Mommy Moments
The CPKids Tour: A Behind the Scenes Look at Making Pizza
By Krista Martinelli. Photos by Elien Boes.
Do you want a fun, educational experience for your kids this summer that culminates in the eating of pizza? Right, who wouldn’t want this? So along with about ten other moms and their children, we did the wonderful California Pizza Kitchen tour for kids. We scheduled our CPKids Tour at the Wellington Mall location, before CPK was open for business. It was approximately $6 per child, and they gained so much more than that in value from the experience. As a sidenote, the tour
We had a very gentle and good-humored staff person named Kenn – he gave us the behind the scenes restaurant tour. See the introduction video that he did for us!
The kids especially liked seeing where everything was stored, seeing food in bulk and getting the chill of the walk-in fridge. Another special treat is getting their own drinks from the soda fountain. After seeing everything “backstage,” the kids were lined up at the counter, each with a round space to work on their personal pizza. Another terrific staff person Shawn showed the kids how he twirls the pizza dough. They really enjoyed spreading on the tomato sauce, sprinkling the cheese and whatever toppings they requested. Some of the kids made smiley face pizzas. The kids get to see how the pizzas go right into the brick oven.
Then we were led back to our seats to wait about ten minutes for the pizza to be done. And voila! Terrific pizzas, created by our kids. As an added bonus, the staff brought out an assortment of interesting pizzas for the parents to sample. The kids were truly excited to see how food is prepared in a real restaurant and proud to have made their own individual pizzas. Most of our crew, at an average age of 5, did a good job of finishing off the whole pizza too!
The fun continued when our friendly tour guide handed out CPKids VIP Passes, good for the rest of the month. The pass entitles each child to a FREE Kids Meal, with a choice of pizza, pasta, salad or chicken, as well as a sundae, brownie or fruit, with a drink. And each pass can be used up to four times within the month. The kids also receive an activity book and pencil.
We left happy, educated, entertained and well-fed. It was a great kick-off to our summer and I highly recommend the experience to other parents and kids. To schedule a tour, call California Pizza Kitchen at the Mall at Wellington Green – (561) 793-1601. For further details on the tours, visit our “Kids’ Corner” this month.
Attention Schools and Non-Profits: California Pizza Kitchen can help your school or 501c organization raise money through a CPKids FUNdraising event. All you have to do is enjoy the great food at CPK and 20% of your purchase will be donated to your school or 501c organization. For more details contact a Manager at a local CPK.