Los Angeles is home to many fad dieters, strange diet practitioners, and picky eaters, where any and all food preferences and intolerances get their own aisle in grocery stores and special diet-specific eateries about town. But now, all these factious groups can dine together — at a casual organic spot called Pizza Fusion.

Pizza — generally considered a red flag item not just for vegans but also for the lactose, soy, wheat, and gluten intolerant and environmentalists trying to avoid rBGH, high fructose corn syrup, hormones, preservatives, and factory farmed meats — seems like an unlikely unifier for the picky healthy dining crowd. And granted, pure raw vegans won’t have a lot of options. Everyone else, however, can find something tasty to order!

Vegans can have their pick of two cheeses — the local Follow Your Heart soy cheese or Daiya cheese — while their gluten-sensitive friends can select toppings to go on a gluten-free crust. Then the two can split a dessert — the vegan, gluten-free brownie (below)!

And lactose-intolerant ethical omnivores like me won’t be able to resist a dairy-free pizza on a toastily crunchy whole grain crust, topped with a wide selection of certified humane meats — free range chicken, organic pepperoni, sweet Italian sausage, bacon and more — all with a glass or few of organic and sustainable wines and beers.

Pizza Fusion’s actually a national franchise with two L.A.-area locations — one in Hollywood, the other in Santa Monica — but each spot’s a little different, featuring local produce and products, varying wine and beer menus, and unique quirks. I stopped by the Hollywood location — owned by the sister and brother duo Michele Orlando and Craig Orlando along with their mother — twice in the last month!

My favorite dish during my last visit was the appetizer (above) — Stuffed mushrooms filled with goat cheese and spicy sausage — a perfect mix of rich flavors, all in a juicy mushroom. As for the pizzas themselves: The Very Vegan with Daiya vegan cheese was quite good — excepting the artichoke heart pieces, which were strangely salty. The BBQ Chicken Pizza with Follow Your Heart soy cheese (top photo) was just okay; I found the BBQ sauce — used in lieu of tomato paste — too sweet, and thought the “cheese” tasted soapy, as some soy cheeses tend to. If you can’t tell, I’m a picky eater — but luckily Pizza Fusion’s build-your-own option does let me get exactly what I want how I want it. I loved the one pizza I built myself with fresh, flavorful organic veggies and goat cheese — and advise all picky eaters to go for this build-your-own option.

The gluten free vegan brownie’s moist on the inside and deliciously chewy on the outside — but is really more of a cross between chocolate cake and a brownie, since the dessert’s more fluffy and less solidly dense like a real brownie.

All ingredients at Pizza Fusion are free of nitrates, antibiotics, and chemical preservatives, but organic certification diehards can easily select an all-organic meal with a quick glance at the menu — which lists all organic items in green letters. And since vegans can get everything on a vegan crust with vegan cheese, all pizzas and most dishes are very easily veganizable. Gluten free eaters will be happy to know that the restaurant’s kitchen as a separate section to keep its gluten-free dishes uncontaminated from the rest of the menu items.

Eco-friendliness isn’t just reserved for the food. At Pizza Fusion Hollywood, you’ll find reclaimed wood tables, walls with low VOC-paints, countertops made of recycled granite, and artwork printed on recycled soda bottle material. Servers wear uniforms made with organic fiber — and yes, organic pizza deliveries are made via a Prius.

Opting for pickup? Bring your box back for a quarter off your next order. Or dine in — Happy hour happens every day from 4 pm – 7 pm, and starting next week, a delicately sweet 2008 Tangent Viognier from Edna Valley will be added to the sustainable drinks menu.

Pizza Fusion Hollywood. 7950 W. Sunset Blvd., Ste. 104, Los Angeles. 323.375.3390.

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