Ferrara Bakery & Cafe, NYC

My list of bakeries to check out when in NYC is rather lengthy, as I love desserts, and baked goods in general.  My list of bakeries to return to is nearly equally long, as I've found some I adore.  And yet, on this recent visit, I did a very un-Julie move, and decided to order a pastry from a place I only learned about that morning: Ferrara Bakery & Cafe.

Now, Ferrara is pretty well known, a classic Italian bakery/cafe that has been operating since 1892 (in its early days it was mostly a cafe).  Still family run, etc, etc.  They seem to still just focus on the classic Italian pastries, cakes, cheesecakes, and cookies.  Nothing innovative or unique, just, the standards.

Ferrara landed on my radar one morning when I was suddenly craving a lobster tail. I was plotting my DoorDash Thai Diner order for that evening (which, if you haven't had Thai Diner, and are in NY, stop everything and do that first, love it so much!), and wanted to use DoubleDash to add on a dessert from somewhere else (even though Thai Diner does have good desserts too).  In particular, I was thinking I should get a cheesecake from Venerio's, since I was leaving in just two days and hadn't had classic NY cheesecake yet, and Venerio's is a favorite of mine, but that got me thinking about the sad lobster tail I had also from Venerio's, and it made me second-guess my loyalty (to be fair, I loved the filling, just wasn't into the pastry itself, as it didn't seem fresh). This put lobster tails on my mind.

Now, lobster tails (the pastry).  If I could order a lobster tail pastry from anywhere on the planet, it would be from Mia's Brooklyn Bakery, where I had one last summer, and it was flawless.  Simply flawless.  Perfect 5 stars.  Blew my mind.  Mia's *does* have a Manhattan location, near Times Square, but ... they don't have the lobster tails. So Mia's wasn't an option.  And I didn't want to risk Venerio's again.  So of course this led me to Google search for "Best lobster tail pastry in NYC", etc, and basically all sources led me to Ferrara.  I saw them on DoorDash, and thus, it was settled.  (I'll admit I was a bit worried by the fact that they were featured on Food Network’s The Best Thing I Ever Ate, when Chef Alex Guarnaschelli listed as one of her picks, and I know that sometimes leads to over-hyped creations ...).

Box.

My pastry came in a simple but classy box.  No ribbon or string around it though, like many Italian bakeries. 

The box was quite heavy, which I took as a good sign, as it meant the lobster tail was likely both huge and loaded with filling (it was).

Lobster Tail.  $7.75.

"Crisp, flaky pastry filled with Bavarian cream."

It was a very large pastry, probably somewhere between the Venerio's and Mia's ones in size.  Definitely bigger than you really should take down in one sitting, but not quite appropriate for feeding a family of 4 like the Mia's one!  It was well covered in powdered sugar.

The pastry was fairly crispy, definitely better and fresher than the one I had from Venerio's, but not anything magical like the Mia's version.  It wasn't particularly buttery nor special.  Fresh, crispy, but fairly average.  Low ***+.

Lobster Tail: Cross Section.

But the pastry is only half of what makes a lobster tail enjoyable.  The filling is an equally essential component.  This was absolutely loaded up, and you can see how thin the pastry layer was here in the cross section (this is the small end).  The Bavarian cream was very thick, and given how well loaded up the pastry was, it explained the weight of the item (and the box).  

The filling is what I saw so many people raving about in their reviews (besides the crispy exterior).  I didn't find this to be raveworthy, or really, even all that good.  It was highly average Bavarian cream.  Very thick.  Not much actual flavor to it, no vanilla bean, no touch of citrus, just, plain Bavarian cream.  Average sweetness.  The filling in the aforementioned Mia's one was so so so good, and it too was a simple Bavarian cream (unlike the Venerio's one that had chocolate cream filling, which was the only winning element), but it was considerably more flavorful.  This one was just boring.  It seemed no better than an average donut shop filling.  Low *** cream.

