Restaurant Review: Battista's Calzone Co.
BATTISTA'S CALZONE CO. 11745 84th Street ~ battistacalzone.com Instagram: @battistascalzone ~ Twitter: @BattistaCalzone Co-Diner: Tim Golem
Did you know that Edmonton has a calzone shop? And the only thing that they serve there is calzones? (Ben Wyatt would approve!) I heard about them on season five of You Gotta Eat Here! and was very intrigued. I was also surprised to learn that they have been in business since 2010 in the Parkdale area of Edmonton and have not appeared on my radar until now. So what is a calzone? Originating in Naples (the birthplace of pizza), a calzone is an oven-baked, crescent-shaped folded pizza. You may have heard other names, such as panzerotti or stromboli, and while these are somewhat similar to a calzone, they are not the same. You can't mistake the burgundy-coloured building on 118th Ave, sitting right on a street corner. I was excited to enter the shop and to immerse myself into the full calzone experience! The space is pretty simple with a few pieces of art on the walls and a general warm and welcoming feeling. I loved the garage door that can be opened to the street, allowing sunshine and fresh air to stream into the room. The kitchen is wide open and it's a straight-forward operation in which they do one thing well. Battista himself was there and I'm not sure if I've ever met someone more friendly and happy to connect with his costumers! I chatted with him for quite a while and it only made me more excited to taste his food. As previously mentioned, there is only one thing on the menu; and it's calzones. Nine different varieties, to be exact. Each one is made with homemade, tender dough from scratch. Battista prides himself on using high quality, traditional Italian ingredients - he doesn't cut any corners. From the vibrant tomatoes cooked with a custom blend of herbs and spices, to 100% Canadian mozzarella cheese, each calzone is folded to seal in the flavour and baked to a golden brown. And that's the specific thing that makes a calzone a calzone: it needs to be baked. Not fried. Of the nine choices I had to go straight for the Classico ($13.00) because it's the original. Your order is placed at the counter and then you can take a seat. It did take about 15-20 minutes for the food to be prepared but considering that they are creating each calzone to order, it seemed like a reasonable amount of time.
The calzones were delivered to my table on metal pizza trays with classic red and white checkered pieces of paper on top. Each one is served with a side of marinara sauce to dip into. Lightly golden and bursting with ingredients, I couldn't wait to attack the whole thing. The cheese was ultra gooey and the meats were delicious, however the huge star of the show was the dough. I didn't expect the dough to be as good as it was. Warm and pillowy soft, this dough isn't tough or cardboard-like the way that pizza crust can sometimes be AT ALL. Quite the opposite! Instead it's like a tender hug, blanketing the ingredients within. The dough is truly something special. I was also incredibly in love with the fresh and tangy marinara sauce. It tasted bright yet simple and was a perfect example of this classic sauce. I was dunking my calzone in the sauce and loving life. The other calzone that I had to try is the Giovanna ($13.00). This one sounds like the "fancy" one, which is why I had to experience it.
This one doesn't have any tomato sauce inside of it but you still get the sauce on the side. Completely different than the first, I loved the way that the aroma of truffle oil came through, elevating the salty prosciutto. Still incredibly cheesy, every ingredient in this calzone is quite beautiful. The dough was just as wonderful this time around and so was the side of sauce (although I found myself not wanting to use as much sauce with this one because I didn't want to block out the flavours). Of the two, I might say that I preferred the Classico only because it truly delivers that perfect pizza experience (in pocket form). Battista was so kind that he even made us a dessert for free, the Choco-hazelnut ($6.00), which was incredibly generous of him.
Yup, this one it just their incredible dough bathed in Nutella. You can't be angry at this thing because not only do you get to enjoy the warm, soft dough, but it's covered in melty Nutella and it has chocolate sprinkled on top. It's a simple happiness. I'm not sure why, but I think that I was more pleasantly surprised about Battista's Calzone than I expected to be. They really are doing something special that I don't think I've quite experienced anywhere else. This might have even been the first time that I've tasted a calzone made correctly and true to tradition. The restaurant's hours can be a bit tricky; they're only open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and only until 6pm. However, it's definitely worth making it work to try this place because the food is special and so are the people who run the place. Battista's may only sell one thing but that's all you need if it's done well.