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Conversations From the Corner Office
BIO
California Pizza Kitchen Co-Founders, Co-CEOs Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield
Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield became friends in the 1970s while they were assistant federal prosecutors. Flax was assigned to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, working on civil rights cases and also serving as assistant chief of the office's criminal division. Rosenfield started in the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., before moving to Los Angeles as an assistant U.S. attorney handling special prosecutions.
The two eventually decided to start their own law firm, but after a few years, got a hankering to try something new. Since they traveled a lot on business, the two dined out frequently and had many conversations about what restaurants were doing right and what they were doing wrong. Eventually they decided to put their money where their mouth was and open their own restaurant. They researched several ideas on what kind of food to serve and, at one point, were close to opening a Tony Roma's franchise.
Their "ah-ha" moment came when they visited a restaurant experimenting with a new twist on traditional Italian. Customers would walk along a "pasta bar" instructing chefs on the other side on making custom-made dishes. But what Flax and Rosenfeld discovered was most customers were more interested in the pizzas the restaurant had placed at the end of the bar.
Borrowing a page from the playbooks of Wolfgang Puck and other Los Angeles-area chefs, the two opened their first eatery in 1985, specializing in unique, fresh-ingredient pizzas with a "California" flare. The moved their law practice next door to the new restaurant because they initially planned to do both simultaneously. But as the popularity of California Pizza Kitchen soared, they realized they needed to focus their attention on their new endeavor.
Over the next few years, they opened other CPKs around the Los Angeles area and eventually decided to incorporate. Since they had been "50-50" partners in their law practice, they figured the only sensible thing to do would be to divide the jobs of chief executive and chairman right down the middle. It's a unique arrangement that continues to this day even as the chain has grown to more than 200 restaurants across the country and abroad.
Flax, a native of Los Angeles, graduated from the University of Southern California law school. He likes to handle the operational, day-to-day side of the business. Rosenfield, a native of Chicago, graduated from DePaul University College of Law. He handles the financial and shareholder relations side. But both develop menu ideas together. They each live in California with their families.
RELATED LINKS
CO-CEO's LARRY FLAX, RICK ROSENFIELD
MORE AUDIO: How Flax and Rosenfield landed on the CPK concept
MORE AUDIO: How would CPK replace the co-CEOs with one?
Larry Flax's, Rick Rosenfield's bios
CORPORATE WEBSITE: California Pizza Kitchen
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