Building an empire

In early November, I got word that local health-coach-turned-food-guru Amy Lacey had taken a career leap—she’d parlayed her business, Cali’Flour Foods, into a brick-and-mortar cafe, Cali’Concept Kitchen. Her grand opening was planned for Nov. 13; then the Camp Fire hit and everybody’s plans changed.

The news of Cali’Concept Kitchen’s opening inside New Earth Market—it took the space previously occupied by Rolling Stone Pizza—got lost amid the brain fog that followed Nov. 8. Then, with the new year came a package in my mailbox: It was Lacey’s cookbook, Cali’Flour Kitchen, filled with recipes for and using cauliflower pizza crust, pasta and rice.

Last week, I finally made it over to Cali’Concept and got to chat with Lacey and her cafe manager, Lora Adams, both of whom were bubbly and enthusiastic about the business, which has taken off over the past year as the vegetable has gained popularity. “There are 35 cauliflower products on the market,” Lacey said. “When we first launched this product way back in 2016, there wasn’t even cauliflower rice. It’s been crazy.”

Lacey got into the health field after being diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease. She discovered cauliflower, a natural anti-inflammatory, happens to make a great pizza crust, minus the gluten and sugar that trigger her lupus. A business was born.

After buying out her partner in 2017, Lacey said, she switched up nearly everything, from her crust recipe—she now offers several options, such as spicy jalapeño and dairy-free—to her assembly process, which now utilizes the stems in addition to the flowers. She moved her operations from Chico to Salinas because she’d outgrown her facility here—and it brought her closer to the cauliflower fields. She even added products, including crackers and pasta.

Now, Cali’Flour Foods is in stores across the United States. But Lacey holds a special place in her heart for New Earth, the first. “We weren’t a proven concept and there was nothing else out on the market,” Lacey said. “They took a total chance on us. And we get to do this now, so my loyalty to them is huge.”

Rolling Stone Pizza gave her a shot, too, serving her crusts and inspiring her topping combinations. She and Adams insisted I try a few, including the delicious Popeye’s Cadillac (spinach, chicken, tomatoes, mozzarella and feta). I look forward to trying out recipes in Lacey’s book, too. She tells me she’s been tapped to write a second and her next product line likely will be frozen dinners. So, stay tuned!

The cafe is open daily and also hosts classes. Go to califlourfoods.com or caliconceptkitchen.com for more info.

Tool time Chico is once again home to a True Value Hardware, which opened earlier this month in the SaveMart shopping center off East Avenue. In addition to all the traditional True Value inventory, it’s also the new home of Holiday Pools & Spas, which opened in 1958(!) and relocated from East and Cohasset.