“Vintage” is a byword in fashion; now it is also a trend in pizza.
California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) brings back for a limited run its “vintage pizzas,” or pizzas that have been loved but had been off the menu for a while. These include Goat Cheese Pizza, Peking Duck Pizza, Tostada Chicken Pizza, Santa Fe Chicken Pizza and Teriyaki Chicken Pizza. These were part of the original CPK menu from over 20 years ago, and each had a key “California” flavor.
While the classic BBQ Chicken Pizza is the consistent house bestseller, these vintage pizzas give frequent diners other choices and recent diners something new. All are available until Aug. 31.
Goat cheese, Peking duck
CPK regional director Grace P. de Leon recently introduced the vintage pizzas over lunch in the Greenbelt 5 branch.
Cheese lovers will love the Goat Cheese Pizza. It has a generous topping of goat cheese, mozzarella, sautéed onion, grilled eggplant, red and yellow peppers, tomato sauce, parsley. The grilled eggplant gives a toasted flavor that goes well with the nippy goat cheese.
Hoisin-ginger sauce brings out the oriental flavor in the Peking Duck Pizza, which has roasted duck, shiitake mushrooms and mozzarella. It is garnished with slivered scallions and strips of fried wanton wrappers for added crunch.
For some Tex-Mex flavor, the Tostada Chicken Pizza has mashed black beans as base instead of the usual tomato sauce. It qualifies as a “salad” pizza with toppings such as Monterey Jack cheese and Queso Quesadilla cheeses, grilled chicken breast, lettuce, tomato salsa, scallion greens and crispy tortilla strips. Ranch dressing gives it a tangy twist.
Santa Fe Chicken Pizza is an herb-y, fresh-tasting pizza with cilantro, tomato salsa, sour cream and fresh guacamole. It has a caramelized-onion base topped with chopped chicken breast, caramelized onions and Mozzarella cheese.
An “honorary” vintage pizza is the Teriyaki Chicken Pizza. It is a new offering from CPK, but goes well with the flavors of the vintage pizza roster. Teriyaki-ginger sauce gives it a sweet
Asian flavor that complements the teriyaki chicken strips. It also has cheese, red and yellow peppers, red onions and scallions.
Those who want to try all vintage pizzas may avail themselves of the CPK Vintage Pizza Passport promo. Diners get a stamp for every purchase of a vintage pizza; those who order all five pizzas can exchange the fully stamped passport for P500 worth of CPK gift certificates.
Hand-stretched crust
One may ask, if the pizzas are that good, why were they taken off the menu?
“We believe food isn’t meant to be timeless. It should be surprising, delightful and accessible,” said Archie Rodriguez, Global Restaurant Concepts Inc. (GRCI) president and CEO, in a statement. GRCI holds the Philippine CPK franchise.
“The vintage pizzas are improved with the hand-stretched pizza dough recipe,” he said. “They were all bestsellers. We redid the dough, and it now enhances all the ingredients.”
Honey gives a hint of sweetness to CPK pizza crusts, explained marketing manager Ellen Bernales. To make vintage pizzas more special, the toppings will be baked on hand-stretched crust. Hand-stretching, she said, makes the crust fluffier and more flavorful. It also gives the crust an uneven finish around the edges, giving the pizza a homemade feel.
Hand-stretched crust also stays crunchy longer, added regional director for north stores Gerald Caesar Silva.
All CPK pizzas will eventually be made with hand-stretched crust, instead of the present machine-pressed crusts, added Bernales. And, in keeping up with the California theme, all CPK stores will also be redesigned to have brighter, friendlier interiors reminiscent of sunny California.
CPK is at Alabang Town Center, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Greenhills Promenade Mall, TriNoma, Power Plant Mall, Greenbelt 5, Lucky Chinatown Mall, Subic Harbor Point Mall and W Global Center in Bonifacio Global City. Visit www.facebook.com/CPKPhilippines.