When your first child eats dirt you rush him to the hospital. When your second child eats dirt you flush their mouth out. When your third child eats dirt you wonder, “Do I really need to feed him lunch?”
Six months ago my wife and I came into possession of our first little bundle and yes he is our Faberge egg. With a modest amount of the “rush to the hospital” mentality paired with my wife’sprevious triumph over gestational diabetes, we are very concerned with what our little one considers food, and so much so that our own dietshave changed dramatically in the seven months of diabetes taming and the six months of breastfeeding. Throw the movies “Food Inc.” and “Forks Over Knives” on the education pile and we inadvertently built an atomic organic bomb. The nicest thing about waking up in this new food conscious world is we are not alone. We have Jules!
The irony to the beginning of this article, and becoming food conscious, is we are actually trying to get closer to the dirt. But what about burgers, chips, sodas, and PIZZA? They can’t take my pizza! Easy chicken little; there is a local answer for your pizza quandary.
Ten years ago, local talent Heather and Jeff Clapp and friends/Pennsylvania residents Jen and Jeff Ordway were in sitting in a local eatery in Rockridge, pontificating the need for farm fresh food. After much research and deliberation they had created the foundation that would become Jules Thin Crust Pizza and eight years ago the very first restaurant would open in Doylestown Pennsylvania.
Five years would pass before Heather and husband Jeff, after raising a brood of their own, would discover the overwhelming need for Jules to come out west. With permission from the Ordway’s, they began shopping cities, and happily landed in the Livery Shopping Center in Danville (and soon to be Rockridge where the seed was planted.)
Long before my wife and I were paying such acute attention to our own perception of food, we wandered in out of sheer desire to add a new pizza regime to our repertoire. We were bowled over by every nuance from the clean “California Concept” décor to the oddly shaped pies.
Leaving no stone unturned the research for the business model included trips to NY and Italy to perfect the vision. The Skateboard shaped pies that result in square pieces of pizza are derivative from Italy where every bite has the same amount of toppings as the last.
Then the attention was promptly swung in the direction of the cornerstone of the business model, the local farmer! Organic doesn’t do the description justice. The owners of Jules Pizza care about the mom and pop farms putting their hearts into the soil so they can provide food for our tables. They follow a 100-150 mile maximum for delivery of their ingredients, and every given Saturday you can find the Clapps at our local farmers market finding out what the next weeks specials are going to be. Heather and Jeff have an outstanding relationship with Farmer Shawn of Terra Bella Farms in Pleasanton and Happy Boy Farms near Santa Cruz. Some show stoppers are: Every topping is Gluten Free, Zero nitrates, Gluten Free crusts available, and the “by-the-slice” options are ridiculous!
Baseball Card Stats aside, here is how I feel about this place. When you eat here, you feel better. You feel better about your health, the example you’re setting for your kids, the energy you get from that “healthy full,” and better about helping farmers. But here’s the kick—you taste buds don’t know any better. There is no doubt that this is just good pizza…period. We went into Jules looking for a local pizzeria, and left feeling like we took a small trip to Italy while helping a local farmer sustain their business. There are many reasons to love Jules.
820 Sycamore Valley Rd W Danville
(925) 743-2790
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