I don’t know why that song is stuck in my head. I am weird and I know it. My mom and step dad came in town over the weekend. My mom loves California Pizza Kitchen and was thrilled that they were now offering gluten-free pizza, so we had originally planned on heading there for dinner. However, earlier this week there was a lot of chatter on the net about CPK having some pretty major cross contamination issues. We decided it wasn’t worth the risk and headed to Marcella’s instead.
After having the pizza at Marcella’s several times, I knew it was just as good, if not better than CPK. After we were shown to our table, a manager made his way over to ask if we had any questions about the gluten-free menu. I was super-impressed that he came over to check in with us before I even had a chance to ask to speak with him. Big points! I explained that I had eaten there before and really enjoyed the pizza, but was curious to hear about the kitchen procedures to avoid cross contamination. From the description he gave me – separate everything, including ovens – I felt very comfortable. I went on to ask about the utensils, toppings & sauces and everything is separate, like it should be.
I thanked them for going taking all facets into consideration and went on to tell him why I was asking. I explained the procedures being used in the kitchen at CPK and he was appalled. He continued to check on us throughout our meal to make sure everything was okay. We had the veggie pizza & the shrimp pesto pizza. While both were good, the veggie was outstanding! It was topped with fresh arugula, my favorite! I think that the crust needs the moisture of the veggies to give it some character. I have also had the margherita pizza and it is equally as impressive.
I want to back up for am minute to share the amazing martini that I started my meal out with – it was a strawberry balsamic martini and it was phenomenal!
- Strawberry Balsamic Martini
I don’t normally order any alcoholic drinks other than wine, so this was a nice treat!
Kudos, Marcella’s for taking care of us! Perhaps California Pizza Kitchen could learn a thing or two from you.
