Twenty-five-year old pizza franchise, California Pizza Kitchen, makes its way to our city. The pizza has landed

Gourmet pizza has arrived. And while it's taken 25 years for California Pizza Kitchen to afford us the privilege of shiitake mushrooms and shrimp on pizza, grumbling is the prerogative of developed nations.

The decision to house the city's first CPK outlet within the sanitised interiors of Maker Maxity in BKC is a wise one.
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No point in having to contend with the griminess of reality once you're safely inside this spanking new 4,000 sq ft restaurant. Pruned hedges and tiled roads will do nicely, thank you very much.


California Pizza Kitchen is located inside Maker Maxity in BKC.

The service is efficient and smiley without being intrusive, because as they say, you pay for what you get at the restaurant chain that credits itself with introducing the world to BBQ Chicken Pizza.

The Dips and Chips (Rs 325) are a great way to begin your descent into culinary excess.

The appetiser comes with roasted tomato salsa, chunky guacamole and a pesto made of button and wild mushrooms with pizza-pita bread and corn tortilla chips.
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The roasted tomato salsa is tangy and well seasoned; the guacamole, made with pur ufffded avocadoes and tomato and onion chunks, is flavourful, and both dips complement the tortilla chips perfectly.

The mushroom pesto, however, didn't have enough salt even though it had just the right chunky consistency.

The closest vegetarians will get to paneer on a pizza here is the Greek Pizza that's served with crumbled cottage cheese and other signature Greek-salad ingredients, including Kalamata olives and cucumber.
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The idea of a "chilled" Greek salad on a pizza didn't prove exciting enough for our desi-fied palates, and so we chose instead to order the Veg Pizza with Eggplant (Rs 345) that also has broccoli, roasted corn, sliced red onions, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes.

All their pizzas, or pies as they might say in California, come in the standard 8-inch size. But you can request for a 12-inch, which they do only as a thin-crust.

There are likely to be worse toppings in Pizza Oblivion than broccoli, but it was hard to think of even one, given how preoccupied we were with turning up our noses at the smell of steamed broccoli. Our advice: Step away from the broccoli.

Non-veggies can have their chicken marinated in peanut sauce, grilled, jerk-spiced, BBQ-ed or slathered in Chipotle sauce.

They also have a variety of meats chicken, bacon, ham and salami to choose from. Vegetarians can choose from herb-roasted baby potatoes, black beans, green onions and a variety of cheeses (goat's, fontina, gouda) to have slapped on their pizza.
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While the less adventurous, and possibly culinary wiser, can settle for the Traditional Pizza (Rs 275).

If pizza is just not your thing, there's a lot and more done this culinary road, including desserts and a staggering variety of beverages.

Should you stop by? But of course. If only to turn up your nose at the broccoli being served at the neighbouring table.

AT 3 North Avenue, Maker Maxity, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (E)
Call 65588888/ 65606560
California Pizza Kitchen didn't know we were there.
THE GUIDE reviews anonymously and pays for meals.