Vegan Pizzas for Super Bowl? That's Amore!

The above pizza is topped with vegan pepperoni, artichoke heart, black olives, and mushrooms.

After being absent from my blog for a long time, I can't resist to blog this one. Last week, we heard that there is a new restaurant in town, a vegan Italian restaurant. Oh Boy! Local vegans can rejoice! I thought of pizzas right away. How nice would it be to have a place where we can order pizzas with vegan mozzarella cheese that melts? Well, people, that kind of restaurant is here at Cerritos, CA (ironically, it was formerly known as Dairy Valley), about 20 miles from where we live: That's Amore! That's the name of this new vegan Italian restaurant.

I can make my own vegan pizzas at home but hhmmm..... I think pizzas that are made in a restaurant on a stone-based oven that can be heated up to 550 - 600 F are better, in my opinion, than homemade ones. Besides, sometimes, I just want to go out and/or call for pizzas to go just like everybody else.

Unfortunately, this restaurant has no website yet. You can visit reviews of this restaurant at VegParadise , Yelp, quarrygirl, and happycow. After reading these reviews, we drove, salivated, enjoyed, and walked out with full bellies. We opted out to try their vegan Italian dishes first: DH had Eggplant Parmigiana dish and I opted out the 'Chicken' (soy chicken) Parmigiana one. Both of us basically ate every bite on our plates. Then, we ate some vegan cannolis for desserts. Our other choices are vegan gelatos and sorbets. It was really hard to decide but we know we'll be back. We also brought home 2 pizzas (pictured here) to enjoy while we were watching the Super Bowl. This is really the first time I can order pizzas to go with vegan cheese on it and that I can reheat at home or work for lunch.

Above is the Veggie Pesto Pizza which is very light, creamy, and topped with lots of veggies.

The crust is light, tasty, and thin (thicker crust can be ordered). I saw the chef really flung the pizza dough with his hands, round and round, in their kitchen just like in a classic and traditional pizza kitchen. The white mozzarella cheese was hot, melted, and bubbly when it came out of the oven. There are more to try at this restaurant including pastas with vegan sausages, vegan meat balls, vegan bechamel sauce (for alfredo style), and vegan pink sauce (bechamel and red sauce combined).

The owner of the restaurant, Marina, and I were discussing about adding Vegan Tiramisu on their dessert menu. I shared my experience in making this dish that I really love. I even blogged it here back in May 2008. I was hoping that she is inspired with my tips and she can develop her own Tiramisu to serve her happy vegan customers.

Here is the restaurant info:

That's Amore!
13349 Artesia Blvd., Cerritos, CA 90703
Phone: 562-926-2112 and 562-926-8920
Hours: Monday to Saturday: 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Sunday: 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The atmoshpere of this restaurant is light, airy, and happy. I love the yellow and blue combination of their wall colors. We were so amused when we heard the 'Theme of The Godfather' music was played on the background. We both were chuckling and visualizing Italian mafias coming out of their back door with guns. But no mafias here, just fiercely melted vegan cheeses. Marina was informing us that she planned to have Karaoke nights in this restaurant. Oh boy, what a farce addition to that place! I told her that we have Italian Crooners Karaoke CD that we can bring to her party. Can't wait!