Recchiuti Confections

If you've ever been to the Ferry Building, you've probably seen Recchiuti Confections.  It is a chocolate shop, offering up an assortment of truffles, bars, and other treats.  If you are lucky, as you pass by, they'll offer a sample of their chocolate fudge or caramel sauces.  When they ask, "chocolate or caramel?" the correct answer is "yes".  Their goods are also sold all over town.

Their products certainly aren't bad, but they also just aren't that great.  I know some of my friends will seriously disagree with me here, as they love the place.  The chocolate is quality, sourced from E. Guittard, El Rey, and Valrhona.  Their combinations range from really creative, to higher quality takes on classics like Whoppers and York Peppermint Patties.  I always really want to like their stuff, but somehow, it never impresses, certainly not worth the cost.

Truffles

Star Anise & Pink Peppercorn.

“Fragrant star anise and crushed pink peppercorn infused in semi-sweet chocolate ganache. Enrobed in pure milk chocolate and tipped with Venezuelan white chocolate.”

Yup, this tasted like pink peppercorn.  Different for sure, but really just not what I want in my chocolate.

Spring Jasmine Tea.

“Delicate jasmine blossoms and green tea leaves infused in extra-bitter chocolate ganache. Enrobed in pure milk chocolate and marbleized with 65% bittersweet chocolate.”

This one was really interesting. The dark chocolate ganache was creamy and intense, yet it was balanced by a very lovely jasmine flavor. I didn’t taste the green tea, but the jasmine was most certainly present.  Not overbearing.  A very fascinating, successful, combination.

Burnt Caramel.

"Michael Recchiuti’s signature piece. Dark, smoky caramel blended with 70% dark chocolate ganache. Enrobed in our semisweet chocolate."

This is their signature item, but to me, it is just another dark chocolate with caramel ganache.  Nothing stood out in particular - the dark chocolate coating is fine, but not particularly flavorful or bitter.  The filling is smooth, but the burnt caramel flavor is pretty subtle, particularly the “burnt” part.  Would not purchase.  

Update Reviews: [ Again, do not really taste the caramel.  Chocolate is nice and smooth. ] [ Again, unremarkable.  Not bad, not good. ]

Burnt Caramel.

"Michael Recchiuti’s signature piece. Dark, smoky caramel blended with 70% dark chocolate ganache. Enrobed in our semisweet chocolate."

I've had this chocolate many times, as it is their signature piece, and I never quite know how to feel about it.

On one hand, its not a bad piece.  The chocolate shell is really quite smooth, dark, although a touch sweet.

But the filling is never what I expect it to be.  Because the caramel is a dark caramel, and it is blended with the 70% dark chocolate ganache, it is hard to recognize it as what I think of as "caramel".  That doesn't mean it is bad, just, that my brain never quite understands what is going on.  The filling is very, very smooth, it is thick, and it is sweet, but not in a caramel way, if that makes sense.

So it is fine, fairly unique I guess, but I don't find myself wanting more of these.

Burnt Caramel.

"Michael Recchiuti’s signature piece. Dark, smoky caramel blended with 70% dark chocolate ganache. Enrobed in our semisweet chocolate."

I've had this chocolate many times, as it is their signature piece, and I never quite know how to feel about it.

On one hand, its not a bad piece.  The chocolate shell is really quite smooth, dark, although a touch sweet.

But the filling is never what I expect it to be.  Because the caramel is a dark caramel, and it is blended with the 70% dark chocolate ganache, it is hard to recognize it as what I think of as "caramel".  That doesn't mean it is bad, just, that my brain never quite understands what is going on.  The filling is very, very smooth, it is thick, and it is sweet, but not in a caramel way, if that makes sense.

So it is fine, fairly unique I guess, but I don't find myself wanting more of these.

Cacao Nib and Fleur de Sel Mendiant.

"A little salty, a little sweet and a whole lot of crunch and snap! We've reinvented a traditional European confection with our Cacao Nib and Fleur de Sel Mendiants. Our custom semisweet chocolate blend is topped with crunchy caramelized cacao nibs and finished with a touch of fleur de sel."

This is simple piece, but actually my favorite.

