New Openings: Pizza Nostra
Published November 5, 2015 at 11:06 pm
The Grande brothers, Andrea and Marco, were born into the food business working at their father’s butcher shop (Grande Meats in Toronto) at a young age and have collaborated to create their first pizzeria called Pizza Nostra located on the border of Port Credit and Lorne Park. Nostra means “our” in Italian and the resto’s name translates to “Our Pizza” – their specialty is New Jersey style pizza and hoagies.
What makes Jersey-style pizza different from the rest is in the crust – notable for its crispy and chewy texture – it takes eight minutes to cook in Nostra’s stone ovens. The origin of the hoagie varies depending on who you ask but one thing’s for sure it’s an Italian sandwich of big proportions.
The Grande brothers make all of their ingredients from scratch from the cured meats to the sauce and dough used for both the pizza and hoagies and many of the ingredients including the cheese and meat are hand-cut.
Both Marco and Andrea bring years of experience working at their father’s butcher shop and their belief stems around small-batch and hand-crafted foods which are made with passion.
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Marco is responsible for the hoagie-making at Nostra and specializes in the artisan craft of curing all of the meats found on the menu (salami, sausage, and pancetta). Andrea’s left the family’s meat business to run his cousin’s pizzeria in New Jersey and brings his knowledge of Jersey-style pizza craft to the table along with his signature dough, tomato and hot sauce recipes.
Food Menu:
You will find a selection of hoagies some of which include porchetta (roasted pork shoulder, mozzarella, salsa verde), cheese steak (sliced rib-eye, mozzarella, American cheese, onions, green peppers, mushrooms), Italian (salami, cappicola, ham, turkey, provolone, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, hoagie sauce, mayo) and extra toppings are free of charge. They have six standard pizza’s on their menu (cheese, margherita, porchetta, calabrese, Canadian, and veggie) and provide the option to customize your own 14” or 16” pizza including a gluten-free option. The salad options are a refreshing change from the boring garden and Caesar and offer three to choose from: grande (mixed cured meats, greens veggies and hoagie sauce), Italian quinoa and caprese salads. Fried or baked calzones and a dessert pizza are also on the menu. You can also order from their selection of available slices two of which rotate on a daily basis with the staples being cheese and pepperoni.
Signature Dishes: The Canadian pizza includes bacon, mushrooms, pepperoni, mozzarella, tomato sauce, and get this… a maple syrup drizzle. Yum! The chicken parm hoagie is a classic favorite and includes a breaded chicken cutlet, tomato sauce, and mozzarella.
What’s Up and Coming? Seating inside (they are waiting for their benches to arrive) and possible outside seating next summer. Menu specials including Sunday sugo hoagie. Sugo is an Italian meat sauce traditionally enjoyed in Italy on Sunday family gatherings when there’s time to make the sauce which takes at least three hours. Nostra’s sauce will include lamb, pork, veal and pancetta.
Type of Restaurant: Quick service.
Seats: 6-8
Patio: No
Licensed: No
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