Overall, this was just lackluster, but not bad.  The pastry was flaky, it was fresh, it was well filled, the cream was classic.  But I found myself bored after a few bites.  I added fresh berries, and sprinkles, and pistachio ice cream, and enjoyed it, but, it was just a bit one dimensional on its own.  *** overall.

Liberty Bagels, NYC

Update Review, August 2024

Another year, another birthday, and, my second year in a row being in New York City for my birthday.  This meant that I could get my free birthday bagel at Liberty Bagel.  My birthday fell on a Monday this year, so the lines were less dramatic than last year (which was on a weekend).  Ordering was straightforward, the staff knew exactly what to do, just checked my ID, and moved on.  For the birthday free bagel, you don't get a choice of bagel (always rainbow) nor of cream cheese (always birthday cake), just FYI.

I enjoyed my bagel yet again, and will make this part of any birthday agenda when I'm in NY.  Only valid the actual day of your birthday.

Cream Cheeses.

While I was waiting for my bagel, I asked to sample the peanut butter nutella cream cheese.  It was as tasty as I hoped it would be, basically like a chocolate hazelnut peanut butter cheesecake.  So good.  Great as a little sample.  ****.

The server also had me try his favorite, which was cinnamon raisin.  It was good, nice plump raisins, good cinnamon level, but it tasted more like cream cheese, and wasn't quite as enjoyable to just eat by the sample-spoonful.  ***.

Rainbow Bagel (untoasted) w/ Birthday Cream Cheese (on the side).
$5.80 (complimentary for birthday).

Since I was not planning to eat it right away, I asked for my bagel untoasted and with the cream cheese on the side, both of which were easy to do (and are standard questions they ask when you order if you don't specify anyway). 

When I was handed my bag however it was warm.  I was slightly annoyed, thinking, "ugh, they toasted it even though I said not to", but then I pulled it out to take a bite anyway (I did of course WANT to try it fresh, even though I was on my way to lunch), and discovered that it was not toasted, it was actually just warm, literally fresh from the oven.  Incredible.  

The bagel was excellent.  Obviously very fresh, nice crust to it, fluffy inside, fabulous chew.  It wouldn't need toasting at all if I was planning to eat it right then.  Such a well made bagel.  And obviously a very pretty one, although it was just a plain bagel, so, um, kinda plain tasting.  ****+ quality, *** taste, **** overall.

The cream cheese was also as delightful as I remember.  Yes, it is basically like a dense cheesecake, very sweet, loaded with sprinkles, and not really what you should eat everyday, but for a special occasion, it really is delicious.  I love it on strawberries or crackers too (not just bagels).  ****+ cream cheese.

Original Review, August 2023

Ah, New York bagels.  Yes, a cliche perhaps, but, when I was recently in New York, I had to get a bagel at some point, right?

"Liberty Bagels is your neighborhood bagel shop; it is where you can gather for good conversation and great food. Our head bakers make certain every bagel is baked to perfection, so we can proudly provide our guests with freshly baked bagels, breakfast sandwiches, lunch sandwiches, great coffee, catering and so much more. Come on in. Our bagels are delicious and our coffee is strong."

I opted to try a place new to me: Liberty Bagels.  They get strong reviews (4.5 stars on Yelp with zillions of reviews), and ... well, they have a birthday free bagel with cream cheese promotion.  You know how much I love a good freebie, and a birthday one at that, so, Liberty Bagels easily made it on my list of birthday adventures.

Setting

The location I visited was in midtown.  It was a Saturday afternoon.  12:30pm.  I don't recommend this.

Um, the lines.

"Liberty Bagels is home to the best bagels in New York. Our old-fashioned, hand-rolled, and kettle boiled bagels are a NY staple and is a stop you cannot skip during a trip to NYC. But you don’t have to just hear it from us, check out this video Uber featured us in! "

So, yes, I expected some crowds but I was shocked when I turned the corner to see a line going far down the street.  There were two employees outside *just* dealing with the crowd and directing pickup orders.  Others seemed to have no issue with this line, but, I was deterred, and moved on to another one of my freebie quests instead, particularly once I looked inside and saw just how far it was before the register to order.  It easily would have been an hour wait.