Very smooth dark chocolate.  Touch of crunch from the nibs on top.  Hint of sea salt to amp it up.

Simple, classic, but well executed.

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• Honeycomb Malt: “Organic barley malt infusion, blended in a white chocolate ganache and highlighted with the sweet smokiness of house-made honeycomb. “ Tasting notes: The white chocolate was not too sweet at all (often a problem with white chocolates, they tend to just be sweet and have nothing more to them).  The honeycomb was a good flavor and left a very enjoyable honey flavored sweet aftertaste.  I wouldn’t purchase this, but it was good for what it was.
• Lemon Verbena: “Fresh lemon verbena infusion blended in extra-bitter chocolate ganache. Enrobed in pure bittersweet chocolate.”  Tasting notes: The chocolate was decently dark, but I didn’t taste the lemon verbena infusion.
• Force Noir: “Silky 70% extra-bitter chocolate ganache infused with whole vanilla bean. Enrobed in pure bittersweet chocolate.”  Tasting notes: Very creamy filling, quite good.

Bars

• Semisweet: Tasting notes: just dark chocolate, nothing standout.

Fruits

Key Lime Pear.

"Delicately tart Key lime juice kisses each pear crisp bathed in smooth, dark chocolate."

I didn't really taste the lime in here.  The pear was super thinly sliced, and I loved the crunch.  High quality dark chocolate.  I liked this quite a bit and easily polished off the box.

Candied Orange Peel.

"Fresh orange peel is candied in-house and painstakingly cut by hand before being enrobed in smooth semisweet chocolate."

Unlike the limes, this had a very strong orange flavor.  It was also soft, rather than crispy.  I think would pair beautifully with a glass of scotch!

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Chocolate Covered Dried Cherry

"Dried Michigan tart cherries drenched in dark chocolate with a light dusting of cocoa powder. "

Very flavorful tart cherry inside.  Good quality bitter dark chocolate.  Both the cherry and chocolate flavors come through really nicely, neither overpowers, really good ratio of chocolate/fruit. Yum yum yum!

My favorite of their pieces.

Snacks

• Malted Revolution: "Crunchy malted cookie center, hand coated with layers of our custom dark milk chocolate blend. An accent of Fleur de Sel is added before a final revolution of chocolate." Tasting notes: The center is much more crisp than a Whooper.  Likewise, it didn't dissolve on the tongue in the fun way a Whooper does.  The center was far more malty than a Whooper.  The dark chocolate is obviously higher quality than the chocolate on a Whooper, but it actually doesn’t work as well.  I didn’t pick up on the fluer de sel at all.  This piece was lost on me, even though I really wanted to like it.
• Peppermint Thin: “Organic Willamette Valley peppermint drenched in our custom blend of 64% semisweet chocolate.”.  Tasting notes: This was very thin, with about an equal amount of chocolate as filling.  As a result, it wasn’t minty enough for me.  The majority flavor was the chocolate, with the filling giving a nice creaminess  but not much more.  I haven’t had a York peppermint patty in years, so I can’t compare, but I remember them having much more filling and being more minty.
• Peanut Butter Pearls: “Pearls of creamy organic peanut butter and dark milk chocolate with a crispy center. ”. Tasting notes: The milk chocolate was nice and creamy, but there wasn’t much peanut butter flavor.  Or at least, not nearly enough for me!

Sweets

• Pear-Lime Pâtes de Fruits: Covered in large amount of sugar.  Decent flavor, nice consistency.  I don’t love pâtes de fruits in general, but this was good for what it was.

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Sirabella Cheesecake

Cheesecake.  Not exactly the item that comes to mind when you think "vegan", yet, vegan cheesecake has become more and more of a thing lately, like that made by Sirabella.  

“We taste tested non-vegan and non-lactose intolerant consumers.  They could not tell the difference between our dairy free cheesecake and regular cheesecake.  Our Italian bakery will still provide that rich creamy filling with the golden brown graham cracker bottom.”

I was told by members of our catering team, who had tried this cheesecake before, that it was good.  I didn't really believe them, and never ordered it for my team.  And then one day, the vendor was doing a pop-up event at my office, and had samples.  Now that I was willing to try,  As a dessert lover, I'll admit that I was kinda a jerk and did not believe the claim, and just wanted to "prove it".

