Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles
What is Mozza Mozza is a pizza restaurant with traditional Italian recipes the simple dish of pizza. Nancy Silverton (of La Brea Bakery and Campanile), Mario Batali (of Food TV fame and owns several restaurants), and Joseph Bastianich (restaurateur and vineyard owner) introduced Los Angeles to artisan pizzas in late 2006. Its been argued that Mozza has the best pizzas in Los Angeles. I would have to agree that the top three is at least where Mozza would stand. I remember the first time going there, the only reservation that I could get, and I took, was at 11:30pm on a Wednesday night, a few days in advance. Regardless of the hype, Pizzeria Mozza, and their sister restaurant Osteria Mozza, bring some darn good food – simple staples that we all grew up with pizza and pastas.
What did I eat? The four of us shared a salad, and bruschetta, three pizzas, and a dessert. After thinking about it. . .it was quite a bit for lunch. We started out with the Tricolore Salad with Parmigiano-Reggiano & Anchovy Dressing which had a nice crispy texture with the crumbling flakey cheese – as you would want and expect. The unexpectedly good bruschetta, the Roasted butternut squash, bacon & sauteed bitter greens, was one I would order again. I liked the creaminess of the butternut squash. Butternut squash has this slightly sweet, not too sweet, flavor in its dark baked pumpkin color.
Up next were the reasons why we drove through traffic, snow, and dessert … the pizzas. We start easy with the Fennel Sausage, with its large meatball sized sausage. I don’t think you could go wrong with a sausage pizza no matter who you are – young or old. Next up, I decided to scare Miss C with the White Anchovy pizza. The thing with anchovies, you need it to taste just a little fishy to have the right salty taste. Not enough or too much just won’t do. What perhaps was a little disconcerting was the silver skin of the anchovy glistening in the light. If don’t know what it taste like or what to expect, you probably won’t like it. Lastly, we had the Prosciutto di Parma, rucola, tomato & mozzarella di bufala, with the large buffalo mozzarella. This, like the Fennel Sausage, is a little more easier on the eyes and the taste.
Lastly, we finished up with the Meyer lemon gelato pie with Champagne vinegar sauce & candied lemon zest. I liked the sour and sweetness of the candied lemon zest. This was quite good.
The Last Word As I said before, when you are going for a simple meal, like pizza… sometimes it is good to have at a place where they just do it well.
Rating 3 Pigs Price Range 2 $/¥/NT
Links Serious Eats, Yelp Listing, Urban Spoon, Ladies and Jellyspoons, Tasting Table
Pizzeria Mozza 641 North Highland, Los Angeles +1 323 297 0101, +1 877 50-MOZZA www.mozza-la.com, pizzeriamozza.com
