Trippin’ Out on Provence Pizza

Sometimes the veggie appetite might crave, not just meat-free foods, but an escape — say, to France. Even if you’ve never been there, you can still dream of a sun-kissed cobblestone village in May as two-story, street-side shops fling open their shuttered windows to greet the morn. Shopkeepers sweep their store-fronts, and the smell of bread baking in brick ovens teases the air.

Bundles of drying herbs hang near a shop window, and inside its shelves are lined with bottles of pickled treats. Out there, just over the quaint, arching bridge you see farmers amid multi-hued rows of green, harvesting their crops.

Conjure up your own culinary vision as you read the list of ingredients in the Provence pizza at Zpizza.

“The Provence is our most popular vegetarian pizza,” says owner Cesar Llarenas, “and it comes with organic tomato sauce, homemade roasted garlic sauce, mozzarella cheese that’s low fat, artichoke hearts, capers, tomatoes and fresh basil.” And voila! — you’ve got a fresh French garden on a pizza!

The small (10 inches) is $12.95, large (14 inches) is $22.95 and extra large (18 inches) is $26.95. The Provence also is the featured daily slice on Thursdays and Sundays at $3.50 a slice or $7.50 for two slices and a fountain drink.

Whenever your taste buds start fantasizing about sun-bursting tomatoes, hopelessly aromatic basil and the buttery smoothness of artichoke hearts, there’s a simple solution — Zpizza is just around zee corner.

So bon voyage and bon appetit, because everyone deserves an escape now and then, vegetarians included.

zpizza