pizza

Pizzeria Mozza – Burrata So Fine, Sausage So Nice

by Franklin on May 1, 2013

I remember whan I was a kid, pizza was my favorite food. When I spoke of pizza as a kid, I meant the every day Dominoes delivery kind of pizza — the kind that my childhood idol, Michaelangelo from TMNT liked. As an adult now, my pizza pallate has evolved into something more. Before, the crust was just an obstacle for the good stuff, also known as the meat and cheese. Now, the crust is most important component for a good pizza. At Pizzeria Mozza, you can have your adult pizza. The crust is uber thin, and the toppings are of the highest quality. Masterfully baked in their woodfire oven, their pizzas are some of the most coveted in Los Angeles.

Pizzeria Mozza is a power house. Not only do you have Nancy Silverton, the bread baking extrodinaire who founded La Brea Bakery, you have Mario Batali in the mix. With the help of restauranteur and tv personality Joe Bastianich, Pizzeria Mozza was bound to thrive. Gourmet pizza nowadays is easier to find in Los Angeles — they are everywhere! Pizzeria Mozza is special and is one of the few who started the gourmet pizza trend in Los Angeles. Backed by the Mario Batali and Nancy Silverton also doesn’t hurt either. Do to it’s popularity, reservations are a must. Luckily, there were a couple of seats available at the bar. I was ready to have my pizza!

Instead of traditional bread, they served grissinis. The crunchy bread sticks in the form of long pencils were a nice light snack before dinner. Having not much flavor and a lot of crunch, it was still fun to munch on these bread sticks.

One of Pizzeria Mozza’s most famous and most expensive pizzas is the squash blossoms pizza. Though I would rarely shell out 20 bucks for a pizza, I had to see for myself what all the fuss was about. At first bite, the mixture of the tomato and burrata was pristine. The tomoato flavor was subtle and the burrata had a gentle milky flavor. Delicate in texture, the burrata was silky smooth. Married with the flavors of the squash blossom, everything came together nicely. Texurally, the dough was perfectly chewy and airy on the inside and crisp on the outside. The squash blossoms roasted in the oven made it light and crisp. This brought out the flavors quite nicely. For a meatless pizza pie, it was pretty dang good.

For my meat fix, I ordered the fennel sausage pizza. Topped with house-made sausage, the subtly sweet yet savory sausage was the star. Pops of fennel really brought out the flavors nicely. The herbiness of the red onions and scallions balanced out the fatty sausage nicely. I don’t quite know if this was better of the two pizzas. The sausage on this was perfect, almost life changing, but the squash blossom pizza as a whole was better. Get both!

To end things, I ordered their butterscotch budino. A play between a sweet and decadent budino and savory rosemary pine nut cookies was teasing the senses. The caramel and butterscotch was quite sweet, but the help of Maldon sea salt helped intensify the taste. The cookies alone were a bit bland and not sweet. The elements of the rosemary in the pine nut cookie and the budino was a match so complex and delicate. This was a beautiful dessert.

Everyone knows that Pizzeria Mozza is the LA standard when it comes to artisinal pizzas. The service is near perfect and the pizzas are exceptional. You have Nancy Silverton for the crust, and Mario Batali, true Italian at heart. With these two, a perfect pizza is bound to be born. The restaurant is casual and well-appointed. Though I only had the pizza there, I’m sure the other items are just as good. As a child, pizza was my favorite food. Now as an adult, Pizzeria Mozza made pizza one of my favorite foods again.

Pizzeria Mozza on Urbanspoon

{ 0 comments }

Osteria La Buca – Fun in the Sun with Pizza and Pasta

by Franklin on March 15, 2013

Italian food used to be my favorite food. With the introduction of sashimi and the all mighty carne asada fries, Italian is a close second? Third? Definitely a top 5 contender of my all time favorite foods, Italian food is one of my loves of food. Osteria La Buca, easily one of the best in Los Angeles, was a fun experience. The food was perfectly done and ingredients tasted as they should — fresh and vibrant. Literally the first ones here for dinner service, I had the whole restaurant to myself. Perfectly timed at just before sunset, with the addition of all window walls and a class ceiling, the pictures came out just as I liked (though I still need a lot of work). I had fun eating the tasty food and taking just as many photos as bites.

