California Pizza Kitchen helped popularize gourmet pizza with creations like its now-famous barbecue chicken pizza, but co-founder Rick Rosenfield says the restaurant chain’s greatest innovation wasn’t on the menu—it was in the workplace.
In his new book, “The California Pizza Kitchen Story,” Rosenfield reflects on how a people-first philosophy helped transform a single Beverly Hills restaurant into an international brand with 265 locations worldwide and a frozen pizza business available in more than 20,000 retail stores.
Published by Amplify Publishing and scheduled for release on July 21, 2026, the book traces the unlikely path that led Rosenfield and longtime friend Larry Flax to leave successful legal careers and launch a restaurant that would help redefine casual dining.
Before opening California Pizza Kitchen in 1985, both men worked as federal prosecutors. Rosenfield later became a defense attorney after helping prosecute organized crime cases, making the leap into the restaurant industry an unconventional career move.
According to Rosenfield, the company’s success rested on a workplace philosophy known as ROCK—an acronym for Respect, Opportunity, Communication and Kindness.
“ROCK was the foundation of our culture,” Rosenfield said. “Our philosophy was simple: Find the right people, give them space to do their jobs, reward them when they succeed, give them leeway—but hold them accountable if standards slip.”
Respect meant treating every employee with dignity regardless of position, while opportunity focused on promoting talent based on performance rather than background, education or personal characteristics. Communication encouraged collaboration between front-of-house and back-of-house staff, and kindness served as the principle that tied the culture together.
Rosenfield argues that those values became a competitive advantage as California Pizza Kitchen expanded nationally and internationally. The company earned a reputation not only for introducing innovative menu items but also for fostering employee development and creating advancement opportunities across the organization.
The book also chronicles the risks involved in introducing what was once considered an unconventional concept. When barbecue chicken pizza debuted in the mid-1980s, it challenged traditional ideas of what pizza should be. The gamble paid off, helping establish California Pizza Kitchen as a pioneer of the gourmet pizza movement.
Beyond recounting the company’s growth, The California Pizza Kitchen Story offers leadership lessons for entrepreneurs and business executives on building organizational culture, managing teams and scaling a company without losing sight of its core values.
Now living in Palm Beach, Florida, Rosenfield says the lessons learned while building California Pizza Kitchen extend far beyond restaurants. His message is that long-term business success depends not only on innovative products but also on investing in the people who bring those ideas to life every day.