Photograph by Mark Kocina
Leah Ginsky, 8, of Los Gatos, tastes a slice of the pizza she made at the 'pizza camp' sponsored by Willow Street Wood-Fired Pizza.
Cheesy doings at pizza camp sponsored by local restaurant
By Suzanne Cristallo
"Do we have to eat the pizza?" asked 8-year-old Leah Ginsky as she registered for Pizza Camp, a summer event designed to teach youngsters how to make pizza at Willow Street Wood-Fired Pizza in Los Gatos. While Leah may have been anticipating the result of her own pizza-making, the fact is, when the crusty pie brimming with bubbling cheese and other toppings she selected was placed before her, she dove in.
So did nine other kids. They paid a $10 fee to come to the restaurant, where they were seated at a long table and immediately given a 7-ounce practice wad of pizza dough to stretch, roll, patch and pat.
Willow Street's head chef, Adolfo Perez, provided some inventive instruction. He threw his dough in the air, caught it on his knuckles and generally illustrated how a round lump can be stretched flat. The throwing part caught the imagination of a few. Flattened dough became a Frisbee, and several prospective pies sailed from one end of the table to the other, prompting Michael Jacobi, the creative mind behind the event, to jokingly admonish, "This is not a contact sport!"
Jacobi, of Jacobi Creative, the public relations firm promoting the event, said that Pizza Camps at all of the Willow Street restaurants will be held a second time in August, along with several other events. "Willow Street is going into its 10-year anniversary and is taking another look at the community and its commitment to it," he explained. "They want to be more involved."
Planned for August is a coloring contest, including an age category for adults, a contest to win a trip to Mexico and a summer take-out special of any pizza or pasta for $8.95.
Meanwhile, back at the camp, pizza students were given free rein to choose among 10 toppings for the pies that, this time, were for eating. Plain cheese was the most popular, followed by cheese with pepperoni, pineapple or--surprise--olives. "Kids like olives!" Perez marveled, as he shoveled each pie into the 300-degree oven. He couldn't resist throwing a little chicken on one plain-looking pie with only one kind of cheese, only to be admonished loudly by the pie's attentive creator: "Just cheese!"
Cheese was the common bond for children who came from varying parts of the globe.
Joanne Weng, 9, with mom Susie Lin, from Taiwan, sat next to 6-year-old Karylee Harris from Germany. Where in Germany? "It's an apartment," she answered between munches.
Nearby were the Sayre brothers from Los Gatos: Colin, 9, Jordan, 11, and Alex, 8. They bit eagerly into the plush slices of their pies, pulling away long strings of the melted cheese while gingerly drawing back their lips to avoid the heat.
Students were given Willow Street caps and photos with their pizzas and boxes for their leftovers. Vanilla and chocolate sundaes capped the meal.
A similarly inspired event for kids was held last summer by the restaurant to design a new children's menu. Based on the tasting of numerous dishes, the children voted for the items offered on the menu today: pepperoni, cheese, Hawaiian and Italian sausage pizzas, burgers and fries, chicken fingers, spaghetti Bolognese and fusilli with butter and Parmesan cheese. Special back-to-school folders will be given to all children who eat at the restaurant in the next month.
Willow Street Wood Fired Pizza, 20 S. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos. Open Sun.-Thurs. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. 408.354.5566.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
