Pizza Fusion Hollywood

It's been a solid year since Pizza Fusion opened its Hollywood location on Sunset Boulevard, the second Los Angeles location for this Florida-based sustainable themed franchise.  It was perhaps inevitable that a pizza joint of its sort made its way to Southern California -- the land of the health-conscious and environmentally-friendly junk food lover.

Franchise owners Michele and Craig Orlando live and breathe the very tenets of Social Responsibility on which the pizza chain is founded.  "We've been living this lifestyle for a long time," explains Craig.  "It's just another aspect of Pizza Fusion that drew us."  Michele adds, "We have distributors that buy from local farmers... and we believe in sustainable practices."

Born in San Jose, and having grown up in Gilroy (home of the Garlic Festival), cooking was a natural part of the siblings' profile.  "We make a really good team, we really complement each other," Craig cheerfully announces.  "We're natural chefs," adds Michele -- a play, perhaps, on their amateur chef status and passionate dedication to all things green.

True to form, the restaurant is built around sustainable function, as are the kitchen and service methods.  It's truly an ingrained philosophy that makes it's way down to the elements of the food itself.  And what of the food?  Well, to say it hits the spot (as a good pizza should) ignores the fact that the perse menu offers helpings for vegan and gluten-free diets that remain faithful to the flavor and form of pizza.

Craig explains, "We feel like we're getting back to the basics.  In farming fifty, sixty or seventy years ago, we didn't have all the pesticides and herbicides.  Obviously we have to feed a larger population now, but you don't get the same value out of it.  You have to use so much more to produce the same amount."

There's something wonderful about a responsible restaurant business that doesn't obligate its patrons, but tactfully offers organic and diet-conscious menu items that allow restricted eaters to enjoy the casual vice that is pizza.

Michele boasts, "Over 75 percent of our menu is certified organic.  Everything else is all natural."  That guarantee is certainly a plus for diners when ordering the loaded and flavorful Farmers Market pizza, a pie bursting with artichoke hearts, roasted zucchini, roasted portobello, red onions, mozzarella, provolone and parmesan.  What could otherwise be a languid concoction of hearty vegetables on a doughy base turns out to be a fresh and flavorful delight on surprisingly crispy crust.

"We went to Italy a little over four years ago," Craig recalls.  "Everything over there is thin crust, and you come over here and it's like you're eating a loaf of bread when you have pizza."  This isn't lip service, as it becomes evident that Pizza Fusion strives for a light and crispy crust, whether the selection is of the traditional organic, gluten-free or vegan variety.

What better vote of confidence in a pizza parlor than the enthusiasm of its owners?  But don't simply take their word for it.  "I had a girl come in who had a lot of dairy restrictions," Craig recalls.  "And you should have seen the smile on her face when she looked at the menu, 'You're my new best friend!'  She had a genuine smile on her face because now she can eat pizza and chocolate brownies!"

We can attest to the focus on flavor as well as health-conscious fare, as I was offered to complete my meal with a Pizza Fusion Lambic Beer Float.  What better way to finish off an organic and gluten-free meal than with the taste of peach-infused, Belgian beer and strawberry sherbet?  It's to diet for.

Treat your palate and keep your soul -- hit up Pizza Fusion today.