About Kaleidoscope
Who We Are
When Kaleidoscope creators Jake Allmaras, Kristi Haavig, and Ben Allmaras set out to establish a gourmet pizza restaurant in the Rogue Valley in 2004, they never could have predicted the restaurant’s ensuing success. For them, Kaleidoscope was a vision, a dream, and a necessary leap of faith. With Jake’s expertise as an attorney, Kristi’s 18 years of experience in merchandising at Nordstrom, and Ben’s pizza making expertise as a kitchen manager at one of the top pizzerias in America, the Moose’s Tooth in Anchorage, the three decided to leave Alaska, settle in Medford, and put the plans for Kaleidoscope in motion. Today, Kaleidoscope has a vibrant, growing customer base, and it has become one of the “must-eat” restaurants in the Rogue Valley. Kaleidoscope is a weekend tradition for resident Rogue Valley families, a highly coveted work place for Rogue Valley youth, and a permanent fixture against the beautiful Southern Oregon backdrop. We are immeasurably proud of what Kaleidoscope has accomplished, and we look forward to many more, bright, colorful years to come!
Our Name
Each Kaleidoscope is unique and provides changing views. That reflects our approach of constantly adding new choices to our menu and atmosphere. Pizzeria appears before Pub in our name which is no accident because our primary product is our food.
Our Staff
Our staff is the most important part of Kaleidoscope because it is the cornerstone of our commitment to quality. We hire for attitude and train for skill. Our servers are people-oriented and enjoy what they do. We promote only from in-house. We emphasize diversity. The Kaleidoscope staff alumni include many who have worked their way through school.
What We Do
Kaleidoscope is a full service family-friendly restaurant specializing in gourmet pizza, calzones, salads, soups, appetizers and desserts. The menu also features a large selection of wines by the bottle, local wines by the glass, 17 micro brews on draft, rotating taps, and a full-service cocktail bar. Like its namesake, Kaleidoscope Pizzeria is always changing, always evolving, and always offering new menu items. The food, the atmosphere, and the customer service at Kaleidoscope have garnered consistent support from the local community. Award-winning Kaleidoscope has been voted “Best Pizza” in the Medford Mail Tribune annual Readers’ Choice poll and in the Medford Sneak Preview every year since opening its doors in 2004. According to Pizza Today magazine, Kaleidoscope is one of the top five most successful independently owned pizza restaurants in America. The hands-on owners of Kaleidoscope are incredibly thankful for the support we have received from locals, visitors, friends, family, AND our incredible staff. We look forward to many more happy and successful years!
Our Food
One of our core values is quality without compromise. Almost every food item served is prepared from scratch with the highest quality ingredients. We use special 100% all-natural cheese. Each pizza is hand-stretched and tossed from dough that we make fresh every day. Whole wheat and gluten free pizza options are also available. Each salad is individually made to order from produce that is delivered daily to ensure absolute freshness. And all salads come with our own dressings.
Core Values
Our restaurant operates with these core values:
- Make no compromises about quality by serving only from-scratch food made with the finest and freshest ingredients.
- Provide an enjoyable and casual dining experience to each and every guest from the moment you walk through the door until we say thank you and good-bye as you depart.
- Create and maintain a working environment for our staff that encourages, cheerfulness, mutual respect and teamwork.
- Support outstanding local artisans, wineries and breweries.
- Minimize our ecological footprint.
- Be a strong supporter of local nonprofits and community improvement programs.
Doing Our Part
We strive to be a positive and contributing member of our community through our support of numerous church, school and social welfare agencies and programs. Additionally, we provide strong support of Access with an annual in-house fundraiser (all sales proceeds for a day). Our support of public radio began before we opened our doors. It is an honor to be a part of Living Opportunities by providing employment and financial support along with financial support to Britt Festivals.
In 2011 we installed an array of solar panels on our roof to utilize the abundant sunshine of the Rogue Valley to generate electricity. We have replaced and installed all new energy efficient LED light bulbs throughout our main dining area, kitchen and parking lot. In addition to lighting, we have an aggressive recycling practice and provide strong support to local nonprofits.
Local Art
One of the many things that makes Kaleidoscope so special is it’s decorative artwork. It’s fun, it’s colorful, it’s artistic and it’s custom. When planning the restaurant, the owners wanted the interior to be different with an upbeat atmosphere that would draw people in. With a name like Kaleidoscope, that gave them endless possibilities. It all started with the mosaic mirrors which Kristi made while living in Anchorage, Alaska. Those six mirrors were the inspiration for the interior colors and the artistic feel they wanted to achieve. Through a friend, Kristi met Ka Lea who helped select and literally piece together all the interior light pendants hanging in the main dining room and bar. All the pendant lights were built at Hippo Hardware in Portland, Oregon and no two are the same. It was Ka Lea that suggested they ask her friend Cheryl Garcia (of The Great Metal Works), an up and coming art welder to help with the interior and exterior light fixtures. The metal light fixtures hanging off the end wall, the pony wall in the middle of the restaurant and the exterior light sconces were all meticulously fabricated by her. Kristi wanted blown glass lights to round out the theme when you first enter the restaurant. That would provided the “wow” factor. She found Louis Colosimo from Red Oak Glass and commissioned five different blown light fixtures to hang above the front counter. Another friend, Bob Wade painted a “ Congratulations” painting that kicked off his numerous other art projects through the restaurant including murals, t-shirts, menu covers and smudge pot sculptures of the famous Grateful Dead band. If you look around the restaurant, you will be sure to notice the many custom artistic touches that make Kaleidoscope so unique and are a critical element to their efforts to provide a ”quality above all else”’ dining experience.