Clearly, their Instagram success with the rainbow bagels, and whatever guidebook has been featuring them, was working for the business.

Inside Chaos.

I returned a few hours later, later afternoon.  There was only a short line outside, and once we were allowed in, then it was time to get into another line.  After ordering, we were aggressively told to get out of the way and queue up on the other side.  These crowds are clearly normal for them, but certainly made it a less enjoyable experience for me.

Bagels.

Like most bagel shops, the bagels were clearly visible in baskets behind the counter.  Of course, actually getting to the counter area to see them was a bit of lost cause.  I only managed to snag a photo on my way out, as the crowd control handlers were keeping us moving along.  You really couldn't browse with your eyes to decide what to get.

Bagel Line Up.

Luckily, closer to the register, they had a illustrated visual guide to move of the bagels. 

Individual bagels are $1.85 for the basics (plain, egg, poppy, onion, salt, sesame, garlic, multigrain, cinnamon raisin, pumpernickel, everything, pumpernickel everything, whole wheat everything, egg everything), $2.75 for specialty such as Blueberry, Jalapeño Cheddar, Jalapeño Cheddar Everything, Asiago, French Toast, Flagel (Flat Bagel), and $3.50 for the Rainbow or Empire multi colored ones.

Cream Cheeses Part 1.

And then ... the signature cream cheeses.  On display like a gelato shop in Italy.  But, you know, cream cheese.  There was something for everyone here, with sweet, savory, spicy, and everything in between. I won't enumerate all of the choices, but, um, the bacon honey sriracha definitely sparked my interest.

Regular cream cheese is $2.10 with a bagel, flavored is $2.55, vegan tofu based is $2.35, vegan flavored is $3.10, lox spread is $3.85 and flavored lox is $4.40.  You can also get individual portions (1/4 lb) for $2.95-5.25, depending on the flavor, or by the pound ($11.80-$21).

Cream Cheeses Part 2 (including vegan), salad fillings.

The vegan tofu based lineup was particularly impressive, with nearly as many choices as the regular.  Deli salads (tuna, chicken, egg, etc) and meats were also on display.

Food

I would have definitely had a hard time making decisions here, just given the plethora of options and how inviting they all looked, but, for the birthday freebie, there was no choice.  I was getting a rainbow bagel with birthday cake cream cheese.

Rainbow Bagel with Birthday Cake Cream Cheese. $4.40.
(Untoasted, on the side).

I did ask to have it untoasted (options are toasted, double toasted, untoasted, or scooped out), and to have the cream cheese on the side, as this was just a pickup for me, in the midst of my great freebie crawl.  I'd toast it at home later.  This request was easily accommodated.

So, how was it, my first actual NY bagel this trip?

It was good.  NY bagels really do put others to shame.  It was soft, it had a great shine to the exterior, and light chew.  It certainly didn't need to be toasted.  And yes, very colorful and interesting to look at as well, obviously.  A very good bagel, no question, but quite plain.  I wouldn't normally pick a plain bagel.  ****+ for bagel execution, but ***+ because plain was boring.  As much as the rainbow is made for Instagram, if you are eating for your stomach instead, get another variety.

The cream cheese I was even more interested in than the bagel.  It somewhat let me down, as I expected more flavor from it.  It was loaded with funfetti, which added sweetness (and I suspect the base was sweetened as well), but, it didn't taste like much besides sweet cream cheese.  Fun, festive, appropriate for my birthday, but at the end of the day, just sweet and colorful cream cheese.  ***.

Overall though, for a birthday freebie, this one was quite fun, and I'd recommend just for the experience (and for Instagram, of course).  ****.

Alaska Airlines Lounge, SFO

Update Review, August 2024

In late July 2024, Alaska Airlines moved into Terminal 1 at SFO, and with that, opened up a new lounge.  I got to visit just a week or so after it opened.

