cinn-fully good

Cinn-fully vegan and allergy-friendly cinnamon roll shop rises in Uptown

Cinnanholic - Uptown opens July 29.

Photo courtesy of Cinnaholic

Health-conscious foodies or those with food allergies who’ve longed for the zing of a sweet cinnamon roll are in luck. Cinnaholic, the plant-based cinnamon roll/dessert national chain, will open its newest location in Uptown, the company announced.

Cinnaholic — Uptown will open in the Galleria-area Sage Plaza Center on Friday, July 29. To heat things up, the new Uptown locale will host a grand opening party from 10 am to 2 pm on opening day (July 29). For that day only, each guest can nab a cinnamon roll of their choice for $2 (limit one per customer).

This new Uptown location joins several stores in the Houston area, including, most recently, Spring and Woodlands. A CityCentre store is slated to open later this month, with plans for a Sugar Land location also in the works. The brand, which is based in Atlanta, has been rising in popularity of late, with 70 locations nationwide and Canada, and Canada, more than 30 in development, and 50 more locations anticipated for 2023, per press materials.

For the uninitiated, all Cinnaholic products are 100-percent vegan, dairy and lactose-free, egg-free, cholesterol-free, and are allergen-friendly. Notably, the only guaranteed gluten-free item on the menu is the Dole Whip, the brand’s soft serve that is also dairy-free.

The popular cinnamon rolls are customizable with more than 20 frosting flavors and 20 topping choices. Cinnaholic’s most popular cinnamon roll flavors include:

Old Skool – classic cinnamon roll with vanilla frosting
Cookie Monster – cream cheese frosting, cookie dough, chocolate chips and chocolate sauce
Caramel Apple Pie – caramel frosting, homemade pie crumble, fresh apples, caramel sauce
Campfire S’mores – marshmallow frosting, graham cookies, marshmallows, chocolate sauce

For those looking for party trays and more the Uptown store will offer catering and large-size ordering as well for events, meetings, and more, according to a press release.

Each Cinnaholic franchise is locally owned and operated; Douglas and Maggie Spigolon, a Brazilian couple who both have a background in engineering and have worked at their family’s restaurants, will operate the Uptown store.

“Though native to Brazil, we have been living in Houston for almost two years, and seeing all the amazing changes to the city has been exciting to watch,” said Maggie Spigolon, in a statement. “Opening Cinnaholic helps us to be part of this community as local business owners, and bring the best cinnamon rolls to H-Town!”

Sweet-toothed locals can follow the Uptown location’s developments on the store’s Facebook page, on Instagram (check out @cinnaholic.houstonuptown), or online.

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Cinnaholic – Uptown; 5161 San Felipe Street, Suite 180; Hours are Sunday through Thursday 10 am-9 pm, and Friday and Saturday 10 am to 10 pm. For more information, call (346) 319-5896 or visit Cinnaholic online.

Cinnanholic - Uptown opens July 29.

Photo courtesy of Cinnaholic

Cinnanholic - Uptown opens July 29.

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better than blini

Houston pizzeria unveils indulgent caviar pizza for the holiday season

Courtesy of Pizaro's Pizza

Get the Holiday Decadence pizza through the end of December.

One of Houston’s most well-regarded pizzerias is giving diners a way to splurge this holiday season. For a limited time only, Pizaro’s Pizza is topping one of its Neapolitan-style pies with caviar.

Called the Holiday Decadence, it’s a personal-sized, 8-inch, Neapolitan-style pizza topped simply with Pizaro’s housemade mozzarella cheese and seasoned with a little furikake. Alongside, the restaurant provides diners with lemon zest crème fraîche, a small bottle of prosecco, and a one-ounce jar of paddlefish caviar from Houston’s DR Delicacy. Priced at $59, it’s either an indulgent treat for one person or an extravagant appetizer for two.

Pizaro’s co-owner Nicole Bean tells CultureMap she sees the new pizza as an improvement on the caviar special the restaurant tried two years ago, which used its thicker, Detroit-style pizza.

“This year, we simplified things,” she says. “We made it more affordable. We added more caviar. The feature is the caviar, focusing on having a whole, one-ounce container either for yourself or to share with one other person.”

In this configuration, the pizza crust essentially serves as an oversized blini, with the furikake boosting the caviar’s oceanic flavors. Serving the caviar in the jar allows diners to add as much or as little to the pizza as they want. Introduced last week, Bean says the restaurant hasn’t sold that many caviar pizzas yet, but that doesn’t surprise her.

“People are a little hesitant with it being caviar and the $60 price point,” she says. “It’s not for everybody. It’s for people who are curious and want to try it or really love caviar and want to try it every way they can.”

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The restaurant always uses its monthly specials to experiment beyond familiar toppings like pepperoni and mushroom. Next month, Bean and her brother, co-owner Matt Hutchinson, will present dueling pies — his topped with crispy prosciutto, sautéed onions, and balsamic drizzle and hers a simple tomato pie, anchovies optional but strongly encouraged.

“The fun thing about pizza is you can literally do anything with it,” Bean says. “I want people to try different things on pizza. It can be decadent. It can be upscale. It can be fresh and new.”

The Holiday Decadence is available at both Pizaro’s locations through December 31. Find more details at the Pizaro’s Pizza website.

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