CALGARY: Una Pizza + Wine

When Una Pizza + Wine first opened in the former space of Wicked Wedge on 17th Ave., it was instantly packed. They didn’t take reservations, so waits were about an hour long on weekends. I figured I’d hold off.

Now that I’ve been, I’m going to be going back a lot more. Una has done a great job transforming the blankness of Wicked Wedge into an almost too cool dining room. The banquette along one wall is lined with narrow tables (like many Toronto restaurants). One sweltering day (yes, those happen occasionally in Calgary), we sat at the bar in front of the kitchen. It was actually one of the best seats in the house because they had just installed an air conditioner right above it.

Another lovely surprise was the appearance of one of my favourite servers in the city who had moved from winebar.

It’s funny because the diverse wine lists (white/sparkling and red/beer) and the short, focused menu remind me of winebar.

Una’s daily specials (focusing on local products) are listed on blackboards, while the menu is split between “bar food” (appetizers), salads and sides, mains (about four of them) and pizzas.

Sitting in front of the open kitchen meant we got to see how fresh everything was and how detailed the chef Stephen and his team are.

We started with cremini mushrooms ($6) stuffed with goat cheese and boar bacon. It was decent, more of a warm-up for the perfectly seasoned heirloom tomato salad ($11) with a bit of arugula.

It took us a long time to decide on a pizza because they all sounded and looked fantastic. I can’t wait for a cold winter day to try the potato pizza ($15) with provolone and fireweed honey. Even our server warned that the carb on carb pie was pretty heavy, especially for a hot day.

We ended up with a prosciutto ($20) with San Marzano tomato sauce, crisped prosciutto, provolone and fresh arugula.

While it was one of the higher priced pizzas (a margherita is $13), it was worth every penny. For Jason, it was a “just right” Goldilocks crust: not too thin, and not too thick. For me, the salty prosciutto and spicy arugula on the chewy crust hit it home.

For dessert, our panna cotta ($7) arrived in a jam jar with fresh berries and a broken-up biscuit on top. While the panna cotta I’ve had before have been silky and with more of a custard texture, this one had a very thick cream — which Jason declared to be the best panna cotta he ever had.

While we were eating, we watched the kitchen work on a big bowl of braised beef, and then roll it in bacon for the next day’s pintxos special. It was obviously a new invention because all the chefs were excited to taste it and taste it again.

More than the effortless dinner, it’s that refreshing passion Una isn’t afraid to show which really impressed me.

Una Pizza + Wine, 618-17th Ave. SW, Calgary, (403) 453-1183. Open daily 11:30 a.m.-1 a.m.