I came across this review of Pizzeria Mozza I had completed in May 2007. It ended up never being published in print. Might as well let someone see it, right?
L.A. Restaurant Review: Pizzeria Mozza
Where: 641 N. Highland, Los Angeles
Phone: (323) 297-0101
Web: www.mozza-la.com.
Meals/hours: Lunch/dinner, open continuously noon to midnight daily.
Food type: Casual Italian
Cost: Starters from to $7 to $15; pizzas from $9 to $17; daily specials $17 to $20 and market price; desserts $8.
It’s not surprising that Nancy Silverton, founder of Los Angeles’ La Brea Bakery, pastry chef, cookbook author and former co-owner of Campanile restaurant is making lots of dough again. But this time it’s pizza dough — and she’s become the city’s chi-chi pizza queen.
She’s teamed up with New York restaurateur, Food Network Star, cookbook author and Italian cuisine guru Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich of New York at Pizzeria Mozza, a Los Angeles restaurant venture at Highland and Melrose avenues that opened late last year.
It’s hot and hip with foodies — and small with just 13 tables and 22 stools at the bar (doled out on a first- come, first-served basis, many in front of the wood-burning pizza oven where you can view all the action). It’s not easy to land a table, but once you do, you’ll be glad you did. The restaurant serves amazing upscale pizzas that play a starring menu role. Thin, light, airy and springy, the terrific dough bubbles up and blisters on the edges and is unlike its counterparts. It’s rolled out about 10 inches in diameter with delicious and inspired toppings beyond the basic Margherita with mozzarella, tomato & basil ($10) which was excellent.
Appealing, colorful and delicious was the prosciutto di Parma, rucola & mozzarella pizza ($14), a Margherita base generously topped with large, thin pieces of excellent quality prosciutto and a sprinkling of fresh basil. A fennel sausage, panna & red onion version ($14) is the most popular pizza we were told during during a recent weekend lunch visit. But we were disappointed as the presentation lacked color and appeal with five, inch-size balls of sausage strewn over atop the melted cheese.
On another visit, we fell in the love with the Coach Farm goat cheese, leek, green garlic & bacon pizza ($14) — with dynamite flavor and attractive looks. Another favorite was the burrata (cheese) pizza ($14). There are more choices, mostly $13 to $14, adorned with items like wild spinach and nettles; mushrooms, fontina , teleggio & thyme, gorgonzola dolce, fingerling potatoes, radicchio & rosemarry; parini, black olilves, cherry tomatoes & anchovy; and oregano salame, mozzarella, tomato & hot chiles and more.
Beyond the pizza, there are many other enjoyable and worthy selections — antipasti, insalate, carne, burschette and panini — to graze on or share. Don’t miss the marinated peppers ($8) — a wonderful blend of red and gold mini peppers served in a mixture of balsamic vinegar, olive oil and capers. Oven roasted olives ($8) (with various types of green and black olives) are teamed with garlic cloves, mini spicy red chiles, assorted seasonings, a piece of roasted orange peel and more — and are a feast for the palate. And we couldn’t resist a fabulous, rich bubby, golden brown, cheesy, cauliflower gratinate ($8). Although the servings appear small, they’re really filling. There are more items to try in the future — marinated beets, caponata, fried squash blooms, crisp goat cheese with baby spinach, etc.
Among the five insalate offerings, the Mozza caprese salad ($12) is a must. It’s a winner with melt-in-your mouth soft, creamy and decadent burrata cheese topped with roasted cherry tomatoes on the vine, lots of fresh basil and olive oil. Also terrific was Nancy’s chopped salad ($15) made with chopped lettuce (iceberg and radicchio), garbanzo beans, salami and provolone pieces, thinly sliced red onions, chopped pepperoncini, cherry tomato halves and very lightly tossed with an oregano dressing. Although it definitely had some bitter overtones and was a bit too oniony and garlicy for one diner at our table, another found it refreshing, appealing and delicious.
The piece de resistance Carne choice was the affetati misti ($24) — a large platter of thinly sliced Italian meats such as prosciutto di Parma, salumi salami and more. On one visit, we tried the delicious rich and filling olive oil braised tuna, hard-cooked egg, olive and anchovy panini($15). Piatti del giorno (daily) menu specials are also available, among them lamb stracotto ($20) on Saturdays and lasagne al forno ($18) on Sundays.
Don’t leave without trying the tempting desserts ($8 each) including a fabulous, light Myer Lemon Pie with a dark graham cracker crust, coppetta (ice cream topped with caramel and marshmallow sauces and peanuts), and budino, a butterscotch pudding with the most decadent salty (fleur de sel) sweet caramel sauce.
Wines by the bottle as well as by the glass are reasonably priced.
There aren’t many misses here — mostly hits — and you can’t beat the pizzas. Plan on calling at least two weeks ahead to secure a lunch or dinner table reservation (the menu/prices are the same all day) on the weekends. Or wait for a seat at the bar during peak or off hours. One of the hottest tickets in town, there seems to be no slow-down in sight. The adjacent Osteria Mozza, a full-service upscale Italian restaurant, which is scheduled to open sometime in June, might alleviate the wait, but who knows. It just might get more crazy.
Review originally written on May 15, 2007.