Sirabella makes many flavors, mostly based on a classic New York, with assorted fruity toppings.  They don't have a bakery storefront, but ship nationwide, and are found at many grocery stores and the like, available wholesale as well.  We only had the classic New York.

Vegan New York.

"Vegan, Dairy Free, New York cheesecake, direct from New York."

I was really, really pleasantly surprised.  Did it taste like standard cheesecake?  No, not at all.  But, it was a good product.

The texture and consistency were right - smooth, creamy but firm.  The crust was not a throwaway, not mush nor too hard, rather, a slightly caramely soft-firm base, better than most cheesecakes.  And the cheesecake itself?  It had a interesting flavor, a bit hard to describe, not soy forward, not plastic-y ... just, different.

If you wanted classic cream cheese flavor, you wouldn't' find it here, but for a nice, sweet, creamy, vegan treat, this truly was tasty.

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Joe's Steam Rice Roll, NYC

When one is in New York, there are obviously countless options for dining, from high end to hot dogs from a cart, and everything in-between.  While I certainly have sought out well known higher end and mid-range restaurants, sometimes I just want something simple, tasty, and convenient, so when I was traveling, and worn out my first night in town, I consulted my handy list and Joe's Steam Rice Roll jumped out at me.  Ok, perhaps because it was literally right around the corner from my hotel, but, my notes promised me that people adore the place.

Don't expect to learn much about Joe's Steam Rice Roll though - they have no website, no phone number even.

Tasty Meal.

Joe's Steam Rice Roll is known mostly for one item: the namesake rice noodle rolls, Cantonese-style cheong fun, which, uh, I didn't get.  I like rice noodle rolls, usually something I get at dim sum, but the crepe-like jianbing is what drew me in, even though it was a new item to me.

I enjoyed the entire experience, and was pleased with my pick.

Setting

Joe's Rice Noodle Rolls has two locations, one in Queens, and then the one I visited, located inside the Canal Street Market.

Simplicity.

I appreciated the simplicity of the signage for Canal Street Market. 

Joe's Stand.

Inside is a food court basically, with multiple vendors around the edges of the area.

Standing Table.

There are some standing tables, for quick consumption, but most people seemed to grab their items to-go.

Menu

Menu.

The Joe's menu isn't large, but it had more items than I expected, obviously the rice rolls in several varieties, but also things like curry fish balls.

Crepe Menu.

And then of course, what I got, the Chinese crepe-like pancakes - jianbing.

Crepe Making.

Every item is made to order, and although each one doesn't take that long to prepare, the constant flow of people did result in a bit of a wait, since the crepe making space only fits one at a time.  I enjoyed watching all the action.

Food

As I mentioned, the jianbing was an entirely new food item for me.  Which, was quite exciting.  It also meant I had no idea what to expect.

The wait was agonizing.  Partially because I was starving, but also, because it took far longer than I expected.  Crepes were made one by one, so, well, it took a while, as there were many orders ahead of me (I wasn't the only one not getting the signature rice noodle rolls, although, those were certainly more common).  Most people seemed to be in groups, sharing some of each.

My order came handed over with a set of ... plastic gloves.  Huh?  And, unlike the people I saw picking up rice noodle rolls, I wasn't given containers for sauces.  Utensils only consisted of forks and spoons (or chopsticks), so, clearly I wasn't supposed to coat this in sauce and cut it up with a knife.  Was I supposed to go sauceless?  Should I dunk it?  Why did I need gloves? I had no idea what I was doing, clearly.

Sauce Station: Peanut butter and sesame sauce, chili oil, hoisin, soy, siracha.

I had read so much about Joe's sauces though, particularly the spicy chili oil (in the plastic bucket in back) and the peanut sesame sauce.  I really wanted to try them, so I asked for containers anyway, and filled them with the spicy chile, the hoisin, and the peanut sauce.  Just in case.

The spicy chile oil was indeed spicy, and I loved the heat it added, although it was oily (it is oil after all ...).

