Westin hotel tests CPK in-room pizza

Nation's Restaurant News, Nov 28, 1994

LOS ANGELES -- California Pizza Kitchen has licensed the Westin Hotels' flagship Century Plaza Hotel and Tower here to test-market CPK designer pizzas to room service patrons.

A spokeswoman for Los Angeles-based CPK said the hotel had sold between 400 and 500 pizzas in the first month of the test.

The PepsiCo-co-owned chain said it is negotiating with Seattle-based Westin for a nationwide room-service rollout.

The hotel said its roomservice kitchen was equipped with special ovens to replicate seven of CPK's woodfired pizzas, priced from $5.95 to $8.95. The selections are barbecued chicken; Thai chicken; vegetarian; fresh tomato; mushroom, pepperoni and sausage; traditional cheese; and five cheese with tomato.

In other company news, Taco Bell veteran Dan Clark has joined California Pizza Kitchen as finance vice president and chief financial officer, replacing Philip Gay, who left the chain to become administration vice president and chief financial officer at Santa Monica-based Wolfgang Puck Food Co., the nineunit operator of the Wolfgang Puck Cafe and Wolfgang Puck Express chains.