Pizzeria Gusto

Cuisine: Neo-Italian
Area: Academy
Address: 404 Academy Road
Number: (204) 944-8786

M-F 11:30am - 2pm and 5:30pm - 11:30pm

Sat. 5:30pm - 11:30pm

Price range: ($ $ $1/2) out of ($$$$$)
Overall rating: 4 out of 5

There were a few instances in the past that made me shy away from wanting to invite my friends and family to spend some time (and money) there: one of which was that they had forgotten my order. Looking back now through the lens of a great experience, I can’t say that I gave the restaurant enough justice. When they forgot our table’s order, the owner and chef, came to apologize personally right after he found out what had happened. On top of that, he gave us our meal on the house, added a few special feature appetizers, and threw in a bottle of champagne. I honestly do feel that he did all he could to address the issue and I had boycotted the restaurant so unjustly for the past few years.

Anyhow, we opted to sit by the bar to start our dinner until a spot opened up. 

By far this is one of the best things that could have happened to us. In fact, I suggest that if you do go to Pizzeria Gusto, try to snag a seat with your company bar-side – near the wood-fired, stone oven. Sitting there allowed us to see the work and passion that it took to make each pizza perfect and artistically stimulating at the same time. Bar-side seats also allowed us to have a good conversation with the chef as well; whom I had already mentioned on my other social media postings, has now insisted that I call him for any help that I may need for my upcoming wedding. This is granted of course, that you want to talk to him. For me, I really enjoy talking or meeting with the chef of the restaurants I like – I oddly feel like I have a connection with chefs just for the sole reason that I love food so much. I want them to know how much I appreciate their work and commitment. Anyways, I’m rambling.

Suggestion: if you don’t have a preference, try a pizza that does not have traditional toppings (though they are delicious, you can get those pizzas in other places as well). Try going for one with an olive-oil and garlic base instead of a tomato sauce base. I tried the feature that night, which had duck-confit, shredded-marinated brussel sprouts, and olive and chili oil base. Yum.

For appetizers, try the calamari, which is tender, cooked perfectly, with a loosely coated herbed-bread crust. For our other appetizer, we just ordered a Caesar salad. This is something that I don’t really recommend. The dressing ran thin and didn’t have too much flavor. The romaine lettuce was not shredded and the quarter-bunch was grilled for char-marks. The salad was served like a wedge-iceberg lettuce salad. I honestly think the salad was just too over-thought.

We hadn’t considered this but our wonderful waitress, who was friendly, efficient, and very helpful, recommended we try some Italian grappa. I didn’t even know Winnipeg carried grappa… and it was delicious! Ben had a strawberry infused grappa, while I chose to try the cantaloupe grappa. Mine was delicious—his… a bit too sweet for my liking. If you’re not familiar, grappa is a concentrated wine-like aperatif that most Italians have as an after dinner ‘snack’. It’s very aromatic. 

We were also given a free tasting of one that the chef wanted us to try too: the hazelnut grappa. This one is very strong but delicious in it’s own right. I can imagine it tasting very delicious next to some chocolate ice cream. It tastes like Ferrero Roche. On it's own though... I'm not too sure I would do that again.

For dessert, we shared a chocolate torte with olive oil and sea salt. One word: whoa.

So overall, I completely recommend Pizzeria Gusto if you are looking for a nice evening with a small group for company. It’s a great place to wine and dine. It does have plasma tvs but I really don’t recommend going here to watch sports. It’s a place where you want to spend some time to relax and enjoy eating… when you’re not in a rush to leave but have the option to continue a good night out afterwards.