The peanut sauce was thick and rich, nutty, and something I'd certainly love in some context, but it didn't go great with my crepe.

The hoisin was fairly standard hoisin.

Joe's Crepe (crab stick and pork floss). Spicy mayo version. $7. 

"Lettuce, egg, scallion, cilantro, spicy sauce."

For my crepe, I had the choice of crab stick, pork floss, or sausage.  I couldn't decide between the two, as I love crab stick (yes, really) but pork floss also has its place.  I asked the server which he recommended, and he said that the pork floss was definitely the most popular.  I asked if I could do a combo of both, and he said that was no problem.  I was not charged extra.

The next decision I had to make was spicy or not.  I said spicy.  And then I had to decide between a spicy mayo, or sriracha.  Duh.  Of course I wanted spicy mayo.

The crepe shell was fascinating to me, very unlike anything I've had before.  It was much thinner than it looked, and softer.  For some reason, I thought it would be thicker and crispier.  It was quite pliable, and had a nice flavor from the sesame seeds sprinkled in.  It was rather oily, which, if I was picking it up as street food, which I think I was supposed to be doing, it would have been messy.  Hence the gloves?

Some bites tasted more eggy than I liked, but that is just me not really liking eggs.

Oh, it was also quite large.  I expected something half this size.  No wonder most people were splitting them.

Joe's Crepe: Side View.

The inside though was even more fascinating, here you can see a cross section, with the crepe folds on the outside.

I knew it would have crab stick, pork floss, and mayo, since I selected those.  I knew from the description that all crepes have lettuce, scallion, and parsley.  But ... when I bit in, something crunchy came falling out.

Crunch?!  This turns out to be normal in Chinese style crepes, it was a baocui, a fried cracker.  Super thin, crispy, and I loved the crunch.

Joe's Crepe: Inside.

I pulled back the crepe to get a glimpse of the rest of the fillings.  I had no idea what other surprises lie inside.  Spoiler: no other surprises.

The lettuce was juicy and slightly wilty, and something I do like.  Cooked lettuce has its place.  I would have even liked more, to cut the oil a bit.  The crab stick was pretty average, and didn't have much flavor.  It was nice with the spicy mayo, but there was barely any of that.  I was sad by how little spicy mayo I found.  The pork floss was salty and tasty, and I'm glad I selected it too.

Overall, this took a little getting used to.  I couldn't decide how I felt about it at first, picking it up as a sandwich, then tasting components individually.  But in teh end, I did cut it up, and I did add tons of hoisin and chile oil, and really enjoyed it.  It grew on me, quickly.  But I think I wasn't supposed to add sauces, and certainly wasn't supposed to be cutting it up (I had to get a knife from another vendor).

I enjoyed this, but I'm not sure I'd get another.  It was unique to me, and fun, but maybe I should go for the signature item next time?

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California Pizza Kitchen

Update Review, August 2021

Another year, another birthday freebie dessert to redeem at CPK.  After the success of last's years Red Velvet Cake a la mode, I was pretty tempted to get it again.  And of course, I toyed with the idea of getting the pudding again, because even though my second year of getting it was mediocre, I sure did love it the first year.   But I decided to go rogue and try another new item ...

Bread & Dipping Oil (Complimentary).

Well, this was amusing.  In the days of "zomg, they charge for bread?!" outrage, CPK included it, sans my asking, in my takeout order ... which was dessert only.  Lol.  I assume they just include it standard and didn't pay any attention to the contents of my order?

The bread was two hunks, that looked hand torn.  The bread was soft, nice chew, but, ugh, sourdough.

The oil was good though, seemed high quality, good flavor to the oil, some herbs.

Sad this was sourdough, otherwise, decent quality.

Key Lime Pie. $7.49.

"On a graham cracker crust with housemade whipped cream."

I didn't ask for the whipped cream on the side, but it came separate.  The crust was broken off (and missing) on one corner.

The pie was ... well, key lime pie.  With graham cracker crust.  If you read my blog frequently, you know that I don't really like lemon nor lime desserts, and I generally call graham cracker crust "throwaway" and liken it to sawdust.

