Knowing I had an errand to do by Kensington Market, I searched Urbanspoon to see what would be open for a very late lunch. No matter how much I frequent Kensington, there was still another restaurant that I haven’t been into. This afternoon, I was in the mood for pizza and I headed towards Pizzeria Via Mercanti. Knowing that my friend Diona’s Kanto was just close by, I decided share it with her and ordered the pizza to go.
One constant challenge when visiting Kensington Market was finding parking space. Scouting the area for parking first, I found GreenP parking by Bellevue Ave which was parallel to Augusta Ave. It was also a plus that there was a narrow alleyway between the buildings on Augusta that allowed passage for pedestrians to go through. In no less than 3 minutes after I parked, I was already standing in front of the pizzeria. First time I came here without sweating looking for parking space.
Since I walked in the restaurant past 3pm, the place only had a few people dining. It was a good thing as I know I can have the leisure of having a short wait for my food. The restaurant have a cafeteria feel to it, with checkered blue or red table cloths on tables, curious fixtures hanging on its ceiling and a kitchen with a bar to allow you to view the pizzas gets thrown into a tiled oven. It shouldn’t need too much guessing where I sat whilst I wait.
After perusing the menu, I decided to have two orders of arancini for starters and Patate e Pancetta (Pizza with olive oil, potato and pancetta). The person who took my order was good-natured and thoughtful, asking for whether I needed a drink while I wait. Taking a glass of water, I settled on the bar in front of the tiled oven and started snapping pictures of the cook prepping my pizza. For a foodie like me, it was mesmerizing to watch the dough rise, bubble and get toasted very quickly. Like a paparazzi, I took pictures as the cook worked, flipped, checked the pizza inside the oven. I especially was short of becoming giddy when he took a moment to stop and show me my potato pizza before placing it in the box. Ah, he really must be used to people taking pictures of him working. I was thankful that he was an understanding person. It sure does add to the experience.
A few minutes later, I was handed another container which was the arancini. I was curious that the container was a bit bigger than I expected. Bringing the food to the car, I took a peek and was surprised at the size of the arancini. It looked like thick risotto patties rather than risotto balls. I was glad I did not order three. It would have been too much food.
In another 5 minutes, I was at Kanto splitting the food with Diona, her mom and me. It was good to bite into warm pizza in the slightly chilled afternoon air in good company. A slice of the pizza and one arancini was enough to pacify me. The guilt of not finishing all of it was not too much as there was Diona and her mom to share the food with. I guess I found another go-to landmark at Kensington market. It really never ceases to amaze me the gems I discover each time I visit.
Food Trippin' 
Posted on March 28, 2013
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