Why can't every weekend be Rifflandia?

Those people who made it to the four day festival know exactly what I'm talking about. We proved that there's more to Vancouver Island than giant trees and beautiful beaches. There are also a lot of seriously cool people who love to have a great time! It made me proud to be an Islander and I couldn't be happier that Prima Strada sponsored such an amazing event.

The Prima Strada mobile pizza oven was a part of the action at Royal Athletic Park. We were perfectly sandwiched between WannaWafel and Pig (not bad, right?) and had an unobstructed view of the mainstage! After Kurt, Matt and I got the tent set up, the sun broke through. (I actually heard someone asking for sunscreen!) It was the ultimate weekend for an outdoor festival in Victoria.

Of course, many people took the opportunity to dine al fresco. What could be better than listening to Mother Mother and eating a Margherita?

A couple lucky Facebook and Twitter followers got a free Prima Strada bandana. Check out Bridge Street regular Chris rocking his bandana in the beer garden. Looking good, Chris!

The best part about Rifflandia was that there were so many different venues. Although the usual haunts hosted concerts, this was my first time going to the Phillips Brewery for a concert and it was amazing! I got there just in time to see KO put on an amazing show for the near capacity stage/loading dock set up. And for a day that started off pouring rain, Sunday quickly became my favourite. The sea of afternoon partiers grooved to De La Soul as a final farewell to Rifflandia. The worst part is that I'm already looking forward to Rifflandia 5. Only 364 days and counting! See you all there!

A Busy Week for the Mobile!

This week, our mobile pizza oven is making the most out of the nice weather. This past Sunday, we went to Marley Farms in Saanichton for the annual Feast of Fields, and it was GREAT! When we first pulled in, the sky was covered by grim, dark clouds. Then, miraculously, the clouds parted and Feasters were treated to a brilliant blue sky.

As soon as the gates opened, we had a line up and it stayed that way until we ran out of pizza! We gave out over a thousand slices of pizza in three hours!

And although we were too busy to visit most of the other tents, luckily nice people like Gary from Driftwood stopped by our tent to bring us goodies! All in all, it was an absolutely fabulous day!

Missed Feast of Fields? Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTXR_QuvD_A to see what people thought of our delicious pizza.

If you weren't able to catch the mobile at Feast of Fields, have no fear because we will be bringing the oven to the Oak Bay Market tomorrow evening and then setting up shop at Royal Athletic Park for Rifflandia Friday-Sunday. Also, for those with Rifflandia wristbands, you get a free dessert with the purchase of a pizza at our restaurants thanks to Wristband Connect. The Rifflandia Wristband Connect has already begun and will continue until Sunday, September 25, 2011.

With all thats going on this week, theres no excuse to not come out and enjoy some pizza! See you soon!

On the Road ...

Mark your calendar for pizza al fresco.

Wednesday, July 20 - Oak Bay Night Market
In the heart of the village on Oak Bay Avenue - pick up vegetables from local farms, grab a pie from your favorite pizzeria, listen to a bit of music. Market runs from 4-8 pm every third Wednesday through September. Rain or shine.

Sunday, July 24 Tour of Farms at Sea Cider
Where does my food come from? Who grows it? What's it like to be a farmer? Visit Saanich farms and find the answers to these questions. Join us at Sea Cider - tour the orchard & cider house, eat pizza and sip cider.

Sunday, September 18 - Feast of Fields at Marley Farm
Taste the very best of BC from chefs, vintners, brewers, fishers, ranchers and food artisans from across the province - some think of it as a 40 course meal paired with wine & beer! Feast of Fields is a gastronomic journey towards a sustainable, local food system. For more information & tickets, visit http://www.feastoffields.com/

Thursday - Sunday, September 22-25 - Rifflandia Festival
A music festival & more: 4 days, 10 stages & 110 artists. It is inspired. Visit http://2011rifflandia.com for lineups, tickets and more.

13th Annual Gorge Canada Day Picnic

Celebrate Canada Day along the Gorge Waterway at the annual Canada Day Picnic! The fun begins at 8:30 am with a pancake breakfast followed by a parade, kids activities, entertainment and more. We'll be rolling the mobile oven down the road for the event. We'll have the fire burning and pizzas will be served from 12-4!

