Burlingtonians are pretty spoiled for choice with restaurants, and fun programs like Taste of Burlington (ToB), the winter 2023 version of which runs until March 12, can help us discover some great new spots.
This week, I went to Industria Pizzeria + Bar, where I met up with born-and-raised Burlingtonian Peter van Dyk for lunch and a chat. Van Dyk is of PV&V Insurance, which presents Taste of Burlington, and he is a passionate promoter of all the fantastic restaurants and small businesses that Burlington has to offer, throughout the year.
Taste of Burlington offers a prix fixe dining program for lunch and dinner, with 27 restaurants participating this winter, in its 15th anniversary year. The lunch prix fixe prices range from $15 to $45; dinner ranges from $15 to $69 per person. The menus can include house favourites or all-new creations.
At Industria, a large space on Appleby Line, three of the four ToB lunch items are not on the regular menu; there’s a pizza con patate, a winter bowl, an Italian steak sandwich, and the gnocchi pomodoro, the only regular menu item. The winter bowl is a hearty-sounding salad with kale, butternut squash, chickpeas, and goat cheese, to which you can add an additional protein for an extra cost. I went for that potato pizza (carbs on carbs with bacon, what’s not to like?) and van Dyk chose the steak sandwich.
We talked as we waited, about how van Dyk came to stay in Burlington for his whole life and raise his family here; about the other great Burlington restaurants (we both seem to like to talk food), about the deep connections that he cherishes within the community.
And then the food arrived, and there was less talking. The dinner-plate-sized pizza is a good-looking one with a nicely blistered crust, and came with a bit of a twist: scissors to cut your own slices. I had heard that in Italy, Romans cut their slab pizzas this way, but had not experienced it before on this side of the ocean. Turns out, it’s a good idea — nice, clean, easy cutting (though possibly messier if it were a more heavily-cheesed pizza).
The steak sandwich also looked appetizing (even for this non-red meat-eater; and if you noted that I chose a bacon-and-potato pizza, yes, I make an exception for crispy bacon), with its pepperonata and arugula topping, and fries on the side.
If you’ve been concerned about the presence of potatoes on pizza, let me tell you about it: they were sliced paper thin and gave an almost creamy backdrop (alongside the Alfredo sauce) to the bacon and chili oil. As for the steak sandwich, van Dyk noted that the flavours were interesting and worked well together; the sandwich was well-enjoyed.
Not to be overlooked was our excellent server, Paul. He was quick to offer coffee and soft drink refills when they were getting low, and may also be a mind reader — he brought a takeout box for me before I’d even asked, though I had been thinking it.
Overall, good food, good service (thanks, Paul!), good company (thanks, Peter!): definitely recommended.