We started off with their house made bread. The bread was soft and fluffy. It was a bit single noted, but the marinara helped give it some life. It was simple and all, but a little more texture would have made this perfect.

I absolutely love their calamari fritti. Battered in semolina flour, the outside was crisp and light. Cooked perfectly, the squid inside was tender and had a nice bite. It wasn’t at all chewy or fishy. The flavor was mild and fresh, and the batter shined throughout the dish. Dipping it in the marinara sauce was good, but the lemon aioli was my favorite. The rich aioli and crunchy calamari went well with the hint of lemon and creaminess of the aioli. This definitely hit the spot and should be ordered all the time.

The fried egg pizza was the choice for the pie. Cooked in a high heat oven, the crust was thin and chewy — not perfect, but still delicious. The fried egg in the middle was enough a reason to order this pizza, if not, do it for the smoked prosciutto. Topped with tomatoes and mozzarella, this pizza was classic with a little twist. Topping this was a great amount of arugula. Nearly a salad on top of a pizza, the arugula and prosciutto went perfectly together. The egg, though not helping the dish, was still welcomed. Surely, the crust needed something to sop up, and egg yolk is pretty much the perfect thing.

My all time favorite pasta is carbonara. I love the simplicity of it all with the creamy sauce and salty cheeses and pancetta. Their bucatini carbonara was almost perfect. The sauce was creamy and salty. Topped with an poached egg to finish the sauce, it surely was a creamy pasta. Mascarpone was added to the mix to make everything even creamier. The black pepper was prominent as all carbonara should and the pancetta was crispy and salty. One thing I did not like about the dish was the pasta. I do love an al dente pasta, but this was slightly under cooked. Maybe even just 30 seconds longer in the boiling water would have made this a perfect pasta dish. Other than that, this was and is a house favorite. I saw a guy just walk up to the bar and order a bowl for himself — Nobody to bother him — just him and his bowl of perfect pasta carbonara.

The tiramisu was an afterthought, and overstuffed on pasta and pizza, the dessert had to be taken to go. The cake and cream inside was perfectly balanced and rich. The distinct coffee taste mixed with the cream was the best part. One thing weird about this tiramisu is that it didn’t have a cinnamon layer on top. Though it didn’t add that extra depth in flavor, the basic necessities and pure tiramisu flavors came through to make this dessert order worthy.

Osteria La Buca, once a small, and still a relatively small restaurant has a lot going for it. The inside’s minimalistic design is fresh and comforting. This once, hole in the wall Italian joint bloomed into a modern and trendy destination for “new” Italian food, namely pizzas and pastas. Their flavorful rustic pastas and proper pizzas keep this place busy. Osteria Mamma just down the street stemmed from once head chef “Mamma” and Son. Though they are doing their own thing there, Osteria La buca is pretty much a new restaurant inside and out.

Osteria La Buca on Urbanspoon

{ 0 comments }

Ciao Deli – Clams on my Pizza Please

by Franklin on February 19, 2013

I came across Ciao Deli when I was in Newport Beach / Costa Mesa. It was late, I was hungry, and nothing was around. I found Ciao Deli online and noticed they had garlic knots, just like the ones at C & O in LA. For the time being, Ciao Deli had to do. Entering the restaurant, the ambiance was relaxed and casual. Pictures and memorabilia plastered the walls of this small joint.

We started off with the cheese knots. Though they were not as good as the ones in C & O, they were still tasty. The blanket of melted cheese was well received. More like cheesy bread than anything else, it had a nice flavor. Dipping it in the marinara sauce helped bring everything together. The acidity helped balance out the fatty cheese. These were a good start, but the cheese knots were easily forgettable.