Overall, it was a nice place to spend some time (which, for me, was abundant given flight delays), but besides the coffee, and the candy, the food and drink offerings weren't particularly compelling.

Setting 

The space felt fairly large, given how few people were there.  It really was quite tranquil.

Light filled high table.

It was very bright, with tons of windows and views over the tarmac.

There were a variety of styles of seating, but I appreciated the high counters along the window the most, so I could choose to sit or stand.  Every single seat had power, but regular and USB.

Seating.

Other seating types were these booths for two.  There were also large 4 person diner-style booths.

Bar.

I didn't visit the bar, but it too was an nice space.  I think they feature some local beers as well.

Bathrooms.

The bathrooms were really quite attractive, and had nice quality soap and lotion.

Food & Drink

Food and drink are mostly all self-serve, the exceptions being espresso drinks from a barista, or alcoholic drinks from the bar.

Coke Freestyle Machine.

I was happy to see the Coke Freestyle machine, with a slew of choices.  I tried 3-4 different drinks when I was there, and enjoyed them all.  Flavored diet Sprite!  Cream soda!  So happy to have this.  ****.

Coffee / Tea.

Self-serve robot machine coffee drinks and bags of tea were available, in addition to a staffed barista station.  They even had nice touches like flavored syrups, mocha sauce, and more.  I didn't try any.

Snacks.

Two kinds of snacks were available: simple pretzel twists, or a Chex-ish mix with assorted seasoned Chex-like cereal, pretzels, little breadsticks, bagel chips, and darker rye? chips.  I always love a snack mix, so this made me happy, although this wasn't a particularly remarkable mix.  ***.

Pancake Machine.

The signature pancake machine was of course available, two of them in fact, no matter what time of day.

Soup.

One soup and one vegetable broth were available.

Fried Rice.

The lounge wasn't crowded.  It was prime lunch time (12:08pm).  And ... there was no fried rice.  It took quite a while for it to be refilled.  I didn't try it anyway.

Maple Sausage.

I understand the pancakes all day, but the breakfast style sausage was a bit odd to see. I checked back even at 1:30pm to see if it was swapped out, but, nope.  Sausage all day.  It too was running low.

The sausage was ok-ish.  Not very flavorful sausage itself, but the maple glaze was decent.  **+.

"Grilled Vegetables".

I had to laugh at the veggies.  They were labelled as grilled.  They were very much not grilled.  They were warmed steamed vegetables, that were too soft, and basically like frozen grocery store mixed veg.  Not very good at all.  **.

Mystery ... Chicken?

Later in the day, around 2pm, another entree was available.  It wasn't labelled.  I think it was something like General Tso's chicken maybe?  I found it interesting that both this lounge, and the nearby also newly opened The Club, both had similar Asian chicken dishes.  I didn't try this, as I had the one in the other lounge already.

Salad / Noodle Bar.

The main buffet was a salad / noodle station.  Meager offerings for both.  Base of greens or ramen noodles (chilled), then chicken, tofu, tomatoes, mushrooms, beets, and a few other things.  All cold.  There was a quinoa salad and some dressings as well.

I had a little salad, but it wasn't particularly fresh.  Meh.  **.

Candy.

More signature Alaska lounge offerings: local chocolate (Ghirardelli, squares, both dark or mint filled), Jelly Belly beans (blue and light green, not sure the flavors), and colorful fortune cookies.

I did quite appreciate all of this. ****.

Bread & Spreads.

Later in the afternoon, two unlabeled spreads were put out next to the bread.  One looked probably avocado based, and the other spinach dip maybe?  I didn't try either.  I assume the bread was SF sourdough.

Original Review, August 2023

This was my first experience of any Alaska Airlines lounge.  I've only flown with Alaska Airlines once before, when I flew SFO-SEA, which you can read about here, and didn't qualify for lounge access then.  This time, I was flying long haul, to New York, and thus, a chance to check out the lounge.

