National Culinary Review

1½- 2 oz. Thai peanut sauce
1 ( 12 inch) precooked pizza crust
3 oz. pizza cheese
3 oz. poached chicken, shredded
¾ oz. peanuts, crushed
2 oz. carrots, julienned
2 oz. bean sprouts
1½ oz. Mae Ploy
1 lime wedge
1 cilantro sprig

Method: Spread Thai peanut sauce evenly over pizza crust; top with pizza cheese and shredded chicken. Bake in pizza oven at 500ºF for 3-4 minutes, turning frequently. While baking, toss carrots, sprouts and Mae Ploy together. When pizza baked, top with veggie blend. Cut into 12 wedges. Garnish center of pizza with lime wedge and cilantro.

features a churrasco sauce (a combination of fresh garlic, olive oil, spices and cilantro), marinated steak, roasted red peppers and a five-cheese blend.

Saul Good also runs specials, such as a Philly cheese steak pizza and an étouffée pizza with a Cajun cream sauce for Fat Tuesday.

Perez says while the pizzas have different sauces, cheeses and ingredients, they all have the same thin, hand-tossed crust made with beer.

Mike Gosain, originally from India, has been in the U.S.
for 30 years. He owned a pizza restaurant where he decided
to try to make pizzas with Indian flavors, starting with tandoori
chicken pizza. He then sold the restaurant and opened Pizza &
Curry in Fremont, Calif., an area that’s home to many people
of Indian descent. “I knew some others doing Indian pizzas, but
I tried them and knew we could do much better,” Gosain says.

LOCAL FLAVORS

Pizzas at Stella Rossa Pizza Bar are inspired by local California produce, says Mahin. “We use lots of vegetables, most of which come from the Santa Monica farmers market and local farmers. A lot of what we do is farm-to-table, but we are also sensible about it and not constrained by that. We make simple pizzas and try to make them the best we can. With California cuisine, it’s taking a look at simple ingredients and highlighting them for what they are and not trying to change the flavor.”