The pie was smooth and creamy, a nicely set custard, that, well tasted like tangy (sweet) lime.  The crust was fairly thick, crumbly, buttery, sweet, but ... yeah, graham cracker crust.  It was a perfectly fine key lime pie.  Probably even a good one.  I liked the slice of lime on top for garnish.  But ... it was still a key lime pie, and just isn't something I'll ever get excited about.  It was also just far too sweet on its own, and needed copious amounts of whipped cream (and, fresh blackberries that I added) to cut the sweet.

The "homemade" whipped cream I'm still skeptical of, it deflated quickly, but, it did have a decent "cream" taste to it, so perhaps it is made with real cream.

I wouldn't get this again, but, I really think this is personal preference, and this was a good key lime pie.  ***.

Update Review, January 2021

Another year, another birthday freebie to redeem at CPK.  After really hating the famous butter cake last year, I almost just went back to the tried and true salted caramel pudding, but, at last minute, I decided to mix it up again, and try something different: the red velvet cake.  I'm not normally a cake person, but, for some reason, I was really in the mood for cake ...

Red Velvet Cake. $7.99. A la Mode. $2.25.

"Frosted with hand-whipped vanilla bean cream cheese and white chocolate curls. Also available with vanilla Häagen Dazs."

Red velvet cake.  So random, I know, as I generally am not all that excited about cake, and red velvet I'm particularly opinionated on.  But ... I dunno, I was craving cake?

My order came with whipped cream (standard garnish?), and I also made it a la mode (because, cake needs ice cream!), each of which came packaged separately for takeout.

The cake was actually decent, a large slice, 3 layers, moist enough cake.  It even had a slight tang to it, like a red velvet should.  Not remarkable, but really not bad.

The frosting was quite heavy, as is often the case with cream cheese frosting, but it almost seemed like a cheesecake more than a frosting.  Very, very rich, very very heavy.  I'm a frosting girl, through and through, but I found I enjoyed this more as just the cake, with either whipped cream or ice cream.

I did like the white chocolate shavings on the backside.

The birthday reward does not normally include ice cream (you can pay extra), but, the lovely staff at my location threw it in for free - thank you!!!  It is just vanilla Häagen Dazs, but, I really do love vanilla Häagen Dazs, I think it is remarkably good, reliable vanilla.

I ended up treating this as two individual desserts - a red velvet cake (without much frosting) with ice cream and a "cheesecake" with whipped cream, basically, the frosting and whip.  I did have some all composed of course, but I enjoyed it the most in my deconstructed form.

As you may expect, this is not a light dessert, clocking in at 960 Calories for just the cake, plus 280 if you get the ice cream, and the whipped cream ... 

I appreciated my dessert, but I am not sure I'd get this one again.

***+.

Update Review, September 2019

I've long known about the "famous" butter cake from CPK.  If you do *any* research at all into what dessert to get at CPK, you will read the accolades.  People go nuts for this cake.  They have created dozens of copycat recipes.  They adore it.

I finally tried it.

I did not adore it.  I did not even like it.  I didn't even ... tolerate it?  This was so far from a winner for me.

But let me start from the beginning.

Every year, I go to CPK around my birthday (read on below for past reviews), to redeem my birthday freebie.  I've always gotten the salted caramel pudding, as, well, I love pudding, I got it once and enjoyed it, and the other menu options really don't sound appealing (key lime pie - I don't like citrus desserts, red velvet cake - kinda eh for me, and something we have often at my office,  chocolate molten cake - always a crowd pleaser, but rarely the thing I really want).

But this year, CPK introduced a strawberry shortcake to the menu, that looked classic, and, gets good reviews.  Shortcake biscuits with beautiful pearl sugar tops, fresh berries, stewed berries, whipped cream ... it sounded, and looked, great to me.  I was very eager to get it, and placed my order for it.

I waited in anticipation.  And then I waited some more.  And some more.  I sent a grumpy txt to a friend about how long I was waiting.  Around the 30 minute mark (!) I was called over and told the news: they no longer have that item.  Seasonal special.  In its place, I could have the new seasonal item: a ice cream sundae with sliced apples and caramel sauce.

Um, thanks.

