Vintage Eve Circa 6/2015: California Pizza Kitchen – Reboot!

August 7, 2018 by evebushman

Kind of excited…the restaurant I grew up with, California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) has had a remodel…well…not exactly just a remodel.

Met by Susan Halstead, the General Manager of our local Valencia CPK, the first thing she told me was that people that now walk in the door don’t recognize that they’re in a CPK if they haven’t been to the Valencia location in the last two months.

Susan turned me over to Cole Brocato, bartender and trainer, who has been here at our local CPK for 9 years. Cole said that they were focusing more on California inspired fare and less on pizza alone. Fresh ingredients, like California fruits and vegetables, are now more emphasized.

Full Cocktail Program

In providing “unique spirited cocktails” we had to try the Blueberry Ginger Smash – refreshing, tangy, reminded me of a whiskey Buck plus fruit – and the California Roots – avocado colors the drink, while mint and agave sour takes center stage in this unique cocktail.

The California Crush reminded Cole of traditional Valencia flavors, and we enjoyed the citrus and mint flavors that made me think of a white wine Sangria – only better. Our teen had the Fresh Strawberry Mango Cooler – a nice virgin drink that was both sweet and light.

These cocktails are new at CPK Valencia and are only available in the remodeled stores. Cole said that eventually all of the restaurants will be re-done. And you can get all the classic cocktails, just like the BBQ chicken pizza, too.

The cocktail recipes, Cole said, are unique to CPK. Yes, they can make a Lemon Drop but they can also make a cocktail with Domaine de Canton Ginger liqueur or St. Germain Elderflower.

Cole said, “Local citrus in cocktails, California wines; we make it fresh, trendy, and organic when we can.”

Taste the Unique

With the new rollout, and as they have locations all over U.S., they “want visitors to be wowed on what California Pizza Kitchen is about.”

Don’t be concerned that the pizzas are now listed on a long “side bar” of the menu, your favorites, like BBQ Chicken, Thai Chicken, Hawaiian, etc., are still there. But you will also find, under “seasonally inspired” menu items, a Maine Lobster Flatbread (cool lobster, loved the dill, great with the California Roots cocktail) Roasted Garlic Chicken (super mist and flavorful) with Seasonal Vegetables, Ribeye (Another moist and “never frozen” with great marbling to give great flavor, liked the peppery spice and butter topped on this one, and Pinot Noir salt), California Fields Salad and Tricolore Salad Pizza.

Under “main plates” – this is the “middle section and where it’s really at” Cole said – the “Halibut is never farmed, always line caught, cooked on a cedar plank and that keeps it moist.” And it WAS! Delicious, great medley of spices, definitely would order again. And though we were stuffed, Ed couldn’t resist having one more bite before we wrapped up our leftovers.

Lunch Duos on the menu are geared to foodies that want quality and watch how much they are eating. Small Cravers fit that bill too, and have more a gastro pub like items. All the cheese, goat and cow, is pasteurized, Cole added. Originally guests had several menus, now it’s all in one plus a beverage menu, which is more standard.

“You’re a pizza place, why do you have this steak on the menu?” Cole says people sometimes ask and he tells them to go ahead, “have the steak”, and then they get it.

Final Touches

We sampled the seasonal-only-always-sells-out Strawberry Shortcake made with sweet biscuit, with a surprise touch of candied lemon zest glaze sprinkled over homemade whipped cream. The decadently rich Butter Cake is made with a sliver of cheesecake, warm and covered in ice cream and whipped cream; something Cole says people skip appetizers to save room for. The S’mores dessert is served with a jumbo graham, dark chocolate chunks, milk chocolate pudding and torched marshmallows – a sticky gooey all-consuming delightful mess.

Some of the restaurants build the bar around the kitchen as a showcase. We did enjoy sitting at the bar, it was definitely the center of the action.

All menus have different pizzas pictured on the cover, and according to Cole, the servers try to hand guests at the same table different ones – nice touch!

Cole added that they hire their staff based on them being the right person and not on having to have the two years of service experience. Our teen thought that was great.

Finally, when we glanced around the room completely sated and packed up leftovers we noticed both managers serving guests, people looking happy, and maybe some room for more.

Facebook album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10205601315099626.1073741918.1455706632&type=1&l=89fce8e12e

CPK-Bridgeport Marketplace

24061 Newhall Ranch Road

Valencia, CA 91354

661-259-2082

www.cpk.com/locations/bridgeport-marketplace

For the complete menu, visit www.cpk.com/reimagined.

