Goodlife Modern Organic Pizza

I had high hopes for this restaurant - it's organic, carbon neutral, and obviously cares about good food and the planet, so I assumed it would be vegetarian friendly. I was a huge fan before I re-vegetarianised. But, on the night I was there, I asked the waitress whether the cheese on the vegetarian pizzas contained animal rennet, and she told me it did. It took some time to establish this, the waitress didn't know what I was talking about. I know not all vegetarians get this fussy - let's face it, when you've got limited menu choices, some standards often have to be let go - but this one is important to me, because one of my chief concerns is that often vegetarian options aren't necessarily vegetarian, and, for me, pizza with animal rennet cheese comes under this category.

However, I rang the restaurant later on to check this - it just didn't gel with my assessment of the place, and this is my first blog, so I want to get it right, and another waitress tells me the cheese doesn't contain animal rennet. So perhaps its an issue of staff knowledge, and that can be really tricky when you're relying on them to know what they're talking about. Anyway, I'm hoping this second is correct. But it's probably worth checking this out again when you go - and let me know what answer you get. The veg pizzas have mozzarella on them, and it is possible, though a little difficult, to find animal rennet free mozzarella, so it's not outside the realms of possibility that it's animal rennet free. Or perhaps I'm just so in love with this restaurant I really want to believe!

Anyway, the night of the rennet/no rennet, I had the Swiss Brown Mushrooms Pizza, which has aioli instead of cheese, and which is really really (really really really) good. Thick-cut, deeply flavoursome mushrooms on a crisp, wheaty base, which, together with the garlicky silky, lemony aioli, is a taste sensation. Other options are the sides of ORGANIC ROAST VEGETABLES or HAHNDORF MIXED LETTUCE SALAD, though if everyone around you is enjoying fantastic pizzas, eating these can feel a bit sad and lonely.

The tapenade on the entree “TASTE SA” AN ENTRÉE STYLE STARTER PLATE has anchovies in it, and I don't know now whether the goats cheese has animal rennet in it. I assumed on the night I was there that it did, based on the waitress' information that all their cheese contains animal rennet, but now in light of this new information, who knows. Check this one out for yourself. If it does, you're left with the dukkah and bread, which is not bad.

I've had both of their other vegetarian pizzas, the Margarita and the Seasonal Roast Organic Vegetables on previous occasions before I re-veged and became a cheese Nazi! They're pretty good, though the Margarita is better - the vegies on the second just seem a bit disparate and never really come together into a coherent and deep flavour. I'm always looking for its essence, but not finding it. The mushroom remains my favourite for flavour and should be enjoyed by vegetarians everywhere. They do offer a vegan option of no cheese, so this could be a possibility as well.

If you're keen to try them out, here's their website: http://www.goodlifepizza.com/ They have restaurants in the city on Hutt Street, North Adelaide, and Glenelg.