I normally don’t order spaghetti at restaurants, of course unless its Spaghetti Factory. I was surprised at myself for ordering this dish. For the most part, I was quite pleased with this dish. The noodles were cooked perfectly and the spaghetti sauce was better than most. The meatballs in this dish made this a perfect pasta dish. It was meaty and delicious, just like a home style spaghetti should be — Simple and delicious.

My favorite of the night was the clam pizza. The picture really doesn’t display the clams, and the picture isn’t lying. There really wasn’t a lot of clams on it. I was expecting the clams to be plenty and meaty, enough to have a good bite to it. Though there wasn’t much, the flavor was all there. It was salty and cheesy, and the crust was thin — a perfect recipe for a pizza. I think clams should always go on pizza.

Writing about this meal, I realize how vegetables and fruits are lacking from my diet. Good think I am juicing here and there. That way I can have more meals like this that consist of bready, cheese, and pasta. I guess the tomatoes in the spaghetti sauce counts as vegetables. Right? In all honesty, this Orange County restaurant made me happy. The food was down to earth and tasted great. They even deliver if you are in the vicinity. Places like this keep food humble — nothing fancy here. It is just good food the way it is supposed to be.

Ciao Deli & Pizzeria on Urbanspoon

{ 0 comments }

Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana – Prosciutto on Pizza is Bliss

by Franklin on November 18, 2012

A pizza is a pizza is a pizza. Well, we aren’t kids anymore — and we definitely are not in college anymore. We all remember those days, getting the cheapest and biggest pizza possible. As a kid, I always thought, the more toppings a pizza had, the better it was — all the meats, all the veggies. Don’t even get me started on the crust — I didn’t believe in it and I didn’t eat it. Now that I am older and wiser, my take on pizza is a little different. I am all about fine ingredients, and the crust is the main event. Yes, I am talking about Neapolitan pizza, the real stuff.

Neapolitan pizzas are made very simply. The crust is thin, yet tender, as the dough is very fragrant of yeast. Toppings include only the simple ones: garlic, tomatoes, mozzerella cheese, olive oil. You will rarely find a Neopolitan pizza with the works. Traditionally, Neapolitan pizzas are eaten with a knife and fork, hence, they are not sliced into slices. Neapolitan style pizza is what I came for, and that is what I got.

It was happy hour, and the personal sized pizzas were like 5 bucks. A steal in my book. I ordered the Margherita with prosciutto cotta. It had mozzarella, basil, parmigiano reggiano, extra virgin olive oil. At first look, it seems very simple, but this is where the pizza shines. The flavors are perfect and fresh on its own, but together, they make a perfectly flavored pizza. The crust was crispy, yet tender with a nice chew. The mozzarella is actual mozzarella, not the fake partial skim milk you find on all other pizzas. Though the prosciutto cotta was cooked and not from Parma, it was still delicious. I am a fan of prosciutto crudo, the raw kind, but it was still delicious when it was cooked. I made sure to have some basil with every bite — the floral essence gave the pizza a nice rounded out flavor and finished it off nicely.

Settebello makes a nice Napoletana style pizza. Their ingredients are fresh and authentic. Nothing is left for second best. Every pizza is made with care and the taste shows. Their happy hour impressed me, with moderately priced wine and beers available, it was an affordable dinner. The pizza was definitely the star — you can come here and not have a pizza. Along with some of the best and authentic Napoletana style pizzas around, you are eating something worth eating. The bar area as well as the dining area were all very comforting and casual.

