RSS
September 19, 2007
An Open Letter to California Pizza Kitchen
Dear CPK,
What the fuck? Wait…let’s try that again. Okay.
Let me start by saying I’ve been a big fan over the years, and have visited your flagship Beverly Hills location too many times to count. You guys used to have this killer menu with great, creative, original dishes that could be described as nouveau comfort food. Take for example, your Potato Leek Soup, Garlic Shrimp Pizza or my all time fav—the Tandoori Chicken Pizza (a spicy, curry flavored pizza topped with zucchini, summer squash, cilantro, mango chutney, and of course tandoori chicken). These dishes were classics. Full of flavor. Absolute beauties.
Then you guys started to get all “corporate restaurant” on me—you know, changing up the menu every month with new, exciting, “craveable” items. At first I didn’t notice that bit by bit your original was menu disappearing—instead I focused on the new dishes brought to the table. And I’ll admit some were genius—i.e. Portobello Mushroom Ravioli in garlic cream sauce, or Jambalaya Pasta. But then something caught my attention—a warning sign—the Garlic Shrimp Pizza was subtly transformed into the Shrimp Scampi Pizza. And though I couldn’t quite put my finger on what the difference was, I knew that this Shrimp Scampi Pizza was definitely a downgrade.
Continue reading about CPK's failings after the jump!
Next to go was the Tandoori Chicken Pizza! I swear, I nearly cried when I noticed this delightful entree had passed on to pizza heaven. This pizza had become associated with wonderful memories—my best friend and I use to share it when we ditched seventh period in high school to instead go to CPK. I used to order it whenever my dad took me to CPK for dinner and good old father-daughter bonding. It was even this pizza that taught me the beauty of a zucchini! And now, thanks to you corporate hate-mongers, my all time favorite specialty pizza has been taken away from me.
Okay, I’ll admit it. After the death, of Tandoori Chicken, I still visited your restaurants. It was your Potato-Leek soup that kept going. And then you bastards took that away too! Enough is enough. I decided to have a one-woman boycott.
The boycott ended recently, when my niece celebrated her ninth birthday at your Marina Del Rey location. I put a smile on my face in honor of my niece and scanned over the menu. Then, I saw what seemed like a miracle! YOU BROUGHT TANDOORI CHICKEN PIZZA BACK!!!
Or did you? When my pizza arrived at my table, I realized that this new incarnation of Tandoori Chicken Pizza shared nothing with its predecessor save for its name. The sauce tasted completely different. The great slices of zucchini and squash that once topped the pizza had been replaced with red onion slices and mango chunks (seriously, what the fuck?). And the chicken didn’t even have that red, spicy color that tandoori chicken usually has.
But I had ordered the pizza, and was obligated to eat it. Keep an open mind I thought, maybe this version is better. I took a bite. Nope. This new version was as sucky as I had feared it would be. It is a wolf parading around in a Tandoori Chicken Pizza’s clothing.
I guess the whole point of this letter is to tell you, CPK, to stop fucking around with your classic menu items. People don’t come to CPK for the flavor of the week, they come for the unique flavors you made classic. I mean you aren’t going to mess with your BBQ Chicken Pizza (a.k.a. the one that put you on the map), right? So why change up these other aforementioned classics. Do yourself a favor, bring back the classics. You’ll make me, and I bet a lot of other folks too, very very happy. Thanks.
Your Dear Friend and Valued Customer,
Ashleigh
photo by pbo31 via Flickr
| 
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
[ report this ]
[i love this]
[ report this ]
Great article. I'm sure they are trying to cut costs at our expense.
[ report this ]
they retired my favorite pizza a couple of years ago- the southwestern chicken burrito pizza. my mouth waters thinking about it. now there really is no reason to go there (which is sad cuz there's one around the corner from me.
[ report this ]
They recently dropped the smokehouse bacon somethin-or-other salad that was my fave (it had blue cheese or maybe it was gorgonzola. It wasn't one of their original salads but still. Everything I like gets discontinued not just menu items... I just spent some time on eBay searching for discontinued hair products... bastards!
[ report this ]
cpk is not good.
[ report this ]
the day they stop making the thai chicken pizza is the day i swear them off forever (or until they bring it back).
i also noticed the switch from the garlic shrimp pizza to shrimp scampi and it just isn't as good as i remembered.
it's unfortunate that they feel they need to continually cut costs when they are making what i would venture to guess is a lot of money already.
fuck greed.
[ report this ]
It's quite a sad demise, that of CPK. I too have noticed their menu items decreasing in quality. Sadly, I even had a mediocre BBQ Chicken pizza from them recently. That coupled with the fact that the CPK in Santa Monica randomly added money onto my bills, taking an extra $75 I didn't sign for over 3 occasions, are making me more and more reluctant to go back. *tear* Hopefully they'll get their act together soon.
[ report this ]
CPK is WACK, yo!
[ report this ]
CPK is wack... In the last few years I've noticed the pizzas getting smaller and the prices getting higher. It's getting to the point that I don't even think Andrew Zimmern would eat there (OOOO SNAP!!!!).
[ report this ]
rip peking duck pizza
[ report this ]
Honestly, CPK lost it YEARS ago. What you are holding onto are simply memories. The day that my friend and I gagged from the smell of the leftover pizza in the car and had to leave it curbside to get the stank of the cheap ingredients out of the car was the last day we ever set foot in that place.
[ report this ]
CPK blows, and they always have. when was it ever anything but a corporate chain restaurant. if i wanted chicken, vegetables and potatoes, i wouldn't order a pizza. i never got the concept.
try mozza. now that pizzeria kicks ass. cool toppings, great crust -- no beef wellington and potatoes on your pizza.
[ report this ]
two words: tortilla soup. still on the menu, but they changed the recipe a few years back.. not the same at all.
[ report this ]
You nailed it. CPK used to be fun to go to, but in the last few years it has gone so corporate that it's become boring. It seems like they have the same crap as Cheese Cake and all its rivals. Sad.
[ report this ]
my girlfriend and I have a standing boycott with CPK now. Our favorite, pear gorgonzola pizza has been dropped too. Now we have no good reason to visit anymore. Thanks CPK! I know you were homogenized, but now even more so.
[ report this ]
The day they take away the spinach artichoke dip is the day of the apocalypse
[ report this ]
mozza is to die for.
[ report this ]
mozza is also very expensive!
[ report this ]
we should all boycott cpk!
[ report this ]
I stopped going there years ago (once I discovered TJ's pizza dough) but did eat at one of their restaurants a couple months back. Looking for my old stand-by Chicken Potato Rosemary pizza, I was disappointed to find they no longer had it on the menu. Good chopped salad but I'm not eating there unless I have to.
[ report this ]
portabello mushroom ravioli! spin dip! whatever the hell that corn chower stuff is!
everything else pretty much blows
[ report this ]
I'm still crying over them discontinuing the Chipotle Chicken Ravioli. I think they still have the pizza, but not the ravioli. They were to die for. Sigh...