“Pizza” is part of California Pizza Kitchen’s brand identity, but salads have always been a very important menu category for the casual-dining chain. And salad presentation has been a differentiator since CPK got its start 40 years ago.
“Entree salads represent 20% of our sales,” said Paul Pszybylski, VP of culinary innovation for the Costa Mesa, California-based concept. And since “California” is also in the restaurants’ name, he loves to showcase fresh produce.
Earlier this month, CPK rolled out four new salads developed by Pszybylski and his team. “They are based on classic elements but spotlight current trends in unique ways,” he said. Novel presentations and combinations of flavors and textures add to their uniqueness.
Starting with steak and a deconstructed charcuterie board
“We saw a huge trend in charcuterie boards in fine dining and on social media, so I decided to introduce a salad with a charcuterie board on top,” said Pszybylski.
Although the salad doesn’t sport an actual wooden board, its elements are all arranged charcuterie-style on top of greens in a flat, shallow bowl. Arugula, spinach and fresh basil leaves fill the bottom of the bowl, with cuts of applewood smoked ham, salami and brie, cubed Parmesan, green apple slices and candied walnuts fanned out over the greens. The salad is finished with a Dijon balsamic vinaigrette and house-made sesame crackers. It’s kind of salad-as-grazing adventure.
“The teams at our restaurants were reaching out and asking ‘how do I eat this,’” said Pszybylski. “That’s the fun of it—it can be chopped and combined with the dressing and greens or eaten like a snack board.”
Next up in the launch is a Steakhouse Salad that makes smart use of a cut that is typically ground into burgers.
“Sterling Meats, our burger supplier, is known for their filet mignon. We asked if they have any pieces left over that may be more affordable when they cut the filets,” said Pszybylski.
The answer was “yes,” and CPK now chars those pieces on the grill and adds six ounces of filet mignon to each full Steakhouse Salad and three ounces to a half salad. It’s rounded out with crispy smashed potatoes, roasted tomatoes, red onions and Gorgonzola over arugula and lettuce, dressed with Dijon balsamic vinaigrette.
The flavors and combination of ingredients evoke the steakhouse experience, “and the crispy smashed potatoes add texture like croutons,” Pszybylski said. In test, the Steakhouse Salad topped the salad category in customer scores.
Both the charcuterie and steakhouse salads are now on the permanent menu, selling for $20 and $22 for a full salad, respectively, and $15.99 and $18 for a half.
Tapping into global flavors
For the last two new salads, Pszybylski turned to Asia and Italy for inspiration.
The Crispy Chinese Dumpling Salad features potsticker-style chicken dumplings over Napa cabbage, cucumbers, carrots, scallions and cilantro, tossed in honey-miso dressing and finished with a drizzle of chili crisp. A full salad is $20 with six dumplings and a half goes for $15.99 with three dumplings.
“We’ve had chicken dumplings on our appetizer list for 10 years,” he said, so it didn’t mean sourcing a new SKU. “We crisp them in the fryer, then toss them with crisp, chilled veggies and a new, craveable dressing made with white miso and honey.” The salad delivers on contrasting temperatures, textures and flavors. “And we always try to give our salads height,” he added.
Mr. Bing’s chili crisp is a new ingredient brought in for this salad—something Pszybylski has wanted to add to the pantry for a while. “We can now offer it as a side on other dishes,” he said. He’s thinking CPK’s braised short rib ragu over pappardelle would benefit from a drizzle of chili crisp, and he may develop an Asian cold noodle dish highlighting Mr. Bing’s.
Like the previous two, the Crispy Chinese Dumpling Salad joins the permanent menu. The last of the four new additions, the Burrata Panzanella Salad, is a limited-time summer offer.
The Burrata Panzanella Salad is a summer LTO.
“Rick and Larry [California Pizza Kitchen founders Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax] first introduced me to panzanella back when I started,” said Pszybylski. “For this LTO, I upped the game.”
Panzanella, the classic Italian bread salad, traditionally combines cubes of day-old bread with tomatoes, olive oil and vinegar. Sometimes cheese, onions and olives are added to the mix. CPK’s version starts with ciabatta bread to that’s toasted to make garlic croutons, which are then tossed them with baby heirloom tomatoes and creamy burrata cheese to give the classic “an easy lift,” Pszybylski said. Cucumbers, garbanzo beans, thinly sliced red onions, fresh basil, wild Greek oregano and a lemon-herb vinaigrette add more dimension. A half salad ($15.99) uses two ounces of burrata, while a full portion ($20) adds four ounces.
Refreshing the pantry along with the menu
None of the salads in CPK’s existing lineup were axed to make room for the new ones. Longtime favorites including the BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad, Thai Crunch Salad, California Cobb Salad, Italian Chopped Salad and Caesar Salad are all still available in full or half portions.
“We tested 12 salads to add these three new ones to the permanent menu. They were the strongest performers,” said Pszybylski.
What didn’t perform quite as well were a miso Caesar salad and melon and prosciutto salad. “Our guests don’t like us to fuss with the Caesar and melon just didn’t hit,” he said. Indian flavors also don’t resonate with CPK customers, “but we’re getting closer.”
Aside from the chili crisp and white miso, Pszybylski didn’t bring in many new SKUs to develop the salad additions. Baby heirloom tomatoes and candied walnuts were added, along with a couple of the charcuterie components. But some of these ingredients can be cross-utilized for sandwiches and possibly pizzas; the latter category is getting some updates for fall, he said.
The four salads didn’t disrupt operations much either. They’re prepped at the kitchen’s pantry station, and although the charcuterie salad required a little more training as it was a different way to put a salad together, the teams caught on quickly. Pszybylski works closely with the chain’s COO, and Ops usually gives him “a pat on the back” for adding menu items that are not too tough to execute, he said.