Eve Bushman has been reading, writing, taking coursework and tasting wine for over 20 years. She has obtained a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust, has been the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video, authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and recently served as a guest judge for the L.A. International Wine Competition. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits that may be answered in a future column. You can also seek her marketing advice via Eve@EveBushmanConsulting.com

Capturing the spiritual essence of mezcal? New book “The Mezcal Rush” by Granville Greene is HERE

June 19, 2017 by evebushman

PRAISE FOR THE MEZCAL RUSH:

“A rich, inclusive portrait of one of the world’s great drinks.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A unique and fascinating journey following the mezcal trail from remote Mexican villages to trendy bars abroad … Greene’s lively and skillful blend of travelogue and social commentary charts the sometimes troubled links between these very different worlds.” —Gideon Rachman,
chief foreign affairs commentator, The Financial Times

Mezcal may be the oldest distilled spirit in the Americas, but has exploded in popularity only recently. In The Mezcal Rush: Explorations in Agave Country (Counterpoint Press, 295 pages), Granville Greene vividly describes his quest through the Mexican highlands to learn more about the varied cultures, plants, and traditions surrounding the drink, which has become a craft cocktail darling.

He soon finds that, unlike most high-end spirits, small-batch mezcals are typically produced by and for subsistence farming communities, where maestros mezcaleros distill their signature drinks using local agaves and artisanal production methods honed through generations of mezcal-making families. Greene visits remote indigenous villages in Oaxaca and Guerrero states, where the spirit is never mixed into cocktails and is reserved instead for consuming puro on special occasions—a liquid language celebrating community identity along with the diverse characters of numerous agave species.

Greene joins the maestros in the arduous tasks of mezcal-making, as they harvest agave hearts from treacherous mountain slopes, roast them in underground pit ovens, grind them in rustic mills, and distill the fermented mash over wood fires through long nights under the stars. Ambient elements enter the process—the natural yeasts of a lime tree growing near a still, the unique minerality of the local spring water—as each mezcal becomes an individual expression of plants, place, and the artistry of its maker.

Sipping a handcrafted mezcal, Greene comes to understand, is like being invited into someone’s home and allows us to transcend borders. Yet while visiting a cocktail convention in New Orleans and hip new mezcal bars in the U.S. and abroad, he finds an ongoing disconnect with the maestros, who have been swept up in a hot new booze trend in which they have little voice. Greene explores the dynamics of a cultural commodity undergoing a gold-rush style surge as a luxury export, and the consequent overharvesting that threatens agaves growing in the wild, as he finds the ancient spirit at a new crossroads.

With illustrations by Jack DeLap.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: GRANVILLE GREENE is a graduate of The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University. He has written for Outside, The New York Times, and many other publications. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Kimo Sabe Mezcal Will Launch A Bold National Agave Spirit Taste-Test Challenge Vs The #1 Ultra-Premium Tequila & Oaxacan Style Mezcal

June 15, 2017 by evebushman

Zacatecas, Mexico – Kimo Sabe, the award-winning, ultra-premium, and fastest growing mezcal brand, announced today its “Step Up to the New Taste of Agave” campaign – a 100,000 person, 10-city national consumer taste-test challenge –kicking off in Las Vegas in June. The challenge will pit Kimo Sabe, The New Taste of Mezcal against the best-selling ultra-premium tequila and a smoky ‘Oaxacan style’ mezcal.

The back to back (2016 & 2017) winner of the American Distilling Institute’s top honor, “Best In Class “ for all Agave Spirits, Kimo Sabe, is taking its taste-test challenge on the road to educate and inform agave drinkers nationwide on the breadth and depth of the agave taste experience. Launching in Las Vegas in June, Kimo Sabe will conduct a blind taste-test challenge with over 10,000 consumers, having them compare three top agave spirits – the best-selling tequila and ‘Oaxacan style’ smoky mezcal, and the disruptive new taste of agave, Kimo Sabe Mezcal. After sampling all three, consumers will be asked to rate their choices ‘good,’ ‘better,’ and ‘best.’

“We’re kicking off our challenge in Las Vegas, the party capital of the world, where visitors are looking to have fun, celebrate with their favorite spirit and are open to new experiences,” said Jim Walsh, co-founder and CEO of Kimo Sabe. “Our goal for the 10 city challenge is to create 100,000 Kimo Sabe brand ambassadors, because once sampled, agave spirit fans will make Kimo Sabe their new top shelf choice.”

Additional cities selected for the taste-test challenge include; Los Angeles, Dallas, Austin, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Miami, and Minneapolis. 10,000 consumers will be targeted in each market.

The public has a growing love affair with the agave spirit category. Studies show tequila consumption has doubled over the past 7 years, with mezcal being the fastest growing segment of that category.

