Papa and Me

I was thinking about dinner, and how I'd like some pizza. When I've been at my mother in laws home, in a resolutely Italian town here in Penns Woods, I've been amazed at the quality of the local pizza. Not to put it too finely, it's awful. Its as if they read about how to make pizza in 1945, fired up the oven, and haven't looked back. Doughy (and not in a good way) dough. Bland sauce. Toppings? Sure. Cheese. Pepperoni (pronounced pepperone). And thats about it. I think longingly of the Magpie's pizza I loved in Tucson; of the oven-fired pizzas I've had in Chicago and Boston. Not to mention that whole wheat pizza I had at California Pizza Kitchen, the other day, which was surprisingly good.

Which made me wonder: why doesn't Papa John's make whole wheat pizza? I don't expect Pizza Hut, a division of GiganticMegaFoodStuffs, to do it, or Little Ceasars (at one time, yeah, they might have, but they've become the low end provider), but PJs? Yeah, they might. But they don't. Hey, why not suggest it?

Ahem. From the Papa John's site:

Unsolicited Ideas
Thank you for your interest to share an idea for a product or service that you believe would be beneficial to Papa John's. Please know, however, that it is Papa John's company policy not to consider unsolicited ideas from anyone other than our corporate employees, franchise owners/employees, and our supply partners.

It’s not that great ideas cannot come from our valued customers. Each year, however, Papa John's receives thousands of unsolicited ideas for products and services. Due to the mass volume of these unsolicited ideas and the business challenge of determining what is truly a “new” idea versus a concept that we already have in development, being tested, or previously considered, we must adhere to our strict policy not to accept or review any unsolicited ideas that come from outside our system.

As a result, we must decline your invitation to review your idea, and hope you can understand and appreciate our business reasons for making this company decision. We do, however, greatly appreciate your interest in Papa John's.

Oh, I'll just bet they do. Now, where's that recipe I saved for whole wheat dough?