Category Archives: Pizza

Pizza Antica Frozen Pizzas Worth Your Freezer Space

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Pizza Antica's Margherita pizza -- the frozen variety.
Pizza Antica’s Margherita pizza — the frozen variety.

The original Pizza Antica in San Jose’s Santana Row has been churning out impeccable, freshly-baked Neapolitan- style pizzas since it opened in 2003.

But it took a global pandemic for the company to try its hand at the frozen pizza game. It has now gone all in with a commissary kitchen in San Francisco that churns them out.

Roberts Market in Woodside was once the only market that stocked the Pizza Antica frozen pizzas. Nowadays, its reach has been extended to the freezer cases at Bay Area Draeger’s, Mollie Stone’s, Zanotto’s, Nugget, Diablo Foods, Bi-Rite, Lundardi’s, Andronico’s, Piazza’s, Target, Cal-Mart, Marvel Foods, Berkeley Bowl, Piedmont Grocery, Oliver’s, Bianchini’s, and Woodlands.

A couple weeks ago when in Woodside, I stopped in at Roberts specifically to grab a couple of the Pizza Antica frozen pizzas. Having sat down to the ones at Pizza Antica many times, I was curious as to how the frozen ones stacked up.

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Carbo-Loading at Rose Pizzeria in Berkeley

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A fantastic mushroom pizza at Rose Pizzeria in Berkeley.
A fantastic mushroom pizza at Rose Pizzeria in Berkeley.

After enjoying a splendid musical production of “The Lunchbox” at the Berkeley Rep, based on one of my favorite films of the same name, I did the only logical thing afterward:

I stuffed myself silly with pizza.

After all, it was only a short stroll away from the theater to Rose Pizzeria, which the New York Times named in 2024 as one of “The Best Pizzas in America.”

Owners, married couple Gerad Gobel and Alexis Rorabaugh, also opened a second location this spring, this one in San Francisco.

The entrance.
The entrance.

The original Berkeley location is tiny, so it pays to make a reservation in advance if you can. Otherwise, you’re in for a wait.

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Where’s the Cumin?

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Fragrant and irresistible lamb pizza, made even better with cumin.
Fragrant and irresistible lamb pizza, made even better with cumin.

When I spied this recipe for “Xi’an Famous Pizza” that was inspired by the mouth-watering Chinese food served at the family-owned New York institution, Xi’an Famous Foods, one thought came to mind immediately:

Where’s the cumin?

This pizza was originally a collaboration between Paulie Gee’s pizzeria in Brooklyn, which created this popular lamb-topped pizza with Xi’an Famous Foods’ spicy, umami bomb chili crisp drizzled over the top.

But anyone like myself who’s ever dined at one of the locations of this casual, no-frills Chinese restaurant surely can’t forget the deep earthy warmth of the cumin-scented lamb that adorns its hand-ripped noodles or gets stuffed burger-style into tender flatbread.

So, when I made this pizza, there was no way I was going to leave out the cumin.

The recipe is from “Pizza From the Heart” (Union Square & Co.), of which I received a review copy. It was written by Paulie Gee and Mary Ann Giannone, founder’s of Paulie Gee’s, which now boasts locations in Chicago, Baltimore and Ohio, too. It was written with assistance from food writer, Sarah Zorn.

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San Jose’s New Poppy & Claro Outperforms

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Seared salmon with cauliflower, broccolini, and cornmeal-battered green beans. Would you believe this is all of $21 at Poppy & Claro?
Seared salmon with cauliflower, broccolini, and cornmeal-battered green beans. Would you believe this is all of $21 at Poppy & Claro?

Admittedly, when I was invited to dine as a guest of a new downtown San Jose restaurant, one established by the building’s developer who had never opened a restaurant before, I arrived skeptical.

By the time I left, though, I was an avowed convert, because Poppy & Claro far exceeded expectations.

Housed on the ground floor of the former KQED office building (and former Knight Ridder building before that), it’s very much designed for the weekday work crowd, as it’s open only Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. However, it’s available for private events on Sundays and Mondays.

Created by the Jay Paul Company, a Silicon Valley real estate firm, it’s centrally located right next to the San Jose Museum of Art and the winter ice skating rink. There’s even outdoor seating right by the Circle of Palms Plaza.

The communal table in the shape of the state.
The communal table in the shape of the state.
The bar.
The bar.

The restaurant name pays homage to California’s state flower and the wood from the state’s native walnut tree.

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