Travel to Mozza for Traditional Pizza Pie
Posted on Mar 25, 2009 under Archives | No Comment
Bacon, salami, sausage, guanciale pizza
A reservation at Mozza, the tiny trendy pizzeria from Italian cuisine guru Mario Batali, founder of La Brea Bakery Nancy Silverton and restaurateur Joe Bastianich, is hard to get. I was joined by my friend Todd and his co-worker Joanne on a recent visit, but our reservation for Saturday lunch was made a month in advance.
We entered the West Hollywood pizzeria, adjacent to its more formal and more expensive counterpart Osteria Mozza, to find 13 tables and 20 bar seats housed in a tiny space with orange and yellow walls, a blue ceiling and rustic wood surfaces. Once seated we were inches away from eaters on both sides, good for glimpses of what to order but very noisy.
Nancy's Chopped Salad
We settled on Nancy’s Chopped Salad for a light appetizer to start, with chopped iceberg and radicchio tossed with an oregano dressing. It was very refreshing. Other good choices for starters inlcude the marinated peppers – red and gold mini-peppers in a mixture of balsamic vinegar, olive oil and capers or the fried squash blossoms with ricotta cheese.
Goat cheese, leeks, scallions, garlic and bacon pizza
Todd chose the goat cheese, leeks, scallions, garlic and bacon pizza. The salty and creamy flavors produced a nice taste.
Potato pizza
Joanne chose one of the potato pizza options – with gorgonzola dolce, fingerling potatoes, radicchio and rosemary.
Meaty pizza
I chose the meat heavy pizza, with bacon, salami, fennel sausage, guanciale, tomato and mozzerlla. I loved this pizza and it was the table favorite. All the pizzas had a flavorful lightly crispy crust, rare on most pizzas I have tasted, which we all noticed. Although a bit pricey, pizzas range from $10 to $22, Pizzeria Mozza is a great choice if you are craving either traditional or inventive pizza. 641 N. Highland Avenue, 323/297-0100, reservations highly recommended.