“Everyone who loves agave spirits will appreciate this opportunity to take our challenge and experience for themselves how Kimo Sabe is evolving the industry. Tasting is truly believing. Our rapid growth is creating opportunities for hundreds of agave growers in Mexico, who we are assisting in creating sustainable, organic, agave ecosystems that will last for generations. We proudly call this strategy Building Bridges – as it connects the Mexican agave growers to a generation of US consumers seeking their own defining liquor category,” states Ashley Kvamme, Co-founder of Kimo Sabe.

Veteran agri-business flavor specialists Jim Walsh and Ashley Walsh Kvamme, who come from the premium chocolate business, started Kimo Sabe in 2014 with the goal to create high quality, artisan distiller flavor experiences of the agave plant at a price point for everyone to enjoy. The result has been award winning mezcals that are full of flavor, balanced and approachable, and have consistently garnered 90+ scores by leading industry critics. The Company has grown by 500% over the last two years and is outpacing sales growth of the leading brands in all agave categories. The Company expects its sales to double the entire mezcal category within 24 months.

“We aim to educate consumers through a direct taste experience of the full continuum of flavors across ultra-premium agave categories,” says Jim Walsh. “Most consumers have a sense of tequila flavors, and some have experienced smoky mezcal’s, but few have ever experienced the elegance, complexity and beauty of the literally hundreds of flavors of agave. Agave spirits have the potential to be truly memorable, where single flavors, when blended artfully, combine to create never before tasted harmonic accords or ineffable notes of magic. Kimo Sabe does for agave what Johnny Walker does for Scotch, as it gives the consumer a range of the special notes available in the category all in one product. This is the embodiment of the art of blending and distilling. We are excited to be expanding the agave industry and by doing so helping hundreds of Mexican agave growers prosper sustainably.”

Kimo Sabe Mezcal is made from 100% varietal agaves of which there are 42 varieties, while tequila is made from one type. Each type of agave has its own distinct flavor, giving mezcal producers a greater ability to create their own unique spirit. Common distilling practices known as ‘Oaxacan style,’ have in the past yielded smoky mezcals which to date have had limited consumer acceptance. In expanding the appeal of mezcal, Kimo Sabe has developed a proprietary blend of many agave flavors, which is carefully blended and distilled, and finally enhanced with sound wave technology. This process harmonizes each molecule of the spirit – the result is the smoothest, most flavorful, agave spirit made today.

ABOUT KIMO SABE MEZCAL

Kimo Sabe, The New Taste of Mezcal, is led by agri-business veterans and company co-founders Jim Walsh (CEO) and Ashley Walsh Kvamme (COO). Its USA headquarters are based in Pasadena, California, with its distillery and agave fields in Zacatecas, Mexico. The brand launched on May 1, 2015. It currently sells a Joven and Reposado Mezcal, with brand extensions anticipated. The American Distilling Institute awarded Kimo Sabe its agave spirit’s category top honor, “Best In Class,” in both 2016 and 2017. Kimo Sabe is currently distributed in California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, Colorado, Florida and Tennessee and will soon be distributed in Illinois, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Maryland and Georgia

Kimo Sabe is committed to funding the creation of sustainable, varietal agave ecosystems in Mexico. They partnered with the Government of Zacatecas, Mexico to launch a pro-social program that will fund the creation of 100 new agave farms supplying 1,000 new jobs in the state. In March, Kimo Sabe became the official and exclusive mezcal of the SXSW Festival. Kimo Sabe is the title sponsor for all nationally televised episodes and live stream events of CBS Sports’ Poker Night in America. Ashley Walsh Kvamme was named one of the Top Women In Booze by Harper’s Bazaar Magazine this past year, and one of California’s top female entrepreneurs by Comerica Bank.

Blue Nectar Tequila and iichiko Shochu Named Chairman’s Trophy Winner

May 28, 2017 by evebushman

New York, NY – The Ultimate Spirits Challenge has awarded Blue Nectar Tequila and iichiko Shochu with their highest honor, the Chairman’s Trophy. Dubbed the “world’s trailblazing spirits competition,” the Ultimate Spirits Challenge is led by globally renowned spirits reviewer Paul Pacult and an expert panel of judges from around the world. The judges taste over 4 days in Hawthorne, NY, with upwards of 400 spirits to evaluate. iichiko BLU won for the Shochu category and took home a 90+ score for five of their expressions, while Blue Nectar’s Founder’s Blend won for the best Añejo within the 100% Agave Tequila category. Both of the brands are represented by Colangelo & Partners, a leading integrated communications agency specializing in premium wine and spirits.

“We’re thrilled that Blue Nectar and iichiko have been honored by the team at the USC, the best of the best in the spirits industry,” said Gino Colangelo, president of Colangelo & Partners. “We represent the highest quality spirits and often collaborate with members of the USC’s esteemed panel who guide spirits and cocktail trends, and develop some of the best drink menus in the world.”

