la.foodblogging

Pizzeria Mozza is a new kid in town, a collaboration between Italian superstar chef Mario Batali and local baking hero Nancy Silverton. Located on the corner of Melrose and Highland, Pizzeria Mozza is one part of a restaurant complex that sometime next year will also house a more upscale sibling called Osteria Mozza. A peek in the window on walking by shows that the main location is still pretty gutted inside. It looks like it’s going to be a while before it’s ready unless they move into high gear with the construction.

Mozza only opened a little while ago and it’s been pretty much booked solid ever since. However, rather than make a reservation for umpteen years in the future, my husband and I decided to time it carefully instead. We waited until holiday week, when everyone was gone, and then held off on dinner until 9:00 p.m. We got there just as the last couple waiting were being seated and only had to wait a couple of minutes for a spot at the wine bar.

I personally love eating at bars. It’s cozier for two people and a good bartender will really make your meal a fun experience. The bartender at Mozza was one of the good ones and helped us with wine selections and navigating the menu. The space was fairly small and dark red walls gave it a cozy feel. There was cool music playing and the open kitchen area provided some entertainment. We remarked as we perused the menu that we suddenly did not feel like we were in Los Angeles anymore. It felt like a restaurant somewhere else–maybe New York or San Francisco.

To start we ordered oven roasted olives ($6) and shell beans al forno ($8), a variety of beans baked under a bread crumb crust. The beans were so warm and wintery-perfect, that eating them was like sitting down in front of a fire all wrapped in a soft fleecy blanket and drinking a cup of cocoa.

While trying to determine what pizza to order, I couldn’t decide between three different kinds: a salame, hot chili and mozzarella pie; a speck, rucola, and mozzarella pie; and a pizza bianco with sage. The bartender recommended I order either the salame or the bianco and get the speck on the side. I didn’t think I could eat our starters, plus charcuterie plus a pizza, but after eying the speck that came to the people next to us, we gave in and ordered a plate ($10). It was gorgeous, as you can see above.

Traditional speck is a cured meat from Alto Adige or Sudtirol that is brined in juniper berries, garlic, bay leaves and black pepper. It is then cold-smoked with maple and beechwood and aged for several months. La Quercia speck, which is what we ate at Mozza, is prosciutto smoked with applewood. It’s made in Iowa by a couple who learned how to cure meats in Parma. The speck tastes something like a smoky prosciutto and a little like bacon, although it is leaner than bacon. The bartender gave us some breadsticks and instructed us to roll the meat around the breadstick and eat it kind of like a meat lollipop.

And then it was time for the main course. I had decided on the pizza bianco, which was a new item on the menu. Since it is winter, I am crazy for sage right now, so I could not resist and it was an amazing pizza. At least for me, because I’m not a huge tomato sauce fan, so I didn’t miss it at all. It might be too plain, but the sage gives it a deeper flavor and a little crunch. The crust was different. I might venture to say there was a little too much crust, but I ate every bite nonetheless. It was super soft, with crispy spots in places. My husband got the squash blossoms with burrata and tomato, which came with a giant plop of burrata hiding little surprise packages of squash blossom and tomato underneath. He said it was great, although I was a little squeamish of the big plop of burrata and didn’t try any.

After all that, I was pretty sure that I was stuffed and could not eat another bite, when suddenly a dessert menu was placed before me. And of course they had to have a butterscotch budino (pudding) with creme fraiche and fleur de sel and two little rosemary and pine nut cookies. Well, I couldn’t NOT order that, right? And it was amazing. The only dessert I’ve had that compares is the caramel pudding with sea salt at AOC. I also had a glass of moscato d’asti with it. I have decided that if some fancy perfumier in France ever offers to make me whatever scent I like to become my signature scent, I want the scent of muscat grapes. I love that smell and drinking a glass of muscat dessert wine is like drinking something from magical fairy land to me.

When we finished this mammoth dinner we were completely stuffed. I had to walk the dog an extra lap and play with the new Nintendo Wii for a while to try to atone for it. But it was worth every extra ounce around the middle for the delicious food and friendly atmosphere.

I hope that eventually the buzz will die down and this will become the low-key comfortable neighborhood place it’s really meant to be.

Pizzeria Mozza

641 N. Highland Ave.

323.297.0101

http://www.mozza-la.com/

By KT (see more of her posts). You can find more of KT's writing at her own website Gastronomy 101.