Winnipeg restaurant becoming popular Hollywood hangout

The staff at Vera in Winnipeg snapped a photo with Jon Hamm (right) in October 2025. (Terik Cabildo)

A slice of Hollywood landed in a pizzeria in South Osborne.

Terik Cabildo, the owner and operator of Vera, said in the past months he has had a slew of actors stop by for a pie.

“I don’t know, maybe word-of-mouth,” he said, when asked how a cast of Hollywood stars found out about his restaurant.

In September, actors Jared Harris and Joe Pantoliano walked through the doors and dined at the Neapolitan-style pizza joint. The duo were in town filming the action comedy "Violent Night 2" with David Harbour.

Then in October, Cabildo was asked to host a private party. While initially he was hesitant, he decided to go for it. That’s when he was asked to call a California number to confirm the party details.

“As soon as she said California number, I’m like, ‘Oh, this has got to be for the movies.’ And sure enough, it was,” Cabildo told CTV News.

He first met with producer and director Adam Arkin — in town shooting a new show, “American Hostage,” starring Jon Hamm — who came by Vera to try the food. He said Arkin wanted to throw a dinner party to kick off the start of the TV shoot.

So in late October, Cabildo said California executives, writers and actors communed over pizza.

Among them, Hamm, Giovanni Ribisi, William Jackson Harper, Alan Ruck and Mireille Enos.

“It’s surprising. It’s kind of cool to have them come in,” he said. “I mean, they’re just people too, but it’s kind of, I don’t know, a little bit surreal, because it’s like, ‘Oh hey, it’s that person you see on the TV.’”

He said Hamm, best known for his role as Don Draper in the acclaimed HBO show “Mad Men,” ended up chatting with some of his staff during the evening.

“There is something about pizza that, I don’t know, it brings people together,” Cabildo said.