« Tennessy Willems, “The Wood Burning Pizza Joint” »

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I'll admit it: I'm an obnoxious food snob, and even though I’m usually cheap I have no trouble spending money on good food. So as soon as I heard mutterings of a wood oven pizza place opening up on Ottawa's “Epicurean Row”—a string of trendy restaurants along Wellington West that includes the Wellington Gastropub, Petit Bill's Bistro and Absinthe—I had to see how it fit in. My fiancée Erin and I called up our friends Adam and Sylvia and we set a date to dine at Tennessy Willems, “The Wood Burning Pizza Joint” (1082 Wellington St.).

 Our first visit was on a Wednesday night in early January. Thankfully we had a reservation, because the place was full. The atmosphere was what I expected: aging hipsters and novice bohemians adoring wildly-expensive abstract art on the walls, and soaking up the ambient beats dripping from the speakers. (A cute touch features pictures of the owner's children, Tennessy and Willem, on the washroom doors.) Our vaguely interested server (are they ever interested?) informed us of our limited beverage options: three beers on tap and ten wines. Not a big deal for Adam and I as we ordered pints of Beau's, but Erin and Sylvia would have liked gin and tonics. Instead they ordered the Castano Hecula Monastrell from Spain, which turned out to be a great choice for the price.

The appetizers were a hit: Caesar salad with a Dijon mustard, garlic vinaigrette and double-smoked bacon, and smoked mackerel set atop pickled beets and a dollop of sweet crème fraîche. For dinner we all shared pizza and pasta, but only one of the dishes fared as well as the appetizers. The girls enjoyed the vegetarian lasagna, but it was extremely bland for my tastes. The pizza topped with duck confit, caramelized onions, Riopelle cheese and truffle oil was delicious, but so rich that a few bites would have been enough. The Bianco pizza with fresh pear, walnuts, Gorgonzola cheese and prosciutto came close to satisfying my expectations, but the pear could have used a little more time in the oven to soften up. The pizza that impressed all of us, however, was topped with wild boar sausage, caramelized apples and sharp Cheddar cheese. This pizza was big on salt and fat—both essential nutrients for diners—and offered an intense fusion of flavours.

Dessert came and our group was disappointed again by the limited bar selection. A glass of port would have been the perfect accompaniment to the chocolate mousse cake we shared, and some whisky would have done well to repair the fourth wall taken down by scrub-clad kitchen staff eating at the bar a few feet away. Overall, a mediocre dining experience that hit the wallet harder than I would have liked: over $200 with tax and tip for the four of us.

A second chance

Our group decided to give Tennessy Willems another chance, and dined there again in early February. Immediately I noticed that an extra month of business had done the restaurant well. The improved menu design placed the pizzas in its own column, nightly specials were offered, and the prices were recalculated. There were still only limited beverage selections, but this was expected and didn't sting as much as during our first visit. The boys went with pints of St. Ambroise Pale and the girls decided on the Four Vines Zinfandel from California. 

This time around we stuck with the same appetizers, the smoked mackerel and Caesar salad, and again they exceeded expectations. Our mains, however, were a different story. We all had pizza this time: Erin and Sylvia shared the Helen's, Adam enjoyed the Elmdale, and I tried the Margherita. The Helen's, topped with wilted spinach, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese and chèvre, was very good—the chèvre  tempered the bitterness of the spinach nicely. The Margherita arrived without basil (or an explanation), but I was too absorbed by the blobs of gooey mozzarella and deeply flavoured, almost caramelized, tomatoes, to care. The night’s hit was the Elmdale, boasting button mushrooms, roasted red peppers and thinly sliced pepperoni. I was able to wrangle an extra piece from Adam by convincing him he was full.

For dessert we shared the crème caramel and a lemon tart that would have benefitted from a glass of icewine or cognac. Our overall dining experience improved greatly from our previous visit, even though our bill this time was again around $200 with tax and tip. But don’t let my wild and uncharacteristic spending deter you from trying Tennessy Willems! By sticking with non-alcoholic drinks and splitting a pizza, dinner for two shouldn’t cost more than around $40 with tax and tip. I’d suggest waiting for the spring, though, to give this hip little spot more time to improve.

Rating: 3.5/5