Colangelo & Partners, which recently celebrated their 10 year anniversary, continues to be an important player in the spirits world by helping to build awareness for premium, entrepreneurial spirits brands. Since January 2017, the spirits team at Colangelo & Partners has expanded their clientele to include Aviation American Gin, Berentzen Liqueurs and Purus Vodka. Colangelo & Partners also represents Diplomático Rum, Lost Distillery Company Scotch Whisky, Sombra Mezcal, TY KU Sake, Consejo Regulador de la Denominaciones de Origen Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, Lepanto Brandy, Nomad Outland Whisky and London No. 1 Gin. Colangelo & Partners focuses on four strategic pillars of expertise: media relations, social media and influencer relations, trade relations, and events.

About Blue Nectar Tequila
Founded by father and son BN and Nikhil Bahadur, Blue Nectar Tequila (http://www.bluenectartequila.com/) is a small-batch, super-premium Tequila focused on agave-forward flavor profiles indicative of the terroir of “el valle” or the valley of the Tequila producing region. Using estate-grown blue agaves from “el valle,” Blue Nectar skillfully crafts and bottles its Tequilas in Amatitán, Mexico, widely recognized as the birthplace of Tequila. Since its launch in 2011, Blue Nectar has garnered numerous industry accolades in both the United States and Mexico. Current production includes Silver, Reposado Extra Blend, Reposado Special Craft and Añejo Founder’s Blend Tequilas.

About iichiko Shochu
iichiko’s shochu (http://www.iichiko.co.jp/en/) is the #1 barley shochu in Japan. Each iichiko shochu begins with only the highest quality barley and water drawn from natural springs deep beneath the earth. The flavors of iichiko’s shochu are refreshing and boast a crystal clear taste, truly embodying the essence of Japanese refinement. The lush greenery, pure water and cool breezes of Oita Prefecture, famously known for their hot springs, provide the perfect setting to house the distillery where iichiko shochu is produced. It all begins with carefully selecting the finest natural ingredients and water. Advanced distilling technologies are then applied to produce the highest quality shochu. Since 1958, iichiko has prided itself on putting quality first, the way it’s always been done and will always continue to be done.

About Colangelo & Partners
Colangelo & Partners (http://www.colangelopr.com) specializes in premium food, wine, spirits and lifestyle brands, and has long established relationships with the key press that drive these business categories and help determine the industry leaders. Agency principals have years of experience in retail and distribution as well as communications, a rare combination that gives Colangelo & Partners invaluable insights into consumer purchasing behavior. The agency focuses on ‘closing the loop’ between creative communications programs, distribution, promotion, publicity and the consumer in order to maximize the efficiency of its communications programs and deliver measurable results. Founded in 2006, Colangelo & Partners was honored as one of the year’s top integrated communications firms at the 2013 Agency Elite Awards and for one of the best digital marketing campaigns at the 2014 Digital PR Awards.

Del Maguey Ranked No.1 in The World’s Best Bars Brand Report 2015

February 12, 2015 by evebushman

Independent Poll Names Del Maguey as Top Trending Brand

Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal has been ranked No.1 in The World’s 50 Best Bars Brands Report 2015.

The Academy widened its net this year to query 100 of the world’s greatest bars. The widely respected and independent Academy comprises 334 bartenders, commentators and industry trainers from around the globe.

Del Maguey has been prized as the most relevant brand to have in a bar. The win was attributed to the range of Del Maguey’s portfolio of Single Village Mezcals and terroir-driven, agave varietals. In particular, Del Maguey’s expression, Vida, was described as the first mixable entry-level mezcal.

“This is such a wonderful way to begin 2015”, says Ron Cooper. “Del Maguey always holds dearest the commendations of our Del Maguey family, that is, all the bartenders, everywhere, who have made Del Maguey what it is today. And this result is testimony to that love. Thank you for this and for your constant support.”

The result drew added attention this year, as the industry took note that a ‘”mezcal” beat out the usual big, but quality oriented, brand winners such as Tanqueray Gin, Beefeater Gin, Bacardi Rum and Tapatio Tequila to name but a few. Moreover, Del Maguey is a much smaller, independent name founded by artist, Ron Cooper back in 1995, and holds title as the first producer to credit each product after the village where its liquid is made.

The World’s 50 Best Bars Brands Report 2015 is a spin-off of The World’s 50 Best Bars, now in its sixth year and this survey has become one of the most far-reaching and globally respected polls of its kind.

About Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal

Through deep cultural relationships with Zapotec Mexican Indian producers in the remote villages of Oaxaca, Mexico, Del Maguey practices ancient, original organic processes. Using strictly natural, rustic and pure processes over five hundred years old, the village palenquero (maker) captures the true body and spirit of mezcal with only two ingredients: the heart of the maguey (agave), and 10% pure water added only to the fermentation.