Famous or not, you’ve gotta love it

Bill Clinton loves frequenting this pizza joint. Its Maryland outlet hosted Obama’s daughter’s birthday. It also features on Twitter updates of celebrities like Hollywood star Cameron Diaz and teen pop icon Miley Cyrus.

But it remains to be seen whether California Pizza Kitchen’s (CPK) first outlet in the country in the commercially upscale Bandra Kurla Complex, will be able to attract similar celebrity favour.

For now, CPK is attracting a diverse set of customers. Women drop in for elaborate luncheons and office-goers appear in sizeable numbers to grab a quick meal.

Come evening, the place turns into a cool hangout for uniform-clad teenagers from neighbourhoood schools like Dhirubai Ambani and American School of Bombay. By nightfall, families fill in this casual dining restaurant to enjoy a nice and quiet family dinner.

The interiors are comfy and warm, there is a covered outdoor patio for people who want to savour their meal in the open, and the food is affordably priced with the cheapest pizza for Rs95 to the most expensive at Rs595.

“We have consciously kept the prices reasonable without compromising on the quality,” says Mussarat Kang, director of operations, CPK.

The chicken chipotle pizza, a spicy thin-crust offering with grilled chipotle chicken, fire-roasted mild chillies, topped with roasted corn, black beans, cilantro and lime cream sauce, is a delight for any pizza lover.

And it doesn’t disappoint when it comes to portions. But the pizza place’s  USP is the fact that all the pizzas here are hearth-baked — a standard open hearth oven is used in all the CPK kitchens across the world.

The open kitchen, where you can see the pizzas being baked and salads being tossed, also renders an extremely warm ambience to the place. “Besides pizzas, pastas, tiramisu and red velvet cake have so far been the fastest selling items,” says Kang.

You can take your pick from a wide range of appetisers, soups, sandwiches, salads, pizzas, pastas and desserts. Vegetarians can dig into delicacies like the lettuce wraps, grilled vegetable salads, asparagus and spinach spaghettini. The carnivores can enjoy specialties like the grilled dijon chicken sandwich, pan-sauted fish and chicken asada pizza.

And if cheesecake is your ideal dessert choice, then conclude your meal with soft strawberry choco cheesecake, which comes with a scoop of vanilla. Simply heaven!

California Pizza Kitchen is located at 3 North Avenue, Maker Maxity, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (E),. It is open throughout the week, from noon to 1am.