|
Home » Culinary Connection
Culinary Connection
Pizza Cookery On Fire with Gluten-Free and Vegan Menu
By Gerry Furth-Sides
The Pizza Cookery restaurant is a family-friendly institution in the valley, where a friendly face greets you at the door since that door opened in 1975. In our case Alex was the pert staffer who welcomed us, and you can see worker bees hard at it in the open-view kitchen and hear the buzz of happy diners beyond.
Located just enough out of the way in Woodland Hills to be off the beaten path the restaurant is conveniently located on Topanga Boulevard near the 101 with plenty of parking.
Go past that kitchen window and the deceptively small lobby area leads to a series of cozy rooms with a laid-back 70’s look of sawdust on the floors, lots of wood, red checkered tablecloths, little lamps on the wall and hanging Pothos plants (you know, the kind that used to be in macramé holders) – with lots of tables pulled together that spell, “party.”
Add to this the large portions of inexpensive casual food (award-winning pizzas, pastas, humungous sandwiches and warm garlic rolls on the table with their “famous” and truly irresistible house-churned garlic butter to smear all over it). Dedicated on-site owner Jordan Klempner claims, “you’ll leave happy and full every time,” without having to add that diners will also be leaving thoughts of nutrition and calories far behind.
No longer is this the case. Just as Alex explained to us that as part of the Pizza Cookery’s goal “ to always serve the best tasting pizza in town,” crusts are prepared to the exact wishes of the customers, from very thin to very thick, these days it also means being able to offer vegetarian and gluten-free fare as well.
They are not exaggerating one iota when they write on the menu (and I could put it better), “we have taken the utmost care in preparing this menu for you. Our staff is knowledgeable about the importance of Gluten Free food handling, and the importance of cross contamination, and we have taken precautions to maintain the integrity of Gluten.”
I actually was astonished not only by the professionalism, knowledge and upbeat warmth of everyone we encountered at the restaurant, but anyone who answered the phone when we called for information.
Anna, our upbeat server with the patience of Job explained every aspect of the new and sometimes complicated gluten-free and vegetarian menu to us. The restaurants Gluten Free policy and procedure are always available on request
She reported that the gluten-free crust on the pizza is not made on premise just so it is never in contact with flour that might be in the kitchen air. There are even separate bottle openers for the gluten-free beer, she said.
The Gluten Free Crust pizza choices include dairy or soy mozzarella, or casein free Vegan Mozzarella Cheese. ($8.95 for an 8 –inch pizza and $14.50 for one 12 inches; Cheese is $1.75 and extra toppings are $1.25 to $1.75, respectively).
Also available are Pizza Cookery’s Free Penne Pasta With Meat or Marinara Sauce (Full $9.95, Half $5.75) and Gluten Free Herb Breadsticks from "Sensitive Baker" served with that famous and irresistible ($2.95
Caesar Salad heads the list of salads with beautiful, farm-fresh crispy Romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese, gluten free croutons (more solid and with a definitely non-crispness to them) and gluten free Caesar dressing (Small $8.75, Large $11.95) that tasted only a bit thinner than the real thing.
Side of Veggies ($2.95) that include Steamed Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrots can be substituted for French Fries ($1.50) but why do it?
The huge, appealing Vegan Philly is stuffed with cubes of Smoked Vegan Chicken (again with a very laminated feel) , green peppers, onions, Mushrooms, and vegan cheese on a whole wheat or sesame French roll with French fries ($11.35)
The kitchen does its best to accommodate everyone. Cooks will prepare any regular menu Vegetarian Salads or regular menu pizza with casein free vegan cheese and topping/dressing.
Gluten Free Redbridge Beer ($3.95) tastes a little sweet and a little cloying to the uninitiated although there is also Zevia ($2.25) and Honest Kids all natural drinks to pair with Sunflower Bakery and Wow Bakery assorted gluten free/Vegan individually wrapped cookies ($2.95) for a very happy dessert ending.
And to think, you had us at “hello” at the door.
Woodland Hills, 6209 Topanga Canyon Blvd - phone 818-887-4770, http://www.pizzacookery.com/glutenfree.html.
back to top
|
