CPK founders launch LA Food Show concept: designer-pizza pioneers Flax, Rosenfield team up for upscale-casual debut

Nation's Restaurant News, June 9, 2003 by Amy Spector

MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF. -- For California Pizza Kitchen founders Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield, there's no business like show business, LA Food Show business, that is.

The CPK co-chairmen launched LA Food Show, a 200-seat, theatrically themed "American grill and bar" here June 2. Los Angeles-based California Pizza Kitchen holds a 25-percent stake in the broad-menu chain prototype and options to acquire more at a later date.

The LA Food Show partners intend to take their upscale-casual production on the road fairly quickly, Flax said. Plans call for four to five more branches to be operating by the end of 2004. Although Flax did not divulge intended locations, he said LA Food Show, like CPK before it, would "move out of state fast."

Flax and Rosenfield, pledging their allegiance to the upscale, family-casual dining sector in which CPK trades, have tapped that segment once again for LA Food Show. The two former law partners and federal prosecutors said their new concept is the kind of restaurant they had planned to open before they got "distracted" by another idea around 1985.

That was the year Rosenfield and Flax followed Wolfgang Puck's designer-pizza cue and changed the dynamics of the American pizzeria. The duo launched the eclectic California Pizza Kitchen concept in Beverly Hills, Calif., spawning a smash-hit brand that since has grown to 155 locations in 26 states and five countries.

A conference-ending reception at the CRA's headquarters building in Sacramento included appetizers from two dozen local restaurants and an appearance by California Gov. Gray Davis, who welcomed the operators and shared with them his political agenda.

Back then -- as with LA Food Show's location in the well-to-do Los Angeles suburb of Manhattan Beach -- the original CPK premiered in an affluent zip code and also featured a chic decor, exotic ingredients and exhibition cooking.

But LA Food Show marks a departure in that it offers no pizzas or pastas, apart from a side of macaroni and cheese. And at heart, the two restaurant concepts are dramatically different in other ways.

Though an exhibition kitchen always was fundamental to CPK, that component has taken center stage at LA Food Show, fronted by a 12-seat counter and flanked by theatrical curtains and lighting.

In another nod to show business, the restaurant also runs Food Network cable programming on television monitors in its lounge during lunch time, Flax pointed out.

Flax said the expansive counter seating -- another 12 seats are in the bar area, where the full menu is served -- was geared not only for single diners but also for families with children, who love to watch the kitchen at work. He also had himself in mind when designing that section.

"When Rick and I used to travel around [for work], I could eat breakfast by myself but I couldn't eat lunch or dinner alone,' So he sought out locations like sushi bars that had social, counter dining for solo customers.

The duo's love of food and cooking shines through both brands, categorized at LA Food Show under scripted menu headings such as "Previews" for appetizers, "Featured Attractions" for main courses and "Extras" for side dishes. But Rosenfield asserted that LA Food Show "is clearly not a theme restaurant."

Still, as they walked through the new restaurant a week before its opening, the partners could not avoid theatrical references. "We've written the script and built the stage. The real play is on stage," Flax said, likening his employees to the actors who would perform a nightly production.

CPK chief executive and president Fred Hipp emphasized the need to keep the two concepts separate. "The reason we structured [CPK's investment] the way we did was to have [Flax and Rosenfield] function independent of CPK. They are phenomenal concept guys," he said of the founders, who this year mark their 30th year in business together.

But because CPK has the first option to buy out Rosenfield and Flax's LA Food Show stake, the two brands are sharing vendors, systems and technologies, Hipp explained. Those synergies were planned so they would not strain CPK's resources yet would help the fledgling restaurant grow.

"As the only major shareholder, we are interested in seeing this work," Hipp said. Flax and Rosenfield split the 75-percent ownership in LA Food Show not held by CPK.

Asked if LA Food Show would become a test kitchen of sorts for CPK, Hipp said, "I think there are some things to be learned. We'll walk a fine line benefiting both ways -- CPK to LA Food Show and LA Food Show to CPK. But we want to avoid becoming homogenous," he said.

Rosenfield said the menu at LA Food Show remained in flux and "we're changing recipes on the fly." The partners obviously relish their new opportunity for innovation, having locked down the formulas for such CPK staples as Thai Chicken and BLT pizzas nearly two decades ago.

Such LA Food Show items as "The Double Feature" burger -- a two-patty sandwich with American cheese, lettuce, tomato and "our 'feature sauce'" -- resulted from hours of research, Flax said. For that item, the duo tracked down the nation's favorite hamburgers, past and present, to determine their winning qualities. Customers can choose to have the burger char-grilled or cooked on the flat-top griddle, Flax said, adding that he hopes to convert others to his griddle preference.