A SLICE OF PERFECTION

Even an extreme cold warning on a blustery January afternoon could not keep pizza lovers from grabbing a slice at Willibald Pizza in downtown Galt. The restaurant has been earning positive reviews for its food and atmosphere from residents across Waterloo Region and beyond since opening in November 2025. For head chef Brian McCourt, the warm welcome is based on more than great pizza.  

The new restaurant at 135 George St. N. in Cambridge is the second location for the Willibald team. 

“There’s a lot of creativity around Galt, but there wasn’t a community spot where you could come and get a few slices. We just wanted to have that neighborhood spot…it just gives that great community vibe of different generations all eating the same thing and enjoying it,” McCourt said. 

Owners Cam Formica, Jordan van der Heyden and Nolan Jordan van der Heyden opened the original Willibald Farm Distillery in Ayr in 2017 and added a restaurant in 2018. 

McCourt joined the restaurant as head chef after working across the Waterloo Region culinary scene. A self-described “lifelong pizza head” from his earliest memories of a pizza being delivered by motorcycle in his native Dublin, Ireland, McCourt developed his pizza skills working at Wildcraft, Bauer Kitchen, The Rich Uncle and Graffiti Market. 

After working more management roles, McCourt wanted to get back into the kitchen. 

“I wanted to get back in there, and when the Willibald opportunity came up, I put my name in the hat and that was that,” McCourt said. 

As word of mouth spread for the pizza at the Willibald Farm, McCourt said they found themselves turning more and more guests away.  

“The farm was bursting at the seams. Then I heard that the previous tenant of this space wasn’t renewing their lease. As a joke, I said, ‘We should open a pizza shop.’ Then two weeks later, they came back and asked if I was serious. I was, and that’s how Willibald Pizza was formed,” McCourt said.  

Opening a second location also presented a branding dilemma for the Willibald team. Formica worked with Toronto-based graphic designer Joel Malkin to create the brand and called upon Malkin to help adapt it for Willibald Pizza. 

“It’s challenging to balance how modern and clean the current Willibald branding is with something a bit more nostalgic feeling. We wanted it to feel like somewhere you’ve been before,” Formica said.  

Malkin incorporated influences from classic pizza shops—handwritten cursive lettering, checkerboard patterns and a Willibald-twist on one of Formica’s favourites.  

“Even the light shades—I used to go to Pizza Hut as a kid, and I just love the old Tiffany’s stained-glass lights,” Formica added.   

With the look and feel locked down, McCourt set to work on the kitchen. Willibald Pizza dough ferments for up to six days before it sees the oven. The restaurant serves up to 250 pizzas on Fridays and Saturdays. McCourt said word of mouth demand has helped the restaurant sell out pizzas on a few nights already this year.  

“We’re looking at expanding over the next few weeks to make our walk-in a little bigger so we can keep up with the demand,” McCourt added.  

But even with gourmet ingredients and a labour-intensive process, McCourt said they want to make food that is affordable as well as comforting.   

“We’re using premium ingredients. We’re giving a great product with everything sourced from Ontario, and it’s still in that price range where it’s quality. You can come here, have a quality meal in a comfortable setting and still feel satisfied,” McCourt said. 

Years ago, I once posted a recipe for chokecherry jam and a guy flipped out on me, telling me that chokecherries are deadly poison. I told him that he was wrong, and that chokecherries were eaten by my ancestors for thousands of years. They are an ingredient in pemmican. Dude went off the fricking rails so hard he had me second-guessing myself. And I grew up foraging.

I wonder why that triggered him so hard? People are weird. #chokecherries #pemmican #IndigenousFood #foraging #forager #WildCraft

I made little buttons out of shale

#wildcraft #foragedmaterials #stonework

Do you enjoy cider? If so, you should definitely check out WildCraft Cider Works! Amazing ciders from wild and rare fruit. You won't regret it!

https://www.wildcraftciderworks.com/

And .. WildCraft is going through some rough times right now. If you're able to support their efforts with a contribution of any size, they've got a GoFundMe page.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/wildcraft-is-asking-for-your-support

#WildCraft #cider #apples #sustainable #oregon

According to 1 source via book I have as well as a couple of others online that I can't find anymore, string made from cattail is a pretty powerful protection amulet of sorts (& if dyed red, it's even more protective). This is w/in the context of Serbian/Balkan(?) folk magick.

While I've found a video or 2 showing how to get the parts from the cattail that's used to make the string, I don't know the full process such as drying it & such. The video I saw never went into that much detail & I can't find any other sources to explain it.

Anybody who's made string from cattails able to explain the whole process to me?

#cattails #wildcraft #witchcraft #paganism