Last week, the team at Brodflour launched a brand new addition to their menu that has been in the works for the past few months: pizza! Available on Thursday and Friday evenings, they now have a menu section dedicated entirely to delicious, flavourful pizzas, which are baked on their sourdough crust made from freshly-milled flour.
Most Torontonians are familiar with Brodflour by now, which exploded in popularity when it hit the city's food scene back in 2019. What makes this bakery unlike others is the fact that, believe it or not, they mill their own fresh flour every day that gets turned into loaves of sourdough and challah, bagels, English muffins and even sweet treats like rye-infused brownies and salted chocolate chip cookies.
Matt Faust of the Brodflour team says that they've had an itch to create pizzas since their opening, but pandemic times are what pushed them to finally bring the idea to life. They have been conceptualizing and testing the concept for the past four months to showcase their unique flour in a new way while simultaneously filling a consumer need. Over the past year, there is no doubt that demand for comfort food has significantly increased, given the fact that many people want to enjoy a warm and cozy meal at home that they don't have to cook themselves. Pizza certainly fits the bill nicely and this iteration has the added benefit of being made with the freshest flour you can find in the city, giving it a distinct taste and nutritional profile that is hard to come by from your standard pizza joint.
Their dough-making process mirrors how they produce their bread, Matt says, but focuses specifically on two main aspects: what flours yield the tastiest dough and which fermentation time is optimal to achieve the best sourdough taste. The result is a dough that is naturally leavened for at least 24 hours, giving it that coveted tang and pleasant chew. "You'll notice our crust has a unique golden colour to it," he explains. "This is because we don't sift out all the bran from our flour -- bran is an excellent source of fibre, nutrients and minerals that in turn help you digest our pizza easier." Pizza that tastes incredible and is good for your gut? We'll take it!
The menu was designed to appeal to a range of eating preferences, and the whole team at Brodflour had input on its creation. The classics like marinara, margherita and pepperoni are present, as well as a goat cheese pie featuring sweet and spicy onion jam and a tomato-based 'nduja variety with roasted broccolini. They even offer a vegan option sans meat or cheese that uses a flavourful base of truffle and garlic sauce and gets topped with marinated zucchini, red onion, lemon zest and a bagel seed crust. House-made sauces like fermented habanero sauce, hot honey and onion jam add special finishing touches to the pizzas. They also have truffle-garlic and chipotle mayo for your dipping pleasure (the meats and cheeses are the only non-homemade components they use). The team has clearly built a well-executed collection of favourites with creative but not overly-complicated toppings, allowing the flavour and distinction of the fresh flour dough to shine.
Brodflour pizzas are available for pickup or delivery on Thursdays and Fridays from 4:30–8 p.m., and guests can call the restaurant for pickup or order via Uber Eats for delivery. To ensure snagging a pizza, phone pre-orders are also available on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 12–4 p.m. Don't miss out on this welcomed addition to the already crave-worthy menu at Toronto's beloved urban mill and bakery!
