The Celiac Conundrum, Chapter 3 - More Than Just Fast Food

Just about everyone who lives in Calgary eventually winds up being introduced to a small but influential place along Memorial Drive, just before Shaganappi Trail, where the lineups are long in winter and even longer in summer - Lic's Ice Cream parlor.  The Leavitt family has been running this place for many years, and it's still one of the finest places to get just about any flavor of ice cream your heart desires - especially if you have it in one of their waffle cones.

But if you're one of their customers, let me urge you to slow down as you approach their front door, and have a look at a tiny little place in the very same building, just one door over, next to the hair salon.  You've probably walked past it a hundred times, and if you're like me, automatically dismissed it in your drive for sweet dairy goodness.

Avatara Healthy Heartstone Pizza has finally put a sandwich board out on the sidewalk, advertising its healthy pizza, complete with gluten-free and lactose-free options.  Again, I am ashamed to say, it wasn't till the hunt for good gluten-free food became personal that I would have even considered a place which advertised "healthy" food, because too often those places make up in sanctimony what they lack in taste.  But today, we decided to step inside, because others in the growing celiac community in Calgary had recommended it highly.

Out of a frigid January Calgary day, the first thing that hits you as you pull open the door is an absolute wash of warm, complex aromas - fresh basil, sweet peppers, spiky chorizo, melting cheese - all punctuated with the insistent, primeval welcoming throb of reggae music.  It's strictly take-out, with a couple of bar chairs for those who don't want to sit in the car for the 20 minutes it takes for your order to be ready.

It quickly became apparent that the proprietor has been doing this for a very, very long time.  Which would mean he started making pizza when he was three years old, given his obvious youth.  It always shocks me into awed silence, watching someone who's an artist in the kitchen.  While we drank in the voluminous menu on the wall, he quietly chopped fresh basil and cilantro with the combination of lightning speed and casual fluidity that says - "this ain't no Little Caesar's, people".

We had a multitude of choices.  The most magnificent for my wife, though, was the fact that all these ingredients could be provided on a gluten-free crust, and lactose free options if desired.  Instead of opting for any of their avatars -  "The Guru" (Butter Chicken Sauce, Chicken, Mozzarella, Red Onion, Sweet Pepper, Mango Chutney and Cilantro), or the "Mauie Wowie" (Tomato or Rebel BBQ sauce, Black Forest Ham, Mozzarella, Pineapple and Bacon), she elected to build her own, from the Alter Ego menu - creating her own avatar from Body Types like thin or thick crust (she picked gluten-free), Saucy Soul sauces, Characteristics (toppings) Personality (choice of five cheeses) and Special Powers - including pine nuts, cashews, chipotle and other nifty taste explosions.

I had to go with the Italian Stallion - Fresh Basil graced the tomato sauce, with fresh-cut mushrooms, chorizo (not the kind that makes your hair catch fire, but with just the right kind of zing that makes you crave another bite), huge slices of salami, the tastiest, salty burst of green olives, and to crown the mozzarella cheese, a healthy sprinkling of honest, garlicky, in-your-face bruschetta, carefully strained of excess liquid through his fingertips, and strategically dropped in place.

We watched him put it all together.  He started with a meticulously-cleaned granite prep table, expunged of all traces of glutenous flour or dough.  After rolling out the crust and hand-cutting a perfect 10" circle, he built Shauna's creation with both hands, alternating layers of her chicken, sweet pepper, and cheese toppings - in its own foil tray.  He set it far away - far, far away from the prep table, so that his practiced flinging of flour to prepare my whisper-thin 50% whole-wheat crust could not possibly stray onto her pizza.  That crust was properly punctured with a rolling perforator, and slid onto a large paddle.

They went into his granite-hearth pizza oven, separated like boys and girls at an old-time Bible college.  No touching.  He checked the underside of the crust on mine twice - and when it was just brown enough, slid it onto its own baking sheet - preserving the bottom while finishing the toppings.

I saw a crease of worry cross Shauna's face.  With the agony of a full-blown celiac attack from a few days ago awfully fresh in her memory, she had to ask.  (The sign says "gluten free", but how do you really know it isn't just an advertising gimmick?)  So she said - "You do know there can't be any cross-contamination there, right?"  He smiled, and said - "That's why we keep them on their own tray, off the hearth surface.  We use separate cutters and keep them well away from the other pizzas.  Don't worry, ma'am".  "Well, I DO worry", she said, as she watched him cut and box my pizza.  Then, like a surgeon, he fastidiously washed and dried his hands, and only then, with a different paddle, took her pizza out of the oven, gently folding down the tray and cutting the pizza without it ever touching the board.  That's when he mentioned that 25 - 50% of his business every day is now coming from people who are celiac....

Shauna's pupils returned to their normal size.  With safety now firmly established, we embarked on the real test.  We did not wait to get home - with the car heater blasting away, we tied into the pizza, singeing both fingers and palates.

I had a bite of hers first.  Gluten free may be necessary for her, but I wanted to know if it was worth eating for anyone.  Hands down, yes.  Absolutely sublime.  "Every ingredient tastes fresh", Shauna said.  "Those green peppers aren't bitter!  How do you get green peppers that aren't bitter?"  Best of all - not a flicker of stomach-clenching pain, no poisoning symptoms - just mouthwateringly, blisteringly hot and fresh real pizza.

Mine was everything I expected.  I had to fold it, New York style, to keep the toppings from escaping onto my shirt front.  Every ingredient got it's own chance to sing out loud, and in perfect harmony with the others.  This isn't "just pizza", it's gourmet food.  Yeah, I know, pizza is pizza, no-brainer, right?  Nope - this is how it's supposed to be made.

They have a mobile pizza oven.  They'll cater your party.  They'll deliver too.  And with the price being no more than same-old, same-old Boston Pizza or Domino's, why wouldn't you go for something made by a pro, who understands that a symphony of excellent ingredients beats crappy muzak any day.  Next time you go to Lic's for dessert, why not get the main course at Avatara first....