Organic pizza has finally arrived in Leawood. Pizza Fusion is a chain that's semi-big on the coasts and really big into organic food and green thinking. It opened Monday at 4800 West 135th, in the same shopping center as Mandarinism.
Owner Ted Kramm says he and his wife were "looking for something environmentally friendly" and found it with Pizza Fusion. The Florida-based chain claims its menu is 75 percent organic and its been voted as one of the top 10 pizzeria chains by PETA. All of its energy costs are offset by the purchase of renewable wind energy certificates and in the bathrooms, customers use 100 percent post-consumer toilet paper.
What's not organic is special in other ways.
General Manager John Cosnotti explained that not only does Pizza Fusion
offer a gluten-free crust but "it is produced in a special kitchen,
then we prep it in a different area of the store and we have an entire
oven rack at the top of the pizza oven just for gluten-free pizzas... I
know how tough it can be for those with gluten-free wheat allergies.
This is the outlet for them."
A significant portion of the menu is also vegan friendly,
like the vegetable medley pizza or the brownies. "Since we have so many customers who can have this
but not that, the staff knows exactly what is organic or gluten-free or
vegan so if you ask a waiter if the pesto pizza is vegan, they'll be able
to tell you, 'No, it has cheese on it,'" says employee trainer Tyler Jackson.
The menu features a
decent supply of salads and sandwiches like the vegetarian portobello
grill sandwich with bell peppers ($9) or the pan roasted steak salad
(full $12, half $7) but the focus is on pizza: 13 specialty pies, such as the very vegan with mushrooms,
garlic and soy cheese (large $17, personal $9), or the farmer's market
pizza with artichoke hearts, red onion, zucchini, portobello and
cheese (large $16, personal $9). A
create-your-own pizza starts at $12 for a large and $7 for a
personal. Gluten-free crust is $7 extra. Jackson compares the oblong-shaped pies to skateboards -- a large is a foot-and-a-half
long and feeds two or three.
While
Pizza Fusion does have a nice (green) interior and serves a
variety of wine and beer, a lot of its business will be from
deliveries. The restaurant has two Toyota Priuses to make those trips as green as possible.
The store's hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday
and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Its phone number is
913-685-0033 and its menu is available online.
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and ... closed. So damn far away from the real city that I never made it there. No reason to go further than Waldo!
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