Since its first branch opened in Beverly Hills in 1985, California Pizza Kitchen has built its reputation on offbeat, extravagant pizza combinations like the California club pizza (first baked with smoked bacon, chicken and mozzarella and then topped with tomatoes and chilled lettuce tossed in mayonnaise (NT$380), and the pear and Gorgonzola (the two main ingredients come alongside mozzarella, caramelized onions and mixed salad, NT$420). The chain’s first Taiwan store is located in the food court of Vieshow Cinema (威秀影城) in Xinyi District. The sit-down restaurant opened earlier this month and has been racking up good business so far. On a recent Wednesday evening, we arrived around 7:30pm but had to wait half an hour for a table.
California Pizza Kitchen is also known for a rotating selection of indulgent appetizers. The current roster at the Taipei location includes calorie bombs like pork rib quesadillas (NT$320) and karaage crispy chicken (NT$210), or Japanese-style fried chicken served with a citrus-soy dipping sauce. There are a few healthier options, such as the Greek plate, or hummus and Greek salad served with pizza bread (NT$250).
We ordered smoked salmon deviled eggs (NT$300), which were served with toasted triangles of pita bread. California Pizza Kitchen’s take on the classic American finger food featured yolk mixed with dill paste and stuffed back into hard-boiled egg white halves, topped with smoked salmon, cucumber, tomato and parsley. It tasted much lighter than traditional deviled eggs, which are usually made with dollops of mayo. Despite the slice of salty smoked salmon layered on top of each egg, however, the dish was somewhat bland and could have done with a heavy sprinkling of paprika.
Photo: Catherine Shu, Taipei Times
My companion ordered the Milan pizza (NT$420), which is smothered in three types of cheeses (Edam, mozzarella and Parmesan) and topped with spicy and sweet Italian sausage, sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onion and fresh herbs. The meat was delicious, but we were surprised by the sweetness of the crust. The pizza’s many toppings disguised its flaky, buttery texture until we got to the edge of each slice. Once we noticed it, however, it became distracting.
My serving of California kung pao spaghetti (NT320) was much more successful. Tossed in red chili paste with plenty of garlic, peanuts and crispy scallions, the pasta was very piquant. Toppings of chicken or shrimp are available for an extra charge.
With its pastry-dough-like taste, California Pizza Kitchen’s crust pairs well with sweet toppings — and, indeed, there are several dessert pizzas available, including the pearl tapioca milk tea pizza (NT$280). Topped with pearl tapioca, large multi-colored mochi (or glutinous rice) balls and lashings of tea-flavored cream, the dessert pizza looked unappetizing but tasted surprisingly good. Strawberry slices added an unexpected pop of tartness and the crispy dough was a good textural complement to all the chewy toppings. The pearl tapioca milk tea pizza is best shared between at least two people. Other sweet options include the red wine apple cinnamon pizza (NT$250) and the banana chocolate and marshmallow pizza (NT$250), which appeared to be a popular choice among other diners.
In the mainstream view, the Philippines should be worried that a conflict over Taiwan between the superpowers will drag in Manila. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr observed in an interview in The Wall Street Journal last year, “I learned an African saying: When elephants fight, the only one that loses is the grass. We are the grass in this situation. We don’t want to get trampled.” Such sentiments are widespread. Few seem to have imagined the opposite: that a gray zone incursion of People’s Republic of China (PRC) ships into the Philippines’ waters could trigger a conflict that drags in Taiwan. Fewer
March 18 to March 24 Yasushi Noro knew that it was not the right time to scale Hehuan Mountain (合歡). It was March 1913 and the weather was still bitingly cold at high altitudes. But he knew he couldn’t afford to wait, either. Launched in 1910, the Japanese colonial government’s “five year plan to govern the savages” was going well. After numerous bloody battles, they had subdued almost all of the indigenous peoples in northeastern Taiwan, save for the Truku who held strong to their territory around the Liwu River (立霧溪) and Mugua River (木瓜溪) basins in today’s Hualien County (花蓮). The Japanese
Pei-Ru Ko (柯沛如) says her Taipei upbringing was a little different from her peers. “We lived near the National Palace Museum [north of Taipei] and our neighbors had rice paddies. They were growing food right next to us. There was a mountain and a river so people would say, ‘you live in the mountains,’ and my friends wouldn’t want to come and visit.” While her school friends remained a bus ride away, Ko’s semi-rural upbringing schooled her in other things, including where food comes from. “Most people living in Taipei wouldn’t have a neighbor that was growing food,” she says. “So
Whether you’re interested in the history of ceramics, the production process itself, creating your own pottery, shopping for ceramic vessels, or simply admiring beautiful handmade items, the Zhunan Snake Kiln (竹南蛇窯) in Jhunan Township (竹南), Miaoli County, is definitely worth a visit. For centuries, kiln products were an integral part of daily life in Taiwan: bricks for walls, tiles for roofs, pottery for the kitchen, jugs for fermenting alcoholic drinks, as well as decorative elements on temples, all came from kilns, and Miaoli was a major hub for the production of these items. The Zhunan Snake Kiln has a large area dedicated