Roasted garlic chicken — a new item at California Pizza Kitchen at Valley Fair shopping center.

Back in the day, California Pizza Kitchen was the place to go for an inventive yet accessible take on pizza with a decidedly breezy California influence.

Barbecue chicken pizza, anyone?

But over the years, as pizza turned artisan, the choices for truly hand-crafted pies proliferated and greatly overshadowed California Pizza Kitchen’s offerings.

As such, I admit it has been quite some time since I last ate at a California Pizza Kitchen. But when I was invited in as a guest recently at the outpost in the Westfield Valley Fair shopping center in Santa Clara, what nudged me in was the opportunity to try some new menu items aimed at “de-chaining the chain.” Indeed, the new menu additions, which rolled out in June, are available only at the locales in Santa Clara, Sacramento, Beverly Hills and Solana Beach so far.

Among the new beverage items is the Blueberry Ginger Smash ($10.89), a highball glass of Jack Daniel’s, agave nectar, Domaine de Canton Ginger liqueur, fresh blueberries, lime and cranberry juice. Garnished prettily with a skewer of blueberries and a sliver of candied ginger, it’s quite fruity and refreshing with the warmth of the booze hitting you on the finish.

The Blueberry Ginger Smash.

A half-size of Harvest Kale Salad ($10.99) was made with curly, rather than the more popular lacinato, kale. Toasted farro, cabbage, red grapes, cranberries, Marcona almonds, goat cheese and the surprise of shaved rainbow carrots gave the salad a big splash of color and texture. A quite sharp citrus vinaigrette added punch along with an unexpected touch of spiciness.

A crusty baguette with olive oil is brought to the table.

Kale salad.

One of the “seasonally inspired” items was the Sunny Side Up Bacon & Potato Pizza ($15.99) that tasted like breakfast all in one bite. Shaved fingerling potatoes get as crisp as potato chips on top of the pizza. Nueske’s smoked bacon, caramelized leeks, parmesan, mozzarella and two perfectly cooked eggs with oozy yolks rounded out the toppings. The crust is chewy like bread rather than super crisp. It also lacks the lovely fermented flavor found in a slow-risen dough.

A pizza with bacon, eggs and potatoes.

Halibut with farro.

Ribeye with blue cheese butter.

Hearth-Roasted Halibut ($22.79) features wild-caught fish from the Aleutian Islands. Unfortunately, it arrived over-cooked and dry. Cooking fish in an oven is always more challenging because it’s much more difficult to tell when it’s done. The fish came on a bed of delicious farro mixed with chunks of butternut squash, which, like the spears of asparagus on the plate, didn’t necessarily speak of summer if the restaurant’s aim is to be more seasonal.

Fire-Grilled Ribeye ($24.99) weighs in at 12 ounces. Because it’s Choice rather than Prime, it’s not overly marbled. I wouldn’t call it tough, but you definitely have to chew it more. It also lacked a little seasoning, though it was dolloped with creamy blue cheese butter.

Roasted Garlic Chicken ($18.99) had plenty of garlic flavor and a tad too much salt. The flesh is juicier the farther toward the center you go. More fingerling potatoes, plus cauliflower, round out the dish.

Butter cake to round out the night.

The dessert we tried was the only item that night we ate that wasn’t new. In fact, it’s so popular, it never leaves the menu. A sizable round of butter cake arrives warm, which makes it impossible to resist. A big ball of vanilla ice cream is plopped on top and whipped cream gets squirted around the edges of the plate. It’s as buttery as it sounds and every bit as good.

I applaud California Pizza Kitchen’s actions to offer more distinctive fare. With some fine-tuning, the new dishes may just succeed in unshackling it from the past to bring it more in line with today’s culinary zeitgeist.