The lounge in SF is known to be one of the nicer ones in their network, having opened only last year, and pretty restrictive about who is allowed in (no more priority pass, no domestic First Class unless flying 2100+ miles in a single flight, etc).  There were only a handful of passengers there when I visited, even though it was what I'd expect to be a fairly peak time, 12:15pm on a Tuesday.

I wouldn't say the lounge is worth going out of your way for, but it seemed much nicer than most domestic lounges, certainly many notches above the United Club or American Airlines Admiral's Club.

The Space

Fireplace, Open Seating.

The lounge is pretty impressive when you walk in.  Large, spacious, well lit with large windows overlooking the planes outside.  Firepit in the center, and wing chairs all around.  A quite inviting space.

Dining Area & Bar.

There are also ample dining tables, and a bar with seating.  Again, very spacious, and sparkly populated.

Food & Drink

Candy Bar.

I was excited for one unique feature of this lounge: the candy bar!  Located right when you enter, with little bags provided to encourage you to take some sugar for the road.

Much of this was just a display however, with only the bottom row actually accessible.  The candy was mostly local: Ghirardelli chocolate squares, Jelly Belly beans, and the Oakland Fortune Cookie Factory fortune cookies.  And M&Ms.  I was slightly annoyed that the only color/flavor Jelly Beans were yellow (lemon?).  Still, this was a nice offering, better than most US domestic lounges.  ***+.

Bar Snacks.

Located up at the bar was two jars of snacks, one was just lightly salted peanuts, the other a mix, with some things I liked (rice crackers!), and lots of things I wasn't too into (cheddar goldfish-like things, pretzels, almonds), and some I was impartial to (bagel chips).  As an avid snack lover though, I was happy to see these.  ***.

Toast Cart.

Right near the front of the lounge is the other signature experience ... the toast cart.  Like the candy bar, it too features a local product, Acme Bread.  Sadly for me, it only had sourdough, and I don't care for sourdough.  Still, Acme bread is quite good bread, and this is a very unique offering.

To go with the bread was two spreads, sundried tomato hummus and lemon basil cream cheese, along with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  When it launched, they had burrata and avocado, clearly both higher end and more trendy, but alas, down to kinda meh spreads for my visit.  I did try both, and they were about as expected, nothing special.  ***.

Cold Cuts, Cheese, Salads.

The main buffet has some not very interesting cold cuts and cheese, plus more hummus, waldorf salad (that at first glance looked like potato salad and I was excited), and grapes and strawberries.  And ketchup, mustard, and mayo, that made me really wish there were hot dogs around.  Sliced bread was available to make a sandwich.

The strawberries weren't particularly flavorful, but were a surprise to see.  The waldorf salad was fine, with apples, bits of dried cranberry, creamy dressing that was not over dressed.  I didn't try anything else.  **+.

Salad Toppings.

The other side was makings for salads, although fairly meager.  Walnuts, chicken, grape tomatoes, egg, onions, cheese, and more strawberries (this time sliced), and some dressings.  The sign encouraged us to make our own "summer salad".

Salad Base.

The salad base was romaine and spinach, relatively fresh.  It looked a bit odd on a platter.  Croutons on the side.

Hot Items.

Next came the two hot items, which I thought would be soup, but actually were more exciting than that: vegetarian chili and mac and cheese.  No cheese, sour cream, or anything interesting to garnish the chili, besides the crackers on the side.  Still, better than your standard lounge soups.

Macaroni & Cheese.

The child in me went right for that mac and cheese.  It wasn't that bad, really.  Quite creamy, quite cheesy.  Not very fresh, but, pretty comforting, and far better than average domestic lounge grub.

***+.

Desserts.

The dessert lineup was your standard lounge offerings: cookies and brownies.  Two kinds of cookies, chocolate chip and oatmeal.  They looked hard and not interesting.  I tried the brownie because it had two kinds of chocolate, big chunks and disks, which was fine.  ***.

Biscoff packaged cookies were hiding up by the barista station as well.

Breakfast Leftovers.

