Tennnesy Willems

It had been a very long time since I had Tennessy Willems - nearly a decade by my estimation - so when looking for a place to eat near the cat cafe in Hintonburg, I decided to give it another go. For anyone who is new to Ottawa, the pizza scene here was very different ten years ago. Admittedly I was not actively searching for the best pizza in the city at that point, but I can tell you that the variety and quality of pizza has improved significantly, and nowadays Tennessy Willems has to work much harder than it did ten years ago to be in the top list of Ottawa pizza.

For at least a decade now, Tennessy Willems has been churning out wood-fired pizzas in their cozy little Hintonburg restaurant. Something must be working for them as the menu hasn’t changed drastically in that time. I distinctly remember my brother ordering the boar pizza and me going for the greek style pizza a long while ago, which are both still on the menu. 

This time I had a hankering for their classic Margherita, knowing that I had already tried the other one that spoke to me. (Admittedly, that was so long ago I don’t actually remember it.) But first, we started with a tasty salad of warm beets, goats cheese, and fennel. We both thoroughly enjoyed the starter and would not hesitate to order it again. I do love me some beets.

The pizzas came out with an order of garlic dipping sauce. Even though it was piping hot, I wasted no time diving in. The thing that stood out to me the most about this pizza was the cheese. I should mention that in addition to an ultra creamy fior di latte, there were also big hunks of melty shaved parmesan filling in the gaps. The cheese was an absolute dream. Each bite was flavourful, salty, and oh so creamy. It really was a delight. The sauce was nice and simple and made for the perfect base on which to build. I appreciated a good amount of basil too. Below the toppings was a lovely thin crust.

Factoring out the outer crust, this was one of the best Margs I’ve had. Like, knocked it out of the park. Where they faltered, as so many others have, is on their crust. It definitely wasn’t bad - still perfectly pleasant even. But it varied between soft and crunchy, the latter of which, in my opinion, is not preferred. Now, keep in mind, they do not bill themselves as Neapolitan pizza, so I can’t really go saying they missed the mark. While the half crunchy half soft crust was by no means a deal breaker, it did lose additional points on its lack of flavour. 

Enter the garlic dipping sauce. Unlike other pizza places that have a creamy, garlic-flavoured sauce, this one seemed to have been toum, the kind of garlic sauce you get with your shawarma. Generally made from just raw garlic and oil, it was pungent to say the least. I would have preferred a more traditional garlic-flavoured sauce but I did still use it to liven up the crust a little.

My fellow diner ordered the Napoletana pizza to “find out if he likes anchovies”. This one came with tomato sauce, fior di latte, mozzarella, red onions, capers, and anchovies. Well, it turns out he does like anchovies, but paired with capers, he said the pizza ended up overwhelming salty. 

The Margherita pizza set me back $16, which is around the middle of the pack when comparing to others around town. I would not hesitate to pay $16 for this pizza which had elements that really stood out from other margs I’ve had. If I could have Giulia’s crust with TW’s toppings, I’d have the perfect pizza. But ultimately the crust is one of the most crucial elements of a pizza.

I’ve rated Tenessy Willems six and a half out of eight slices.

What do you think? Leave a comment with your thoughts or ideas for my next spot.