It’s in the crust

Ever since New Earth Market opened on the north end of town, I’ve been digging its offerings. The prepared food is pretty awesome (you must try the asiago pasta) and, after my first visit, which I wrote about in this space, I learned that one can, indeed, request that the cheese be cut by deli staff. That’s a relief!

One of the store’s newest items—and the reason for my most recent trip—can be found at its in-house restaurant, Rolling Stone Pizza. In addition to the regular flatbread-type crust (which I have not yet tried), they’re now also offering a cauliflower crust, created right here in Chico by the ladies at Cali’Flour Foods.

Cali’Flour was started last year by Dana Grant and Amy Lacey, local life/health coaches who were on a mission to create an alternative to traditional carb-heavy pizza crusts. What they came up with was their flagship product, the Original Cali’Italian Pizza Crust, which uses just four ingredients, according to their website (www.califlourfoods.com): cauliflower—a whole head in each crust—cheese, eggs and spices. They also have a red pepper variety. You can find them online, at the Thursday Night Market and at New Earth, where customers can buy ’em hot, create a take-n-bake or get frozen.

I cringed a little after getting the bill for my personal Stone Feta Spinach with Grilled Chicken pizza: $15.99 (regular crust would have been $11.99). Then I opened the box and was shocked at how small it was. The crust is centimeters thick, and about 9 inches in diameter. I ate half of it in the car on my way home. This I will say: It was one of the most delicious pizzas I’ve ever tasted. All of the ingredients are clearly top-notch, from the tender, juicy chicken to the crunchy red onions to the fresh slices of tomato. And the crust was surprisingly rich—if it were any thicker, it would be too much.

Bonus: Cali’Flour sources its veggies locally at Orland-based Yancy Farms.

Rest in peace When it comes to driving the local economy, few families have invested more than the Lundbergs. Wendell Lundberg, who died Sunday (June 19) at the age of 85, was one of four brothers who ran Lundberg Family Farms—started by their father, Albert Lundberg, nearly 80 years ago—for over half a century. The Richvale farm, ahead of its time when it came to sustainability and growing organic, employs more than 200 people and is now run by the family’s third generation. It is regularly recognized for being a wonderful place to work.

Lundberg was committed to education—in 2013, he was given an honorary doctorate from Chico State, where he served on numerous advisory boards, according to his obituary published by the USA Rice Federation. And in 1974, he helped found Tri-Counties Bank, of which he served as director until 2007. A service will be held this Saturday (June 25) at the Evangelical Free Church in Chico at 3 p.m.