It takes hard work to try and find someone who doesn’t like pizza. It’s just such a lovable food. Whether you enjoy the thick, fluffy, chewy, tender crusts, or the crispy, thin, topping-vehicle crusts, there is a pizza out there for you. What pairs perfectly with the hot, gooey mozzarella, the perfectly balanced sauce and your favourite fresh toppings? Wine. If I didn’t have to worry about health or nutrition, I could eat pizza and drink wine every night for the rest of my life and die happy. It’s that good.
When it comes to pizza (and wine), we can get stuck in a rut of ordering the same pie from the same place over and over again. But there is a big city out there full of hot, delicious pizza pies that are just begging to be put to the taste test. You can’t truly know what your favourite pizza joint is until you’ve tried them all. So by that logic, Stereo Caliente Entertainment is bringing to London, The Pizza and Wine Project. If you’re wondering if you should go, the answer is an absolutely YES, and here is why: delicious food, incredible drinks, a beautiful location, great people, a worthy cause, and the chance to have your opinion count. Let’s take a look at exactly what The Pizza and Wine Project is so that you can mark it off on your calendars and prepare your body for the delicious experience.
The Quick Details
Where: Dundas Place, between Ridout Street and Talbot Street
When: June 1st, 2019
What time: 3:00pm until 11:00pm
Ticket Cost: $10 per person and kids under 16 have free entry
Part of the ticket sales will be going to support Bethany’s Hope Foundation.
What’s It All About
The Pizza and Wine Project is all about bringing local pizza places (as well as a couple of other food vendors) and delicious wine to you, all in one, entertaining space. It’s also about letting your opinions count, because those attending the event can vote for who they think made the best pizza. So you’ll be taste testing delicious ‘za and pairing it up with incredible beverages.
The Food
Of course when it comes to an event that is all about finding out which local joint has the best pizza, you’re going to want to know that the players coming to the table are the best of the best. And, oh boy, does this event deliver.
The Root Cellar is the surprise pizzaria here, mostly because it’s not a pizzaria per say. Do not let that fool you. The Root Cellar makes seriously stellar pizzas that are going to have you questioning why they don’t just sell pizza since they do it so well. This local restaurant makes everything from scratch and believe in sustainability. They support local farmers by using fresh, local, and organic ingredients to create their delicious meals.
Johnny Rocco’s Pizza Wagon is a mobile, wood-fired pizza catering company. They bring delicious, fresh, hot pizza, hand-crafted and baked in a hot wood-fire oven to your party. Anyone who knows really good pizza will tell you that the hotter the oven, the better the pizza crust, and their oven gets between 600 to 800 degrees!
Italian House Pizzeria is a beloved London pizza joint. They only use real Canadian Mozzarella, source their produce from local farmers, and use free range chickens from Tillsonburg. When a pizza place can tell you exactly where their ingredients came from, you know you’re getting seriously fresh and seriously delicious. On top of that, from their dough and sauce to their meatballs and pasta dishes, they make as much stuff as possible from scratch.
If you don’t like pizza (are there real people out there who don’t like pizza?), don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Field to Truck Mobile Eatery will be serving up non-pizza Italian dishes that are seriously going to satisfy your tastebuds. This food truck goes beyond by offering fresh, local, and healthy ingredients in their delicious meals. On top of that, they use sustainable businesses practices, which is exactly the kind of thing that we love to hear!
With all of that delicious food and drinks, you didn’t think we would send you away without the chance to satisfy your sweet tooth did you? Coppa di Gelato will be at The Pizza and Wine Project, serving up their mouth-wateringly delicious gelato, which will give you the perfect ending to a delicious time. They only use the highest quality ingredients, like 100% Canadian milk, and natural cane sugar (and absolutely NO artificial sweeteners), to make sure that every spoonful is creamy and full of flavour.
The Drinks
If you’re not a fan of wine (no judgement here), you’ll still enjoy this event because there are a variety of tasty drinks available here. There will be three drink lounges: The Wine Lounge, The Mojito Lounge, and The Beer Lounge.
The Wine Lounge is going to feature a ton of tasty wines from all around the world. Whether you’re a red wine and pizza person, or a white wine and pizza person, you’re going to find a delicious wine to suit your pallet here.
The Mojito Lounge is going to be serving up some seriously tasty sangria, as well as fun and flavourful cocktails from Crafty Elk. Crafty Elk crafts seriously delicious cocktails that are made with real juice and natural ingredients, because they believe in giving their consumers the best, which comes from nature and not from artificial preservatives, chemicals, and sweeteners. You can feel good about just how delicious these drinks are, knowing that it’s created from great ingredients.
While wine and pizza is the perfect match, beer and pizza is an incredibly close second contender. The Beer Lounge is going to have four of London’s own local, craft breweries serving up their most delicious, cold beers for your delight. One of the local breweries there is Anderson Craft Ales is a family owned business that uses Canadian-grown barley and North American hops. They’re known for hosting beer and bike events, as well as beer and yoga events. The London Brewing Cooperative is another brewery serving up tasty beers at The Pizza and Wine Project. They are all about using local, organic ingredients and ensuring that they’re using sustainable practices. Forked River Brewing Company is the third of the four breweries that will be bringing you seriously delicious cold ones. This company was started up by three University of Western Ontario graduates, who had been award-winning home brewers. They came together to create flavourful beers for our great city. Last, but certainly in no ways least, come Powerhouse Brewing. If you haven’t heard of this brewery yet, don’t feel bad! They’re the newest kid on the block, but they’re coming in strong with delicious, artisan brews.
The Charity
Bethany’s Hope Foundation was founded in 1995 when a little girl was diagnosed with the Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD), which is a terminal illness. At the time, there was nothing that medical professionals could do and no hope for a cure because there was not enough research on the illness, and not enough funding to support it. The foundation funds research into finding a cure for Leukodystrophy, as well as research into learning what the cause is, as well as how to control it. The foundation also educates the public about MLD, and continues to be the beacon of hope that families and the children with Leukodystrophy needs.
They’ve put years and time and money into the research, and believe that they are right on the cusp of their hope being realized. For more information about the charity, and to find out how you can help, check out their website: https://bethanyshope.org/
The Location
The Pizza and Wine Project is taking place on Dundas Place, which is our city’s very first flexible street. What exactly is a flexible street? It’s a space that allows for seamless transformation from a functional road to the perfect event space. During the year it functions as a regular two-way street, and when downtown events are held, the road gets blocked off and becomes this beautiful, inviting area where people will want to stay and play.
If you haven’t had the chance to see it in person yet, you should get out there because it looks fantastic! It’s beautiful and is going to stay that way, as there is a budget in place to support continued maintenance and security there. Dundas Place makes Downtown London feel a little more inviting.
So mark your calendars for June 1st and head on over to join us at The Pizza and Wine Project, where you can dine on delicious pizza and help decide who reigns supreme when it comes to delicious, hot pizza, all while enjoying some of the most delicious drinks out there!
Have an idea of who you think will have the best pizza? Let us know! Click on any of the social media links below and tell us who you think will have the best pizza, and if you think wine, a cocktail, or beer pairs better with a hot, fresh, slice of ‘za! We’d love to hear your thoughts!