It was afternoon when I visited, but they had breakfast leftovers on the side, with a couple banana nut muffins, a sole bagel (with cream cheese packed with it), and english muffins (with butter), along with a toaster, Smucker's jam, and Peanut Butter & Co peanut butter.  Peanut Butter & Co still makes my favorite peanut butter (the White Chocolate Wonderful flavor, which I've reviewed before), so I was happy to see that, rather than more common brands (although it was just the Smooth Operator variety).

Pancake Machine.

And of course, the pancake machine, which is operational at all times of day.  Syrup was available to go with.

Brewed coffee (regular and decaf), along with hot water and tea completed this station.  At the bar, you could also order made to order espresso drinks, which I did.  The decaf Americano was shockingly good.  

California Pizza Kitchen

Update Review, July 2024

As you know, I can never resist a good freebie, so when T-Mobile had a partnership with CPK offering up $7 off your order (no minimum order, works for takeout), I of course had to take full advantage.

Bread. 2 Orders.
(Complimentary).

When I previously ordered from CPK, the bread also included oil, today it did not.  Each order was two hunks, in a plastic bag that was just hand tied shut.

Last time I had the bread I noted strong sourdough taste, but this time I didn't taste the sourdough as much.  Is it possible I'm starting to tolerate sourdough?  The bread had a good chew to it, and tasted fresh.  Soft baguette style.  I kinda liked it.  ***.

Curly Mac 'N Cheese (CPKids). $6.99.

I went for a kid's meal, to stay within my free $7, but also because kid's meal portions generally I find sufficient.  I had the options of several different personal sized pizzas, pasta with all different sauces (meat, tomato, alfredo, butter), grilled or crispy chicken, or this, the mac and cheese.  I do love mac and cheese, and the CPK mac and cheese recently got a lot of attention due to a mishap made "famous" on TikTok where someone got the sauce and no actual pasta in their order, and CPK decided to use it as a marketing opportunity (which, I applaud them for).  CPK Mac and cheese was going viral, and it was on my mind.  So after seeing CPK mac and cheese raved about on social media the past few weeks, my choice was easy.

The dish didn't look all that great.  It looked ba-sic.  No breadcrumbs on top, no crispy top, not even very creamy.  But it actually really was quite good, particularly once I stirred it up.  The pasta had just the right amount of bite to it, and the shape was both fun and functional, as the sauce really did cling to it well.  The sauce was unnaturally orange, and was instantly recognizable and nostalgic for me: Velveeta!  It was cheesy, it was creamy, it was rich.  I enjoyed it, although I'm not sure how much better than a Velveeta mac and cheese box from the grocery store it really was.

This relatively small child's portion was 820 calories, and a good value at $6.99.  Like all kid's meals, it included a choice of drink.

Interestingly, the adult version is more than double the price ($15.99), but only 40% more calories (1280 calories).  So you could just get 2x kid's version = $6.99 x 2 = $13.98 and get more mac and cheese (820 x 2 = 1640 calories worth) AND get two drinks.  Cheaper, more mac, and bonus drinks.  Just sayin'.  The adult one does allow far more customizations: add chicken, bacon, salmon (several styles), sausage, shrimp, broccolini, mushrooms, tomatoes, burrata, monterey jack (interestingly, not the edamame offered to kids), or swap out the pasta for 5 different choices.  

I wouldn't go out of my way for this, but if I was craving this style of mac and cheese, it certainly did the job.  ***+.

Chocolate Milk (CPKids).
(Included).

All kid's meals come with a choice of drink.  The options are actually fairly extensive, with classic fountain drinks, but even things like a shirley temple or roy rogers, without an upcharge.  I was thrilled to see chocolate milk as an option, and went for that.

It was pretty basic chocolate milk.  I think it was made with thin style chocolate syrup mixed with regular milk, as the chocolate settled out pretty quickly.  It wasn't particularly chocoaltely.  I wanted stronger chocolate flavor, richer flavor, something.  Basically, think Hershey syrup in milk.  I'm sure kids love it, but I wanted something a bit more.  Low ***.

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?