California Pizza Kitchen took me back to my Californian holidays of last summer. I’ve lost the count of times I have visited CPK in USA. Last week, when I was invited to an exclusive cookery masterclass to celebrate the launch of the brand new California Pizza Kitchen in Dubai Festival City, I was super excited. Got into a California state of mind, grabbed my close pal and hit up CPK.
CPK has many outlets in various malls here, the Dubai Festival City outlet is the newest one. Located in the First floor of Dubai Festival City, the restaurant is very spacious. The minute you enter CPK , you will feel the California beach vibe. If you miss the perfectly sun kissed surf beaches of California, CPK will take you back to California, right here in Dubai.
Spacious seating area, vibrant and earthy decor, friendly and lively atmosphere enhanced our dining experience. It has an open concept kitchen, where you can watch all the action live-from hand tossing the pizza to baking and every other cooking activity.
As soon as we arrived, we were offered Strawberry & Watermelon Cooler and Apple Cucumber Cooler. Both our drinks were delicious and refreshing. Perfect drinks to beat Dubai’s heat and keep us hydrated.
While we were enjoying our drinks, we were served Jalapeños Bites and Bruschetta. The baked Jalapeños were stuffed with creamy cheese and tasted spicy and absolutely delicious. The Bruschetta was so amazing that, I was busy stuffing my face with it and forgot to take pictures.(I never forget to take pictures, you can imagine, how tasty the bruschetta was)
Just after we were done with our drinks and starters, we were whisked away to the room where the cookery masterclass was to be held. All of us were provided with aprons and a mystery box.(full of fresh ingredients)
The mystery box contained ingredients for some of their signature dishes on the menu. While some guests got to make different kinds of salads and pizza, my friend Anita and I got to make their famous Fried Mac ‘N’ Cheese, as our mystery box had all the ingredients for their signature appetizer. What a happy coincidence, as Fried Mac ‘N’ Cheese happens to be my favorite appetizer.
The chefs of CPK were on hand to assist and help us make it. Within no time, our Fried Mac ‘N’ Cheese was ready. We thought it will be difficult to make, but the chef, made it look so simple and easy. Hopefully , we will try to make it at home.
With cooking done, it was time to sit back, relax and enjoy our fruits of labor. Not only did we try the appetizer that we made, we also ordered some of the items from their menu.
The Fried Mac ‘N’ Cheese had a crispy exterior with a perfect golden color and a soft interior, with creamy macaroni. Was it amazing? Oh boy! It was beyond amazing.
Being a vegetarian, I didn’t try the Dynamite Shrimp. But Anita did, she said it was spicy, creamy and crispy. The quantity was good, it can be easily shared between two people.
We also tried their new salad- California Field Green. It had a healthy mix of greens with basil, fresh watermelon, strawberries, feta and pistachios tossed in a white balsamic vinaigrette. This salad was fresh, tasty and crunchy.
Next we tried the California Veggie pizza. It was a crispy thin crust pizza loaded with fresh veggies and Mozarella. It was yum. A definite must-try at CPK.
We had the Nutella Cake for dessert. It was a chocolate cake with Nutella frosting. It was not that great and didn’t have the freshly baked taste or flavor to it.
Overall, we had a wonderful experience. Not only did we try the food, we also learnt from the experts. It was a fun evening, can’t wait to visit them again.
For more info call: 04 453 5234
For delivery: 800 cpk cpk-800 275 275
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