I was ... let's just say a bit annoyed.  I had waited a long time AND it took them that long to realize they don't have what I ordered?  Sigh.  I turned down the suggested apple sundae (I don't like apples, and it wasn't ice cream weather), and considered my options.  Since I was making a fast decision, I decided to finally try the butter cake, given just how much everyone else seems to like it.

Butter Cake. $7.99.

"Trust us... Just try it. Served warm with housemade whipped cream."

So, here it is.  The butter cake.  The very famous butter cake.

I'll give them one credit: it was served warm.

But ... um ... this cake.  Was one of the most boring desserts I've ever had in my life.

It was ... just a cake.  It was a dense cake.  Not really moist, not really dry.  It just was.  A sweet cake, but it had no real flavor of any kind to it.  The top tiny bit was different from the rest, and it seemed like it *should* taste different, as visually it was a bit different, but ... it all tasted the same.  Plain.  Boring.

I kept thinking I was missing something.  Was there a caramel sauce or something that was forgotten?  Was there something hiding in the center that would come oozing out?  Nope, and nope.

It is just a plain cake.  A plain cake with a high butter content.  So high, that this cake, this actually kinda small, definitely single serving, little cake has ... wait for it ... 1100 calories.  Yeah, what?  How is that even possible (and 73g fat, 64g sugar, but hey, 10g protein)!

I just don't understand.  The whipped cream on the side was standard whipped cream, and really didn't seem housemade, but if they say so.  It deflated immediately.  It didn't really add anything to this cake.

Perhaps this would be better a la mode, which is an option, for $2.25 (and 280 calories) more.  I desperately wanted some kind of crunch element, perhaps some candied buttered pecans?

I wanted anything ... except this.

Update Review, October 2018

I don't often go to California Pizza Kitchen, since I'm not really that into pizza, but last year, when I had a birthday freebie to redeem, I discovered a dessert there that I loved: salted caramel pudding.  It was fabulous, as you read about them.

On this visit, I was inspired to get that pudding again, but almost went off course and opted for another dessert, as my research tells me the butter cake really is a thing of wonder.  Next time ... 

I ordered through the app for the first time, which was quite easy, placing my pickup order when I was a few blocks away.  It was being finished right as I arrived.  Perfect!

Interior.

My visit was to the San Francisco location.

The restaurant is quite large, with bar seating, a huge inside seating area, and large patio.  And at 12:30pm on a Sunday, the restaurant was nearly vacant.  Two guys sat at the bar, and two tables were occupied.  I am not sure if this is normal, but if so, how can they afford the rent in SF?!

I was getting takeout though, as was one person ahead of me with a large catering order.  The open kitchen allowed me to see the action, and they did seem to be making plenty of pizzas, all just getting boxed up.  Maybe everyone just does takeout from here these days?

Salted Caramel Pudding. $6.29.

"Rich caramel pudding, black cocoa cookie crumbs, housemade whipped cream, caramel sauce and natural flaked Maldon sea salt." 

My treat was handed over in the same kind of takeout cup as last time.  However, um, it looked quite a bit different.

Left: 2017. Right: 2018.

The ratios were all off.  Last year, the primary component was the pudding, this year, far less pudding, with an equal amount of whipped cream.  The cup wasn't full.  And where was the caramel sauce on top?

I asked the person handing it over, "isn't it supposed to have caramel sauce on top?"  He confirmed it was, and took it back.  I worried it also didn't have the Maldon sea salt on top, but that was harder to see visually.  I hoped they would fix both.

Salted Caramel Pudding: Fixed?

It came back ... with caramel, yes.  A big glob right in the center.  Clearly, whoever added it was annoyed that I sent it back.  But come on, its supposed to have caramel!

It certainly did not have the salt either, which was sad, as this is a very very sweet dessert without it.

Like last time, I found it extremely frustrating to eat.  The first spoonful, all whipped cream (and caramel glob).  I could work to dig for the pudding, but getting the crumble too, at least while eating the first *half* of the cup, was nearly impossible.  And this is a dessert that really does need all components to work.

But that was all true last time, and I still loved it.  This time however ... my experience was just not as positive.