Bob Wade-Artist, Welder, and Song Writer
Bob and his wife Susie become friends of ours in 2002. When we first went to their house for dinner, we noticed their home was filled with all his original art. Not the cartoonish art that adorns the restaurant now, but very details realistic pictures using only ball point pens. His talent for drawing is like nothing we had every seen. When we opened the restaurant he brought us a gift to hang on the wall. It’s the one of the guy throwing a pizza. That started a theme in the restaurant that grew not only into wall art, but to t-shirts, smudge pot art, and menu covers. Bob’s art has helped create the upbeat and fun atmosphere customers come to enjoy.
Louis Colosimo
I first started working with Louis from Red Oak Glass after seeing one of his employees selling blown glass vases in Ashland. Willow was working the Ashland Artisan Market with a table full of blown glass vases. By this time, Jake and I had plans for the restaurant which included blown glass lighting around our front counter. When I asked Willow if he could drill a hole in the top of one of his vases to make a light out of it, he didn’t hesitate to say, “sure!”. Soon after that encounter, I was introduced to Louis at his garage studio and ordered five lights in five different colors. While I was there, I noticed a wrought iron fixture with three beautiful glass globes laying on the floor. “I have to have that one too”, I said. That fixture is now hanging in our lobby and was photographed on all his brochures when he started his new custom blown glass lighting business. Unfortunately, Louis died in 2014 of cancer.
The Great Metal Works-Cheryl D. Garcia
I first saw Cheryl’s work in 2002 at the Master Garden’s annual plant sale in Central Point. Cheryl had a display of her rusted looking planters that were so pretty. They were like nothing I’d ever seen before and I absolutely fell in love with them! This was long before Kaleidoscope was built. When the planning and building process of Kaleidoscope began, The Great Metal’s Work name came up. Not knowing that Cheryl was the Great Metal Work’s artist, I was thrilled to think I was going to be working with her. Over the years we have collaborated on several projects both for the business and for our home. www.thegreatmetalworks.com
Ben Allmaras
Ben (41) was born in Minnesota and was 4 months old when he moved with his family to Anchorage. He lived there until he moved to Medford in 2001.
Ben started working at an Anchorage pizza parlor when he was 16 and he has been making pizza ever since. His pizza career growth in Anchorage culminated at the famous Moose’s Tooth Pizzeria where he served as Kitchen Manager for over 5 years. While there, the Moose’s Tooth grew to be the top grossing independent pizza restaurant in the USA.
Ben and his family moved to Medford in 2001 with the intention of opening a pizzeria with his dad (Jake) and his wife Kristi. Ben’s involvement in Kaleidoscope has grown far beyond the kitchen since the opening in 2004.
Ben is married to Heidi and has two children to go with her three boys. Ben’s son, Jacob (15) attends North Medford HS. Jacob’s sister, Emma (6) will be starting first grade next fall.
Ben is an avid sports fan and enjoys travel and playing golf. He is a regular at his gym.
Kristi Haavig
Kristi’s parents moved to Sitka, Alaska in 1964 from North Dakota along with four sisters and three brothers. In 1977 she graduated from high school and then moved to Portland, OR where she attended a two year Fashion Merchandising school called Bassist Institute. While going to school, Kristi worked part-time for Nordstrom. After graduating in 1980′ she moved to Anchorage and continued to work for Nordstrom until 1997. During her 18 years, she worked in a variety of departments and positions including department manager of Individualist, buyer of Point of View Sportswear, Gallery Coats, Gallery Dresses, Gallery Sportswear, St. John and Special Occasion Dresses. She also was counter manager for Estée Lauder cosmetics.
In 1994 Kristi decided to change careers and enrolled at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. In 1997 she graduated from Alaska Pacific University with a degree in Elementary Education. Kristi landed a first grade teaching position at Williwaw Elementary School where she worked for four years. While teaching, she continued her education and received a Master’s Degree in Education from Monmouth, OR.
In 1994 Kristi married local attorney Jacob Allmaras. It was his son Ben Allmaras that worked at a successful up start pizza restaurant called the Moose’s Tooth that changed the trajectory of their lives. Both Kristi and Jake were eager to move outside of Alaska and try something new. Why not copy the successful Mooth’s Tooth business plan somewhere else they thought? By 2000, they picked Medford above other areas including Bend and Eugene. “We liked the weather better and felt Medford was a pizza desert.”
Jake Allmaras
Jake’s grandparents imigrated from Germany to North Dakota in 1884. Jake (69) was born and raised in a small North Dakota town and attended college at St. Thomas College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He worked in private industry for several years after graduation and then attended law school at Creighton University. As an honors graduate he returned to Minnesota to serve as a law clerk at the Minnesota Supreme Court. Jake and his family then moved to Anchorage, Alaska in 1975 where he practiced law until migrating to Medford. Oregon in 2001. While in Anchorage, Jake was active in a number of nonprofit social welfare organizations highlighted by serving as Chair of the United Way Board of Directors, the Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center and the Anchorage Chapter of the American Heart Association.
Jake had extensive experience in the restaurant industry as a bartender during his undergraduate and law school years and has represented a number of business clients during his Alaska law career.
Most importantly, Jake has been married to Kristi for 21 years. He is blessed with three children: Katie, Herman and Ben. He has two wonderful grandchildren who live in Medford. Jacob is finishing his Freshman year at North HS and Emma will be entering first Grade next fall.
Although he completed 3 marathons in his Alaska years, Jake enjoys travel, golf, bicycling and hiking . He remains passionate about supporting local nonprofit agencies to make Medford a better place for all.
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