Settebello on Urbanspoon

{ 0 comments }

Secret Pizza / NNPK (Cosmopolitan) – I Play a Game of Hide and Seek with Food

by Franklin on September 14, 2012

Secret Pizza is just what Cosmopolitan is about — Mysterious, a bit of deviant. I mean, where else will you find a pizza joint with no markings or signs of any nature. No Name Pizza Kitchen? Check. This place isn’t even in the resort directory — not on the Cosmopolitan website, nothing! How I came across this place, I have no clue, but I sure am glad I stumbled upon this place. After a journey around the Cosmopolitan, up and down elevators, back tracking and such, the mission was complete. At first, I couldn’t find it and thought, “maybe it doesn’t exist”. Walking through the hallways, I smelled the scent of freshly baked pizza dough. Thinking it was an oasis of some sort, I convinced myself I wasn’t going crazy. Literally following the scent of that yeasty goodness, I was finally at the small little hallway entrance that led to Secret Pizza AKA NNPK (No Name Pizza Kitchen).

The Inside was interesting. The hall way was filled with framed pictured, side by side. A relatively small place, the inside had a few pinball machines, flat screens, white walls, and hungry diners. Not a hint of Cosmopolitan’s design cues bleed into the restaurant — You are no longer at the Cosmopolitan, not even Vegas for that matter. You are totally transformed into this small hole in the wall pizza joint in New York City.

With each slice near 5 bucks, we opted for a whole pizza. We ordered it half white and half meatball with pepperoni. The white pizza was my favorite which had mozzarella, ricotta, and garlic. The garlic was fragrant and savory and the mozzarella and ricotta gave it a smooth texture. It didn’ have any meat, but I preferred the white pizza over the meatball and pepperoni. The meatball and pepperoni was tasty, but it tasted to normal for me. It was a bit salty, but still very delicious. The crust on both pizzas were very impressive. Though not cooked in a wood burning oven, it was as close to a Neopolitan style pizza as can be. The slices were large and thin, and could hold its own compared to any pizza from New York City.

If there were to be a secret pizza joint with no names, no marque of any kind, Cosmopolitan would be the place to have it. But then again, with word of mouth, and the scent across the hallways, people won’t have a hard time finding it. I think looking for the place is half the fun of it all. The excitement of trying the pizza, getting your pizza in unmarked white pizza boxes, its all part of the dining experience. I was amazed by their pie, probably some of the best I ever had. All you have to do is go find it. You may be wondering, exactly where is this place exactly? There isn’t a sign, but you will find a “Marquee”. You can always message me for the exact location, or just do some Google searching. I, for one would like to it a secret, and leave that adventure in your hands.

NNPK on Urbanspoon

{ 0 comments }

Village Pizzeria (Larchmont) – NYC Style Pizza from SF to LA

May 23, 2012

Larchmont is a weird, yet charming little area of Los Angeles. The shops and clientele are a bit on the high end. The food choices and shopping choices are all over the place, and even the parking is done not parallel, but facing the sidewalk. One part of Larchmont though is always the same, and [...]

Read the full article →

Tomato Pie (Silver Lake) – Thin Crust is an Understatement

May 4, 2012

Tomato Pie, a pizza joint in Hollywood and Silverlake derives its name from, well, tomato pie. Tomato pie is a Sicillian’s take on pizza where the dough is fococia like and thick. It is normally topped with tomato sauce and sprinkled with cheese. Never having tried tomoato pie, Tomato Pie was an obvious choice. The [...]

Read the full article →

Petrillo’s Pizza – Classic Pizzeria in the San Gabriel Valley

April 24, 2012

Growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, I had a lot of Asian eateries to choose from. Whatever Asian I was in the mood for, nothing was out of reach. Having this luxury had its drawbacks. Anything else, I had to choose from a small group of restaurants — No really good burger joints, gastropubs, [...]

Read the full article →

Max Brenner (Caesar’s Palace Forum Shops) – Chocolate Runs Through My Veins

April 1, 2012

Chocolate and chocolate. Chocolate on chocolate on chocolate on chocolate. Chocolate. Everyone loves this stuff. Girls devour it after breakups. Guys say they don’t like chocolate, but secretly love this stuff. I am sure chocolate has some kind of chemical that makes us happy. That is we love it so much. Max Brenner, an Israeli [...]

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Read the full article →

← Previous Entries