Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co. (Kitsilano)

There was a time when I would go watch the Celebration of Light year after year without missing a beat.  Yes, we'd make our way down to English Bay earlier in the day and stake out a prime viewing spot.  We'd guard it with our lives taking turns going for eats and the washroom.  Boy, did we have a lot of time on our hands or what?  Well, fast forward to the present and it has been 8 long years since our last fireworks.  So when Rocky Mountain Flatbread suggested I go down and check out their fireworks-themed pizza (one for each fireworks night representing the competing country) and to go watch the fireworks after, I said to myself, "why not?".

Since Viv was getting bored of all the eating we've been doing (really???), I ended up going with Miss Y instead. We were seated on the patio where it was nice to watch people hurrying to make it to the beach.  For beverages, I went for an Stanley Park Amber Ale while Miss Y had the Freshly Squeezed Lemonade with vodka and blueberries.  We found this drink to be refreshing and light.  For our first dish, we had the West Coast Salmon Flatbread consisting of extra thin crust, brushed with roasted garlic spread, sprinkled with Quebec mozzarella cheese, shaved onions & capers topped with chives.  We liked how the crust was really crispy while being light at the same time.  The classic combination of flavours including the salty and tart capers made this a pleasant start to the meal.

Next up was the Fig & Goat Cheese Salad which was slightly overdressed where the greens were beginning to go limp, but then again, the flavour is in the dressing. We got a big sweet hit from the figs and a bit of gaminess from the cheese.  The addition of red onions added some sharpness.  The featured soup for the day was the Leek, Mushroom and Ginger with diced tomatoes.  I found it to be quite mild with Earthiness from the mushrooms and a subtle hit of ginger. The tomatoes were a nice addition as it afforded texture and some slight acidity.  In my opinion, I thought the soup could've used more salt, but Miss Y disagreed and thought that the soup was good the way it was.

Onto the main event, we decided to try the UK-themed pizza in honour of the participating country.  Taking inspiration from the British dish, Bubble & Squeak, it was a concoction of tomato sauce, mozzarella, organic beef brisket, roasted celeriac, carrots, red onion, mashed potatoes and gravy topped with horseradish sour cream drizzle. To me, it tasted like a beef stew (with tender meat) on a crunchy pizza crust.  In that sense, it was pretty good as there were many different elements that contributed both texture (loved the crunch from the carrots) and natural flavour.

Lastly, we had 2 desserts staring with the Brownie with a scoop of ice cream. This was very good as the outside was crispy and light giving way to a soft and chewy inside.  It was not overly sweet where the ice cream made up for it.  Next was the gluten-free Coconut Cheesecake.  This was pretty nice cheesecake that was smooth and only semi-sweet.  As much as I like coconut, I'm not sure if I like it in a cheesecake though.  While finishing up, we discussed how the food seemed fresh and relatively "light".  In that sense, the flavours were a bit muted due to that fact.  Could be an issue for some, but we didn't feel heavy even after all this food.  Good thing too as we needed to hightail it to the fireworks...

*Note: This was an invited dinner where all food was comped*

The Good:
- Fresh organic and free-range ingredients
- Crunchy, thin pizza crust
- Dedicated in being green

The Bad:
- Flavours are slightly muted
- Going green and using organic ingredients come at a cost