Ottawa’s newest pizza joint Farinella is an instant favourite and perfect for summer. Occupying an industrial space in Little Italy on Rochester St., Farinella is just one of the many new additions this year making it Ottawa’s up and coming foodie neighbourhood.

The owner Cesare Agostini has a great story that you can read on their website. Raised in Ottawa he bounced around restaurants in the city, including Ottawa’s original hot restaurant Domos Cafe before it closed. He then worked in kitchens in Italy and returned to Ottawa and worked at one of my personal favourites, North and Navy before moving back to Rome and working in some of the top kitchen in Italy. Cesare’s sister Nina who he opened Farinella with this year also worked in Italy where she learned the art of making gelato.

Farinella has a unique menu concept in Ottawa where you go up to the counter and say how big a slice you want and then they weight it. They have four different pizza options, mozzarella, veggie, meat and rossa. The veggie and meat toppings change so you never really know what’s going to come out of the oven. The pizza was delicious and the price was great. We also tried to gelato, a lot of the flavours were vegan or dairy free so people with dietary restrictions can enjoy too. I tried the vegan strawberry, vegan apricot and dairy free dark chocolate. All were delicious but I felt like they weren’t quite as good as ones I’d had in Italy.

Farinella has become my new favourite pizza spot in Ottawa. The seating is limited and mostly outdoor so it’s best to enjoy while the weather is nice but you can always take it to go.