For more information visit www.gorgetillicum.ca

We're Rolling Out the Fire in June

There's something about eating in the fresh air that makes things taste better. Of course, we can't think of anything better than pizza al fresco. The mobile oven will be on the road in the weeks to come. Mark your calendars for a few dates we're sure you won't want to miss:

Sunday, June 12 - Island Chef's Food Fest
Join 30 chefs, 20 brewers & vintners at historic Fort Rodd Hill from Noon to 4 p.m. With a focus on locally sourced food & sustainability, Food Fest is a fundraising event for the ICC. Proceeds provide interest-free micro-loans for local farms. For more information & tickets, visit http://www.iccbc.ca

Wednesday, June 15 - Oak Bay Village Night Market
In the heart of the village on Oak Bay Avenue - pick up vegetables from local farms, grab a pie from your favorite pizzeria, a treat from Crumsby's Cafe and listen to a bit of music. Oak Bay Market runs from 4-8 pm, every third Wednesday June - September.

Saturday, June 18 - VIC Fest
Vancouver Island Cultural Festival - a 1 day outdoor festival in the heart of downtown Victoria. St. Ann's Academy is the location for an event featuring bands & performers,culinary & local arts and a wine & beer garden in the evening. More details & ticket info visit http://www.vicfest.ca

We've got a few more dates to share for July, August & September - more details soon.

Tour of Farms 2010 - Sunday, July 25

Where does my food come from? What’s it like to be a farmer? All important questions that deserve consideration. You can get the answers – and have some summer fun - at the Tour of Farms this Sunday.

Go for a drive in the country. Enjoy the fresh air. Have a picnic. Walk through a blueberry patch. Chat with a farmer. Savour a fresh raspberry. Sample local ciders and pizza too.

We're rolling Black Beauty to one of our favorite spots - Sea Cider. We'll take in the view, sip some cider and make pizza using ingredients from local farms.

For more information, visit the Farm Fresh site:

http://www.islandfarmfresh.com/touroffarms.htm

Averill Creek and Prima Strada You Tube video

A nice video shot on location at Averill Creek featuring the Prima Strada mobile setup. Don't mind the spelling mistakes- What a location!

PPS closed for Festa della Mamma

Yes, it's true. We'll be closed on Mother's Day! We're treating the PPS team to a day of fun - playing bocce in the park and having lasagne for dinner. We know your disappointed but we also know you understand. Mille grazie.

We'll be back in action on Monday - planning expanded hours for Bridge Street (yes, dinner @ Bridge in June!), planning more mobile oven events to help fill your belly with PPS pies and still being sure to have fun!

Summer 2010 Mobile Schedule

Hello Pizza fans! Here is a schedule of this summer's public events that feature our mobile oven. Want more information? Email Andrew@primastrada.

May 22, 23:

• Victoria Highland Games

May 29:

• Selkirk Waterfront Festival

May30:

• ICC Defending Our Backyard

Every Thursday (June to September)

• Sidney Summer Market

June 11-13:

• Navy Centennial International Fleet Review

June 25-27:

• Victoria International Jazz festival

This is just a taste of where you can find delicious pizza on the go! Of course you can always visit either of our locations in Victoria to get your fix!

Prima Strada Hits The Road

In our house, Geoffrey reads all his news on-line every morning while I still like the paper edition. This morning we were both thrilled to see PPS featured in the Business Section of the Times Colonist. You'll have to get own your paper copy (I'm saving mine), but here's the on-line link:

http://www.timescolonist.com/business/PrimaStrada+hits+road/2975204/story.html

Shouts from all around our house this morning! Thanks TC!

PS - Thinking of hitting the road today? Andrew just confirmed Black Beauty has arrived at Averill Creek Vineyard for today's Open House. Beautiful spot and a perfect destination for a drive.

Averil Creek Spring Open House

This Saturday will be a lovely day of wine, art and great food. Hope to see everyone there! Averill Creek is poised to be the premier winery on Vancouver Island, specializing in estate grown Pinots (Noir & Gris/Grigio). Come show your support for Vancouver Island viticulture and wood fired pizza. I'll be working hard so be sure to say hi!

Black Beauty @ Margaret Jenkins today

Black Beauty is rolling to Ecole Margaret Jenkins School as I type. If you are in the neighborhood (corner of Fairfield & Foul Bay), stop by to see us between 9-2. We've got coffee, Kathleen baked muffins & cookies, juice and most importantly, Geoffrey, Matt & Colin will be making pizza!

Today's fundraiser is for a new play structure. As proud parents of EMJS students, Sheralynn, Geoffrey and I looked know they didn't expect Black Beauty but for us, seemed pretty simple way to support our kids' school and have fun! It helps we've got a great team that knows today will be a good time. Along with our staff, Sysco & PSC helped with a few product donations and PPS will donate a portion of today's profits toward the purchase of the new structure!

