Take a Cool Walk, Enjoy Thin-Crust Pizza and Gelato, Grab a Ukrainian Pastry, Let the Children Play

Valley West Mall is going the way of Kodachrome ... but there is pizza, gelato, and Ukrainian pastries to be had. Plus, two fun spaces for toddlers to play.

Greetings, Readers! So, who goes to the increasingly abandoned Valley West Mall anymore? Well, some of you might want to consider doing so, especially when temperatures climb again. Read on!

I scored this Pavlova at European Taste bakery in Valley West Mall. For a beautiful summer dessert, place a few of these on a platter and serve with a big bowl of drippingly ripe fresh summer fruit. (One pavlova easily serves two—let guests help themselves.)

Seriously. Valley West Mall?

When I was leaving Valley West Mall recently, the song “Kodachrome” by Paul Simon was playing on the music system. How fitting, I thought, the mall being in that league of things (like film and brick-and-mortar stores) that are diminished or disappearing, if not having vanished altogether.

Yes, many stores at Valley West are shuttered, but when temperatures climb to their current scorching heights, there’s a reason or three to head here: The whole mall is a reasonably cool place for a walk. There’s also pizza, chocol…