher offering Alice Fazooli pizza on their menu. Small corporate world, eh.
Anyhow, lets talk about Duke's Refresher... of which there are currently two locations: one on Front Street near St. Lawrence Market (it assumed Jack Astor's old spot... really seeing a pattern here) and one on the southeast corner of Queen and Broadview (in the building formerly housing the Brickworks Ciderhouse and more famously The Real Jerk).
I wandered in on a Monday around 6:30 in the early evening... which to my misfortune happened to be after Duke's Happy Hour (bah) but even worse, well before their 1/2 price special on all pizzas from 8pm until the end of the night. Bah! I wasn't keen on waiting around for over an hour (had other things to do on this rare day off) so a pizza sans discount it was.
While waiting I took the opportunity to look around at the curious decor of the place: lots of false wood paneled walls, various signage, arcade machines in the back (seems like any new "hip/cool" restaurant has to have a couple of those now)... the very dictionary definition of a place promising good food, good fun and a whole lotta crazy crap on the walls.
Here from the feedbag-I-mean-Duke's Refresher's is their "Chef's Fav", which is their "Great White" pizza only with pepperoni added on. So... what is the "Great White" then? Glad you asked, theoretical reader! It's a grana padano cream as the sauce base, cremini mushrooms, a black truffle cheese (seemingly a Monterey Jack from Bothwell's, a cheesery from Manitoba), mozzarella and... strangest of all... brie. Yeah, brie on a pizza. Tres unusual.
Lets discuss what this pizza does right, which are a few things. The mushrooms! Quite moist and meaty in their texture (a constant complaint of mine is how mushrooms dry out on so many pizzas). They add to the already considerably rich and savoury flavours that dominate this pie.
That granda padano (parmesan) cream really is the prevailing taste throughout, which is good! Oily, cheesy and just the right level of sharpness to it. It reminds me of being a kid going to Olive Garden in the States, wherein I was only ever excited about the soft squishy breadsticks that came with a creamy dip very similar to this... that and that alone always excited me (much to the annoyance of my uncle). This crust is likewise rather soft and squishy, though lacking much else in regards to its own flavour.
Indeed, this really is a one-trick pizza... though it is a very good trick. It smells sublime when still fresh and hot in the box. Alas the magic does fade quickly from the second slice onward, once you've become accustomed to the mix of those heavy decadent flavours and the pizza has cooled down a bit. The pepperoni, while a smart addition (a needed reprieve from all that cheese) doesn't really provide much beyond some crispy greasiness. Decent pepp but there also isn't enough of it to balance this whole thing out.
I get a hint of truffle mixed in here (just enough to be a nice touch) and honestly the combination of all these cheeses on this thing make sense except for the one: the brie, unsurprisingly. Don't get me wrong, brie is a delicious cheese with a creamy dry flavour but it really only works on certain things (like with crackers or on a juicy steak) because it melts and oozes out so easily. It doesn't really work in a pizza setting because that dry flavour isn't particularly robust (compared to everything else going on here) and texture-wise it just quickly melts and blends into the other heavier cheeses here anyhow. Not a bad presence at all, just an odd move to have it here on this particular pizza... you hardly notice the brie at all, making me curious what the point of having it at all was.
Overall... a strange one to grade because of the diminishing returns. That first slice and a half was terrific (see my Olive Garden nostalgia) and I was thinking I'd found a weird winner here. By the final slice, the dough had gotten a bit stiff and those electric flavours had really lost a lot of that initial potency. Much like my ill-timed arrival between two featured specials, this pizza itself feels stuck in some kind of nether zone.
There are a couple of things I really like about it (the cream base, the mushrooms) but the rest of it is pretty forgettable and ordinary, with little utility once it goes cold. Still, I enjoyed it for the most part and points are deserved for its uniqueness.
It's a few long steps away from a pizza I'd crave going back for and/or recommend to anybody... but at half price (show up at the right time, kiddos) shared with some friends? You're dancing in the streets. This all feels good enough to get a solid "B-" from me. Plus, the crazy crap on the walls manages not to come across as too tacky (only somewhat).
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