Come see the season opener for Black Beauty & support a great local school. Mangia! - Cristen

Averill Creek Open House

May 01 (next Saturday)Averill Creek Winery will be hosting an open house from 11:00 to 4:00 at the winery. The winery has sweeping views of the Cowichan Valley and of course, delicious wine to sip. Meet owner Andy and his lovely wife Wendy, taste some award winning wine, tour the estate and of course, enjoy a bite or two of wood fired pizza. With a little help from the weather, we may have a perfect day on our hands. This event is open to the public so make sure to be there!

Summer events

As the weather turns warm, Black Beauty is excited to make appearances all about town. Here is a short list of events for the month of May:

May 01 - Averil Creek Winery opening day

May 22-23- Victoria Highland Games

May 29 - Selkirk Waterfront Festival

May 30- Defending Our Backyard

Be sure to book these days off on your calendar. More exciting events coming soon!

Want to book your own event with Black Beauty? Call the Events Hotline @ 250-590-4388 or email andrew@primastrada.com.

2010 is now well underway. For those of you lucky enough to be living on Southern Vancouver Island it is an exciting time to see cherry blossoms, crocus, and Pizzeria Prima Strada's new location.

We have got a few tricks up our sleeve this spring including, but not limited to a Brewmasters Dinner with Driftwood Brewery (April, tickets available soon), ICC's Defending Our Backyard festival (May 10, tickets available now) and Averill Creek Vineyards Opening Day (May 01, more information to follow). This is just the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned for more delicious events featuring western Canada's only authentic Neapolitan, wood fired pizzeria.

Want to create your own memorable event? Contact Andrew at andrew@primastrada.com or 250-590-4388 today!

Be the envy of the Victoria scene!

It's time to get creative and start thinking about your spring and summer events with Pizzeria Prima Strada! We are ready to create events you and your guests will be talking about all year!

At Bridge Street we've got a chic and urban space for celebrations - weddings, birthdays and small meetings -to name a few ideas. Best of all, you and your guests will have Pizzeria Prima Strada all to yourselves (imagine the envy)!

Interested in having Prima Strada come to you? Our mobile wood-fired oven is the answer!

Check back soon for even more photos from the new (and nearly finished room)!

To begin planning your event, please contact Andrew: 250-590-4388 or andrew@primastrada.com .

We look to forward to seeing you at the hottest party of the year: yours!

Bridge street sneak peek

We have collected a small amount of construction photos of the new Bridge Street Pizzeria. Please see our add in the new Eat Magazine for the exact location!




Among other things, Bridge St will be home to "Black Beauty" aka: the Pizzeria Prima Strada mobile catering oven.







Cabinets being constructed for the kitchen and service area. Check out those sweet lights!






A kitchen perspective of the new room. Other than providing a delicious meal and a satisfying coffee, this unique and functional space will be terrific for private events too (Gold medal hockey anyone?).




At Prima Strada we are really excited to unveil our new location. Stay tuned for opening dates and exiting events. Want more news from Pizzeria Prima Strada? Follow us on Twitter and check out our Facebook fan page!

Science & Pizza

We knew this in our hearts already - pizza is good for you! Italian researchers recently found eating 2 slices of cheese pizza at least once a week reduces your risk of cancer! Really! Tomato sauce is packed with the antioxidant lycopene. Of course, the cheese is needed too - lycopene is activated in your body when combined with fat.

I'm thinking of a Bambino with garlic, chilies and oregano for lunch! Mangia!

Join us at Sea Cider's Apple Day - September 27 from 11 to 6

When Dionne at Sea Cider approached me about participating in Apple Days I was thrilled. Here's what I immediate thought of (and something I know few do), "Pizza and cider is a great pairing!" Honestly, I cannot say I came to this alone - although given some time and tasting, I'd like to think I would have. I was inspired by the cookbook The Silver Spoon.

The Silver Spoon is the most influential and successful cookbook in Italy. Here's my inspiration: Pizzas need fizzy drinks to stimulate the digestion. Beer is fine but those who prefer wine may chose a sparkling white preferably light, young and fruity. The editor forgot another sparkling fruit drink- cider! Light, young and fruity - Sea Cider's Kings & Spies (made in the Italian style) is a fantastic paring!

But don't take my word for it, come join us at Sea Cider on Sunday, September 27 from 11 am to 6 pm. We'll celebrate the apple and you can decide if you like Sea Cider Pippins, Wild English or King & Spies or another of their fabulous drinks. For more information, visit: http://www.seacider.ca/

Celebrate our 1 Year Anniversary with us!

Join us in the parking lot at 230 Cook Street this Saturday, August 15 between 2-5 p.m. Be one of the first to witness the grand unveiling of our new mobile wood-fired pizza oven and try a slice on us!