If ever somebody were to create an alphabetized ultimate directory of every single pizzeria in the history of human civilization... one has to figure "Zzavia" would be at the very bottom of such an endless list. Naturally I'm sure there is/has been some pizza joint somewhere named "Zzzzzz Pizza" (our pies are so filling they make you ready for bed!) but Zzavia has to be close behind that. Surely they've done this on purpose, no? Take away that extracurricular 'z' and you've got Zavia, which is an actual name in multiple languages (with varying spellings) possibly translating as "new house or home".
Background on Zzavia's story is somewhat scarce. Most articles I could find about them cite the exact same Streets of Toronto piece (word for word) about a former Gusto 501 chef opening up this little pizzeria on Bayview Avenue... with that original SoT article not even mentioning that chef's full name either. Perhaps 'Zzavia' translates as "mysterious origin?" "Pizzeria with dubious beginnings?"
I'm goofing around here obviously. However they came to be, Zzavia opened up their brightly illuminated boxy little space in Leaside late last summer and have been slinging out pizzas of various styles and shapes ever since. While their slice options are prepared and served in the rectangular Roman style, their full pizzas are made in the circular Neapolitan way.
I did not know they did two styles until after my visit, having assumed their Roman slices was their only thing... and while I like to be a completest about this stuff, even my madness isn't to the point of spending almost fifty bucks on two massive slices and an entire pizza. My actual paying job has been real awful slow lately, damnit! As such, you're only getting the square slices in this review, sorry. Hey, as a famous musician once sang, it's hip to be... frugal.
The inside of Zzavia is almost like an ice cream shop, or the entrance to a real estate opportunity... with its clean and shiny white walls and sparse decor or seating. There's a refrigerated pantry off to the side with shelves offering various drinks, salads and other prepared food items.
Feeling hungry after a doctor's appointment (I'll live) I went for two slices: their Bastacosi (directly above) and a Fun Guy (I mean Funghi) slice... both of which are vegetarian offerings. This was not by design! Simply bad timing on this particular mid-afternoon since they had neither a pepperoni slice nor their Patata available (rosemary potatoes with sausage, smoked mozzarella and caramelized onions... I'd have tried that for sure!)
Instead, we've got a Bastacosi to start with (roughly translating as "that's enough", fitting name for a simple pizza) with tomato sauce, basil, fior di latte mozzarella, a dusting of parmesan and some little marinated baby half-tomatoes for good measure.
One little touch I found smart: the cheese on this slice was in unmelted globs before I ordered it, resulting in the melt of it being quite freshly gooey and fresh after a brief trip in Zzavia's oven. This is a very lively tasting slice: there's a sweet acidity to both the tomato sauce and the little tomatoes (which are juicy and soft) with the shreds of basil adding to that sensation of garden freshness... while those globs of mozzarella cheese are near perfect in their clean, thick and light buttery texture.
A nice dusting of parmesan adds a nice sharpness as well, and the crust has a solid crunch with a light hint of sourdough. All in all, not a typical go-to kind of slice for me but I was quite impressed with how natural tasting all of this was. Pretty good.
The mushroom (I mean Funghi) slice is not as big a success. As you can see it's a bit more well baked around those edges, going from what was a pleasant crunch on the Bastacosi into too much of a gritty struggle here. Especially on a reheat, the edges of this slice dried out tremendously and were a rough go (luckily I had some hummus to help it along, but points to Sunflower Kitchen for that, not Zzavia).
Flavour-wise, it's a fairly typical white mushroom pizza offering. I would've liked an additional kind of cheese, whether that be a blue or something creamier like a goat cheese or stracciatella... because the layer of mozzarella gets fairly repetitive (and isn't helped by how dry and over-baked this slice is). You do get a tiny hint of a rich truffle flavour within, sure, but it's very faded and this slice really is missing one more thing for it to really work taste-wise.
Bit of a disappointment, frankly. It smelled amazing out of the oven and was tasty enough while still warm. Once cold? Very stiff and challenging to bite through, while the flavours are overall fine but also flat and singular. A shame.
How about a garlic dip? Zzavia offer dips for a dollar each, which considering several pizza joints now charge quadruple that... this be a bargain, yarr.
With this, you've got a dip with the consistency of caesar dressing (I was in fact initially worried they'd just bought a jar of Renee's and passed it off as a "garlic" dip). However, you get a distinct taste of raw garlic in here that I quite like, with enough gloopy creaminess ideal for dipping a crunchy chunk of crust. Maybe it is just a housemade salad dressing (it had a slight saltiness) but it's a pretty solid one whatever it is.
Overall! While I wouldn't say they're either re-imagining pizza or compelling their customers to do so (as their sign says) I will say that they make a quality rectangular slice, although getting one as fresh as possible is absolutely prudent. Their Bastacosi slice was truly terrific, the mushroom one very lacking and that staleness did not help the matter.
A shame I couldn't evaluate one of their full Neapolitan pizzas (I'm not made of airports) and so this review does feel somewhat incomplete. Perhaps sometime in the future I'll head back to Bayview Village and give that a try, possibly even write a blurb about it in another Grab Bag Edition of these pizza reviews.
For now though, considering the strength of one slice and the muted taste and other flaws of the other... I'm going to award Zzavia a weak "B+". The overall quality of the ingredients is there and I think the positives (you got me to seriously enjoy a slice with only tomatoes and cheese, impressive) really do outweigh the negatives. They are worth a try! I'll hold an actual 'for sure' recommendation until I try their Neapolitan offering though. To be continued it seems.... ooooooo....
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