Pepperoni pizza with a side of sustainability
Pizza Fusion is a neat, new restaurant on the corner of Ocean Park Boulevard and 29th Street that serves up more than just pies of all kinds. This Earth-friendly restaurant chain dedicated to sustainability tries to educate its customers about the values of buying organic.
Even when you are just standing outside this modern, fresh space, looking at the Earth-friendly messages on the windows, you can tell the restaurant is meant for anybody. And when I say anybody, I mean anybody and everybody between 1 and 100.
Pizza Fusion is a franchise restaurant that caters to a health conscious clientele. All of their ingredients are organic, whole and healthy. They use mostly Farmers’ Market bought products, and to show their support, they even made a Farmers’ Market Pizza chock-full of vegetables and other spices bought at the market. It is one of my favorite dishes there because all of the vegetables combined are like a volcano, exploding with flavor. And don’t let the veggie title fool you into thinking this pie isn’t filling. I assure you that this pizza is fit for a king!
Pizza Fusion’s decor is kind of simple. There are bamboo trees next to all of the windows, and there is a brick wall leading across the whole left side of the restaurant, framing the kitchen behind it. Paintings of grassy meadows and lush green fields hang on the walls. The wait staff walks around, wearing black T-shirts with slogans on the back saying stuff like “I’m 100% Organic” and “My Carbon Footprint is Smaller Than Yours.”
The feel of this restaurant is contemporary. It uses wood, glass and stone very nicely to give a warm feeling for diners. The only drawback is that the sleek design creates an echo that elevates the noise level. On the positive side, every decoration is 100 percent organic and good for the environment.
As I said earlier, Pizza Fusion is great for everybody, in the ways of location, and of course, food. Pizza Fusion is known nationwide for being a haven for people that have problems such as diabetes, lactose intolerance, or just being vegetarian, vegan, or kosher. Whatever your deal is, you can find something delicious at Pizza Fusion that is suitable for your diet.
All of the pizzas come either as a personal pizza or a large pie. A large pizza is eight pieces, and the personal pizza is four, which is great for kids to share. It just matters on your appetite. But besides that, Pizza Fusion offers two kinds of pizza crust — the multi-grain and the standard. All the pizzas have a thin crispy crust. If there are no pizzas on the menu that look good enough to you, you must be crazy. That said, you can make your own pizza and decide what toppings you want. I think it is a pretty good deal, as each of the toppings for your pizza is just $1. I would recommend any of the pizzas.
They have absolutely brilliant salad creations, too. Their organic ingredients give their customers a strong sense of their high-quality dishes. These wonderful salads include: The beet and feta salad, which is crisp arugula leaves blended with tender roasted beets, mild and sweet red onions, delicious feta cheese, and candied walnuts, all tossed with their tangy balsamic vinaigrette. They also have a unique roasted steak salad, which is tossed greens, crunchy cucumbers, juicy tomatoes, gorgonzola cheese, roasted zucchini and crisp red onions served with flavorful pan roasted steak. If you don’t want pizza or salad you can choose from a few creative sandwiches.
And then my favorite — dessert. At Pizza Fusion you don’t have many choices, but the few they have are amazing. Your choices are a homemade brownie, vegan chocolate chip cookies that are served fresh out of the oven, assorted sorbet and gelato flavors and a good old-fashioned root beer float.
The owner, David Wentworth, spent some time talking with me about the importance of organically grown foods, reducing your carbon foot print and his commitment to the local community. His manager, David Kelley, agreed with his sentiment and went on to say that they would like to get involved with the local schools and service organizations to raise their visibility and become part of this wonderful neighborhood. Wentworth was talking to me about having the recycled paper placemats for kids to color on, but was still waiting for the non-toxic soy crayons to show up. We used the placemats with their recycled paper pens.
I hope that this delicious restaurant review helps you the next time you want a pizza. All you have to do is head over to Pizza Fusion for the healthiest, most delicious pizza in town.
Until then, keep up the good eating!
Brandon Cohen is an 11-year-old Santa Monica native. He resides in Sunset Park with his family. He loves food, restaurants and writing.
