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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Cappza's Pizza- Waterville ME

http://www.cappzaspizza.com/













For the last few weeks I've been dieting, and I have managed to lose almost ten pounds. This all came to a sudden end today when I decided to eat at Cappza's Pizza on Waterville Commons Drive in Waterville Maine. Four pounds later I am happy to give you a report on the best pizza you can find in Central Maine. 

Simone and I decided to try and phone our order in so it would be ready when we arrived. This always makes me a little bit nervous because you don't want the order to sit around for to long , but you also don't want to arrive and have your order not even started yet. Neither was the case, upon our arrival, our pizza was just being taken from the oven, along with our Buffalo Wings appetizer. 

The Buffalo Wings at Cappza's are baked , not fried, which means they are healthy ! Not really, but they are still so good.  Tossed in a mild , buttery hot sauce, the wings are meaty and moist and are paired with your choice of Blue Cheese or Ranch Dressing ( we had both, why limit ourselves !) But the wings are not why we came to a pizza place, we came for the pizza !


On the Table Napkin Holders there are signs boasting that Cappza's uses real ingredients. Real 100% Provolone Cheese, real Chicken, real Hamburger ! The reasons for going to Cappza's are endless so the napkin holders would have you believe. I am here to tell you that the napkin holders do not lie.



Simone and I had the BBQ Chicken Pizza and it really did taste fresh. The chicken was real, and shredded and delicious.  The pizza starts with a base of sweet and tangy BBQ sauce, then is topped with shredded provolone cheese ( not mozzarella- but better) and shredded BBQ chicken. Thankfully, you will find no red onions on this BBQ pizza as you do at most pizza places. ( Onions are a horrible way to kill a pizza experience). The fresh dough pizza was cooked perfect . The crust was golden and had those little pockets of air bubbles that make fresh dough pizza so good. Not thin crust, not thick crust, fresh dough is the best of both worlds and Cappza's does it right.  Simone and I finished half the pie and boxed up the rest before going home.


Cappza's also boasts having Maine's Best Whoopie pie as voted on by a bunch of people somewhere that love these things.  A whoopie pie , for those who don't know is basically two round pieces of Chocolate Cake with the frosting in the middle. A cake sandwich. The whoopie pies here are baked daily at Cappza's parent establishment, Al's Pizza, in nearby Skowhegan. We tried one with Peanut Butter filling, and although not the best I've had in Maine,  it was still very good.  Still, lets be honest , who cares ? It's all about the pizza ! And you can't go wrong here. I have also had the Hawaiian Pizza, and the classic Pepperoni and both are also excellent. I encourage anyone looking for good pizza to try Cappza's, you won't be disappointed. ****1/2 stars for Cappza's Pizza.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

St Viateur Bagel & Cafe- Montreal, Quebec


Every so often during my hectic, stress filled life, I like to take a break and just relax. I stop to smell the roses ( or whatever odor is around me), listen to the birds chirp their happy song or watcha little paint dry. The St Viateur Bagel and Cafe is that kind of place. It has two cafe locations in Montreal. Simone and I choose the cafe at 1127 Mont. Royal East. Its a little out of the way ( probably a mile or so off the subway) in the "Plateau" European district of Montreal, but worth the walk even during those rather frost bitten winter days. At this small cafe their specialty is Jewish style bagels baked in a wood burning oven all day long.

You can have the traditional bagels with Lox ( a gross combo of Smoked salmon, raw onion and capers with some other junk on a platter) or with some of their flavored cream cheeses. They also have lots of specialty sandwiches featuring their bagels for the lunch crowd.

After walking from the subway on a cold morning with the snow lightly falling, Simone and I walked into the cafe which features an open kitchen so you can watch the bagels being made and hand rolled all day long.  We found a seat next to the window, but away from the drafts from the door at the entrance. You seat yourself (or at least we did ) and then the waitress or waiter takes your order. If you don't know your French lingo then they are well prepared for you, as they offer both French and English versions of the menu. Simone and I both opted to start with some hot chocolate to warm ourselves up.  The hot chocolate was made fresh and not from a packet. It was rich and topped with a little whipped cream and was an excellent choice.  After sipping on the hot chocolate we ordered our bagels. It it was breakfast time, so we opted out of the sandwich options and went for the basics.  We both ordered a Multigrain Bagel ( seriously, why does my wife insist on always getting the same thing as me ?).  To keep things healthy, I ordered mine with a side of sun dried tomato cream cheese. Simone ,with her never ending sweet tooth had hers with the chocolate cream cheese.


The bagels arrived with-in about five minutes with a small side of fresh fruit on the plate. Unfortunately, the fresh fruit in these parts during the winter months tends to be pretty tasteless, and this fruit fit into that category. So onto the main course, the Bagel. Jewish Bagels are denser then your New York variety that you usually find in the supermarket, and this makes them a little less chewy and usually moister.  The Bagels at St Viateur were done to perfection.  Hand rolled with lots of seed and oats, they arrived hot with a crunchy exterior from the wood burning oven ,but dense, doughy and moist on the inside. The bagels are cut for easy dipping into the side of cream cheese that comes in a 2oz souffle cup filled past the top. The cream cheese is also super rich and super good, and although its a lot of cheese, its good enough that you will find yourself finishing it all and licking the utensil of your choice at the end to make sure you don't leave any behind.

Simone and I both finished off our entire plate and were pretty full at the end of it all. We paid the bill and rolled ourselves back out into the frozen Montreal tundra happy with our choice. St Viateur Bagel & Cafe is a nice country cafe to sit back and relax and get a good and hearty start to your day. Four Stars ****