The whipped cream deflated almost instantly.  It seemed like very light whipped cream from a can, not "housemade" and not able to hold up for even 5 minutes as I ate it.  It was necessary though, to balance the caramel pudding.

The caramel pudding was sweet.  Too sweet.  I noted that last time too, but when it combined with the cookie crumbs and whip it worked last time, although, yes, still quite sweet.  This time I just found it cloying, and one note, certainly not salted, and with just some deflated whipped cream and extra glob of sweet caramel it wasn't enjoyable.

I dug desperately for the cookie crumbs, knowing they were essential and would make a difference.  And they did.  But ... cookie crumbs tasted stale this time, all clumped together, and even almost freezer burned tasting.  Not very good.  But again, necessary, both for the texture, but also the contrast to the too sweet pudding.

Overall, this just made me very sad.  It wasn't good, and it wasn't anything like my memory of only a year ago.  Once I mixed everything together, it was certainly better, like a very sweet version of a "dirt cake" I had growing up, but really nothing like last year.

I'm not sure if I'd try it again, or venture out to try the crazy butter cake, or red velvet cake, or just give up on desserts at CPK entirely ...

August 2017 Review

My last visit to California  Pizza Kitchen was in 2013, when they had a promo for a free appetizer.  I didn't like it.  I said I had no reason to return.

But this year, while arranging my birthday freebie crawl, I saw that I could get a dessert for free.  Well, I'm a dessert girl, no matter the quality, so I quickly added it to my itinerary.

I visited the San Francisco location, and opted to get it to go, since I was coming straight from another birthday freebie, and planned to bring it home to have later.  Ordering was simple, they have a dedicated take out ordering/pickup/waiting area to the side of the bar (with its own entrance actually).

The staff were very friendly, multiple people said happy birthday, no one seemed at all offended that I was coming just to get my free dessert, not ordering anything else, and taking it to go.  They talked me to about how good the pudding was.  It was ready within just a few minutes, and handed over with a spoon and napkin.

The entire experience was incredibly pleasant, and the item I selected?  Delicious.  I'll be back. 

Dessert Menu.

The dessert menu had an assortment of tempting options.  Crowd pleasers for sure, but, turns out, that works for me.

First, "Butter cake".  What is butter cake?  I'm not entirely sure, but, it sounded possibly awesome.  Yes, the menu actually just says "Trust us ... just try it!" as the description.  If I was dining in, I probably would have gone with that option, but since it was served warm (with whipped cream or ice cream), it didn't seem like a good choice to take out.  Also, gulp, 1380 calories!

The seasonal special, not listed on this menu, was strawberry shortcake, also tempting.  I love a good strawberry shortcake, but, to be honest, I kinda doubted how fresh the berries really would be.  Even the red velvet cake sorta called out, though I'm not a cake girl.  At least I was able to easily look past the key lime pie (I'm not one for citrus desserts) and the warm chocolate souffle cake (clearly needs to be eaten there).

Which lead me to the salted caramel pudding.  As if it was really a contest, given both my absolute love of pudding, and the fact that I was not able to find a single bad review of it.  People love it.

Salted Caramel Pudding. $6.29.

"Rich caramel pudding, black cocoa cookie crumbs, housemade whipped cream, caramel sauce and natural flaked Maldon sea salt."

When you dine in, it comes in a cute little canning jar.  For takeout, they used a plastic beverage cup.  I didn't mind, as my portion easily looked twice as large as the little canning jar photos I had seen.

It was a layered creation, with the cookie crumbs at the base, the pudding in the middle, and topped with whipped cream and drizzled with caramel sauce.

I didn't wait more than two steps out the door to at least try a bite, even though I was intending to save it for later.

My first bite was indicative of the difficulty eating it I would have.  The bite was entirely whipped cream (and caramel sauce).  It tasted like generic canned whipped cream, which is fine, but they do say it is housemade.  The caramel tasted like the standard stuff you get on an ice cream sundae, or at Starbucks.  That caramel on top didn't seem salted, and I didn't see any flakes of Maldon on top.

