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!
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!
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!
Your blog makes me wish I was in California……..yummy!
wonderful entry. enjoyed reading it very much. and the pictures are fun!
Mia beat me! I haven’t had a chance to post all of the photos from this trip on my site yet – but I’ll update this with a link when I do.
Great post, Mia! (doesn’t beat being there, though…YUM!)
I was just looking for info about this when I stumbled on your post. I’m simply stopping by to say that I truly enjoyed reading this post, it is very clear and well written. Are you going to post more about this? It appears like there is more material here for future posts.
Thanks for writing, I really liked your most recent post. I think you should post more often, you clearly have natural ability for blogging!
Megan,
I will be traveling around the U.S in about a year and will most definitely make a trip up your way. Until then, I may have to continue my monthly trips to Flatbread about 2 hours from my home. Again,
Thank you so much for contacting me. It’s great to hear about the history behind such an amazing concept…and recipe
Thank you for contacting me with such hospitality.
I bet the trip to Los Alamos California was awesome. Now I’m hungry for some flat bread pizza. 200 pizzas per hour that is amazing. I wish I could write novels that fast… lol…
Great blog thanks for sharing….
Hi there,
Can i get a one small pic from your site?
Thanks
Jinny
Hello Mia,
Sounds like you had a great meal at the Full of Life Flatbread restaurant in Los Alamos! The idea originated here at American Flatbread in Waitsfield, Vermont. Clark Joined our crew years ago with a desire to bring the concept to California, and baked American Flatbread under a licensing agreement until the end of 2008. As you write, he has continued operating the bakery under a new brand and still makes good Flatbread pizzas with fine ingredients. If you want to check out the birthplace of the unique earthen oven and meet American Flatbread founder George Schenk, the dreamer behind our food philosophy, we’d love to host you at Lareau Farm in Vermont, and I welcome your contact!
Best, Megan Duni
American Flatbread
Marketing Manager
Well thanks! California is great because you stumble upon things like this randomly!
How much is shipping to Canada?
Fantastic stuff, just Digged it
[...] pizzas that I’ve raved about to nearly everyone I know, and have even written about on my personal blog in the past few years. Â The pizza below is a Flax Seed and Pistachio pizza with red onions and [...]
Thanks for stopping by the site, appreciate your kind words!
What picture are you interested in, Jinny?