Sponsored By

California Pizza Kitchen expands menu with piadinas and bowlsCalifornia Pizza Kitchen expands menu with piadinas and bowls

Casual dining chain also rolls out seasonal items

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

November 16, 2017

2 Min Read
Nation's Restaurant News logo in a gray background | Nation's Restaurant News

California Pizza Kitchen has expanded its menu with seven dishes that had previously been tested as limited time offers or regional specials.

“These new fan-favorites received tremendous guest feedback, and now we’re proud to offer them to our guests nationwide as part of our permanent menu,” CPK senior vice president of culinary innovation Brian Sullivan said in a press release.

The new items are two piadinas — folded sandwiches in pizza dough — two grain bowls, a soup and two cocktails:

Ancho Chile Short Rib Piadina: Short rib, wild arugula, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and sauce of crushed tomatoes in folded pizza crust, $13.45
Smashed Chicken Meatball Piadina: Chicken meatballs, wilted baby kale, gremolata, Parmesan mustard aïoli and sauce of crushed tomatoes in folded pizza crust, $13.45
Banh Mi Power Bowl: Quinoa, baby kale, cilantro and mint topped with grilled chicken, watermelon radish, avocado, cucumber, carrot, bean sprouts, scallions and sesame seeds with chile-lime vinaigrette and serrano peppers, $14.99
Santa Fe Power Bowl: Cilantro farro and spinach topped with lime chicken, tomatoes, corn, black beans, red cabbage, avocado, poblano peppers and toasted pumpkin seeds with poblano ranch dressing, $14.99
Tomato Basil Bisque: Tomato bisque with cream topped with garlic butter croutons, $5.99 for a cup, $7.99 for a bowl
Cha Cha Agua Fresca: Sauza Cucumber Chili Tequila, Cazadores Reposado Tequila, cucumber, pineapple juice and agave sour mix, $8.99
Whiskey Cider Press: Maker’s Mark Bourbon, apple cider, lemonade, ginger and spiced tart cherries, $7.99 

Additionally, the 209-unit chain has introduced two entrées, three drinks and a dessert that are available for an unspecified limited time:

Chile-Braised Short Ribs & Chipotle Mac ’n’ Cheese: Boneless beef shot ribs braised in Pinot Noir wine and smoked ancho chile served over chipotle mac & cheese with grilled shishito peppers, cilantro and scallions, $21.99
Roasted Garlic Chicken with Seasonal Vegetables: Pan-roasted chicken breast in lemon-garlic sauce with roasted fingerling potatoes, cauliflower, Mediterranean herbs and seasonal vegetables, $19.99
Pumpkin Cheesecake: Cheesecake with pumpkin and autumn spices on a ginger crumb praline crust with whipped cream and praline sauce, $7.29
Blackberry Bramble: Bacardi Limón, ginger beer, Monin blackberry syrup and lemonade topped with blackberries, $8.99
Blackberry Tea Thyme: A non-alcoholic drink of iced tea, lemonade and Monin blackberry syrup shaken with thyme sprigs and blackberries, $3.29
Sparkling Sunset Sangria: M. Chapoutier “Belleruche” Rose, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, agave nectar, lime and sparkling water, $8.99

Prices of all of the items may vary by location, a company representative said.

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected] 

Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

Nov. 21, 2017: A typographical error has been corrected, clarifying Brian Sullivan's comments on the new menu.

Nov. 27, 2017: This story has been updated with the correct price for Chile-Braised Short Ribs & Chipotle Mac 'n' Cheese.

About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality for Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group, with responsibility for spotting and reporting on food and beverage trends across the country for both publications as well as guiding overall F&B coverage. 

He is the host of a podcast, In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: [email protected]

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary

Subscribe Nation's Restaurant News Newsletters
Get the latest breaking news in the industry, analysis, research, recipes, consumer trends, the latest products and more.