I dug deeper, trying to get to the pudding.  I succeeded, and came out with a bite of pudding and whip.  And ... I was impressed.  That was very, very good pudding.  It was a thinner consistency than I'd expect, almost runny, but the flavor was so good I didn't mind.  Sweet, rich, deep flavor.  I worked hard to get a spoonful of just the pudding.  The result?  Well, it was too sweet, actually.  The pudding alone was cloyingly sweet.  Even though I wasn't excited about the generic whipped cream, it did help cut the sweetness.

But the real magic came when you managed to get a bite of all the layers, including the cookie crumble, hiding at the very, very bottom.  It was extremely hard to do this, and you really just had to mix the entire thing up and not be able to get "perfect bites" with the ratio you wanted, but it barely mattered.  If you got it all, or, really, just the pudding and cookie crumble, it was really, really good.

"Black cocoa cookie crumbs."

The cookie crumble, described as "black cocoa cookie crumbs" was ... basically Oreo crumbs.  The woman taking my order even said, "Oh, do you like Oreo?  If you do, the base is all Oreo, and its amazing".   When she said that, my heart sank a little, actually.  I don't really like Oreo.  If that is why people loved the pudding, then, it probably wasn't for me.  I nearly changed my order.  But I'm glad I didn't.

Yes, it was basically Oreo crumbs.  But it clumped together in ways that it formed either loose soil or little crumbly chunks, all of which were intensely chocolately, almost like a very loose brownie.  I loved the play of the textures against the pudding.  I loved how the very dark cocoa provided the balance needed against the crazy sweet pudding.  It just worked.

This was a creation that was much more than the sum of its parts.  Seemingly generic whipped cream and caramel, pudding that was both too runny and too sweet, and crumbled cookies I don't really like, combined into something totally delicious.

I loved it.  I devoured it.  I had told Ojan I was going to share with him, but, uh, I didn't.  I'd gladly get it again for a birthday freebie, but now I am even more curious about that butter cake ...

Original Review, March 2013

I went to CPK once, when I first moved to California, because I thought it was a thing ... it was "California" after all!  The only thing I remember is that it was the first time I ever had bbq chicken pizza, and I liked the idea of bbq sauce on pizza.  I don't recall if I actually liked the pizza, or anything else.

The other day, CPK was running a promo for a free item off their small plates menu.  I was walking by, was slightly hungry, and couldn't resist a freebie!

I could select any item off that section of the menu, including small salads (meh, they weren't going to have quality produce right?), quesadillas (chicken, ugh), chips and guacamole (allergic), crispy mac 'n' cheese with cheese sauce (tempting!), or focaccia.  I picked the focaccia, as it was most like their speciality, pizza, so I figured if they were going to do any of these items right, it would be the focaccia. It was by far the cheapest of the small plates, but I wasn't really trying to maximize my freebie.

Ordering online was easy, I specified my pickup time, and then it asked if I wanted complimentary bread and utensils, and if so, for how many people.  I set the time, said yes to the extras, and went to get it.

I arrived 10 minutes early to pick it up, and it was already ready ... I guess not freshly made!  But it was kept in a warming area, so at least it was hot.  I also did not receive the bread or the utensils.  I didn't really care, but it was interesting that they have you specify that, and then leave it out.

Long rambling story short ... I have no reason to go back there.

Mediterranean Focaccia.  $2.75.

"Herb cheese focaccia baked in our pizza oven and served with Mediterranean olive oil and Parmesan."

The focaccia was sliced up, like breadsticks.  It had some type of cheese on it that I couldn't really identify, and only the middle pieces really had much on them.  It also had some herbs coating it, but there wasn't much flavor.  It was pretty unremarkable.  I love the buttery oilyness that can make focaccia delicious, and it wasn't present in this.  It was oily, but not in a nice way.  If you had handed me the plate, I would have told you it was just standard breadsticks, not focaccia.

On the side was the dipping sauce: oil and parmesan.  I liked the parmesan in it, but the oil itself was completely flavorless.  I use higher quality oil just for cooking!  I guess I shouldn't have expected more, but as a dipping oil, I definitely wanted oil with some flavor.  The focaccia would have been better with a marinara sauce or something else to dip into, but then I guess it would be too much like pizza?

Anyway, this wasn't good.  I guess the $2.75 price tag matched the quality however?  

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