A few weeks ago I made a trip up to Los Alamos, CA to visit Full of Life Flatbread, the home of some of the most amazing food I’ve ever had. I struggled with this post (hence it being weeks overdue) because there simply weren’t words for how impressed I was. Putting all fabrication and exaggeration aside, I was truly stunned when I set foot at Flatbread to find out that the production room doubles as a restaurant Friday-Sunday and that all of their ingredients are from local farmers within 40 miles of the restaurant. Not to mention that they ship their pizzas nationwide!

Touring the dessert fridge

When I arrived, Clark Staub, a former Angeleno in the music industry (formerly the VP of Marketing for Capitol Records) and now owner of Flatbread Full of Life restaurant, directed our attention to the fresh fava beans and pink lemons that had just arrived. I was even lucky enough to taste their homemade pink lemon whipped cream and witness the making of the Easter-inspired chocolate eggs filled with fresh berries and creme.

For dinner, we headed back to Flatbread and dined on some of the most delicious Pepperoni and Poblano Pepper pizza, Clam stew, Duck salad followed by a variety of other fresh flatbread wood fired pizzas. The one that I was most intrigued by was a pizza topped with cooked stinging nettles. Yes, nettles.  Apparently, when cooked, they’re incapable of stinging and actually quite tasty. By the time dessert came, I knew I was in for a treat. Remember that pink lemons we saw earlier? They were made into a delicious lemon tarte, topped with sweet and savory pink lemon whipped cream. I could have eaten it for days!

Clark Staub, Chef/Owner

Flatbread owner, Clark Staub explained to us a bit about the production of Flatbread pizzas. With only one hearth and limited bakers, Full of Life Flatbread produces over 200 pizzas per hour, each day of the week. Being as Los Alamos is a small town, locals from the vocational training center not far away, are employed to help build Flatbread frozen pizza boxes and knead dough.  Many of the individuals hired for this process are in need of job opportunities for those with mental or physical disabilities.

Locals from and around Los Alamos, gladly serve some of the most delectable and original dishes. Many employees I spoke with seemed to share Clark’s view of great food service and production.

“Full of Life is my own quest for simplicity and my own demand for quality food. Food made with and inspired by friends. Food that has a sense of place. Food made by real people without pretense or fashion. Food shared with our neighbors. Food that we ourselves eat. Food that is real and good and is part of the world that surrounds us.” – Clark Staub

I had the pleasure of meeting a great group of Flatbread employees after closing shop that night.  Pictured to the left is owner and chef, Clark Staub sharing an uplifting moment with his employees…then he sends them home with a pizza!