At the end of July, the organizers of WestFest held a thank-you dinner at Westboro's Newport Restaurant for the event's volunteers.

Newport Restaurant

Dining Room

There, we were presented with thank-you notes and some fine pizza.

Thank-you's

Slices of Combination and Deluxe
I can think of few better thank-you's than slices of gourmet pizza like those served at Newport. On the menu, the combination is called "Moe's Rock 'n Combo" and includes tomato sauce, peperoni, mushrooms, and green peppers. The deluxe adds bacon and olives.

Legend has it that the restaurant's owner, Moe, learned the art of pizza-making while working in the kitchens of Colonnade Pizza's original location on Metcalfe. Colonnade is one of Ottawa's famed pizzerias. Newport's pizzas sports an almost identical hand-worked crust that is also made to order. They are topped with quality fresh ingredients and real mozzarella cheese. They are baked in hot pizza ovens where both the cheese and crust develops great colour and texture.

Pizza Oven Crisped Crust

Best yet, the volunteer co-ordinator came across foodiePrints' piece on this year's WestFest. He sent printed copies of our blog entry around. In fact, our coverage seems to have urged WestFest organizers to look into having more local performers on stage and more uniform food concessions from local producers.

I should note that as we enjoyed our pizza, a caricature artist wandered the tables, drawing pictures of volunteers. Here is ours:

Me and Jenn

Both Jenn and I are looking forward to volunteering again next year when this field

Field
is again transformed into a festival ground.

WestFest

Particulars:
Newport Restaurant
334 Richmond Road
(613)722-9322

Colonnade Pizza
280 Metcalfe Street near MacLeod
(613)237-3179

More after the jump...