California Pizza Kitchen ready to open in Sarasota

It certainly didn't look like cauliflower, but it was.

During California Pizza Kitchen's "Sneak Peak" event on Jan. 19 at its new location at 192 North Cattlemen Road, adjacent to the Mall at University Town Center, a line of interesting culinary delights were on display. The chain restaurant opens for business Monday at 11 a.m.

Chris Morris, the president of California Pizza Kitchen, was trying to coax a cauliflower hater into trying his restaurant's spicy Buffalo cauliflower. "Even if you don't like cauliflower, you will like this," Morris said with a big smile.

One thing was obvious, California Pizza Kitchen offers a lot more than just pizza.

Morris said Artesian hand-tossed pizza makes up about 26% of the chain restaurant's business. 

"We're known for our creativity," said Brian Sullivan, the senior vice president of culinary innovation who has been with the company for 29 years. "We only use the finest ingredients and we explore boundaries."

Among the offerings on Jan. 19 were charred shishito peppers (pan-sauteed with Tamari soy, garlic and red chili), hearth-roasted halibut (roasted on a cedar plank with grilled asparagus and butternut squash farro and baby kale), quinoa and arugula salad (super grain salad with asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, red onions, toasted pine nuts and Feta cheese tossed in a Champagne vinaigrette), carne asada pizza (marinated steak, fire-roasted poblanos, cilantro pesto, yellow onions, Mozzarella and Monterey Jack), and spicy Buffalo cauliflower (cauliflower florets in a buttermilk batter, tossed in Sriracha Buffalo sauce and topped with a salad of celery, Gorgonzola and cilantro).

The restaurant, which also features a full-service bar, will have 170 employees.   

Morris said the first California Pizza Kitchen in Florida opened in 1983 in Naples. The newest one at the Mall at UTC is the 16th in Florida and the first in the Sarasota-Bradenton area. The chain has 280 restaurants worldwide.