Pizza From Way Back

Gonna be quickie with this one. My sis, Vixen, called to see if we wanted to join them and Dad for dinner. They were headed to an old high school haunt of mine. I won't say how many years it's been since I chowed down on some Romana's pizza - since that would date my sis - but the restaurant's celebrating its 40th anniversary on The Heights this year. We weren't there opening night but it likely wasn't too long afterward.

I'm not even sure if the place has changed much since those early years, especially since I don't recall the last time I ate here when it wasn't late into the evening, long after some game, party or dance.

There may be a wave of high end, Neapolitan pizzas raging through Vancouver but Romana's isn't part of that wave. These pies definitely harken back to old school, Vancouver thicker crust pizzas. Now, the toppings have been modernized since my high school days - there was no spinach or melizano, artichoke hearts or feta on our pizzas back then - but it would seem that you can go home again after all.

1272. N.V. Spinelli Montepulciano d'Abbruzzo (Abruzzi DOC - Italy)

We'd have never ordered a bottle of wine to go with our pizza all those years ago, but by look of the wine list, I'm not so sure that many people order wine even now. This simple, entry level fruity quaff was about as adventurous as it got on the limited list and this is one of a handful of bottles in our provincial liquor system that sells for under $10. It kinda tasted like that as well - although it does seem to garner its share of "bang for your buck" plaudits in the press. It was certainly fruity and light enough that even my niece tried a bit - and she hasn't graduated past sweeter wines yet - but she wasn't interested in much more than a couple of sips.

It all counts for The List though. It just that I have a feeling I might check to see if Romana's allows BYO should we show up for another pizza and a few memories.