Los Angeles, CA 90036
http://www.mozza-la.com/pizzeria/about.cfm
We first experienced Mario Batali's cuisine in New York, at his flagship restaurant Babbo. The pasta tasting menu was delicious and left us wanting to try more of his establishments. Once back in Los Angeles, we immediately planned our visits to Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza. During our first visit to PM, there were some hits (the bone marrow and butterscotch budino) but the pizzas didn't really leave us satisfied. Perhaps it was the types of pizza we ordered but the tastes, flavors and textures just didn't sit well with us.
A year later, we ended up at Pizzera Mozza again, this time with Becky and Ben to celebrate the holidays.
1. Bone marrow al forno (not pictured). Ray and I always do this - eat our food before remembering to take a picture. This bone marrow is very good, as good as I remembered on our first visit. I attribute it to the tender pieces of roasted garlic cloves that you can slather onto big pieces of warm crusty bread before topping with bone marrow and sea salt. One of our more favorite preparations of bone marrow.
2. Mozza caprese - who can ever say no to fresh basil, tomatoes and mozzarella? Simple and delicious. The basil came in two forms: fresh leaves as well as a drizzle of basil-pesto oil. The roasted tomatoes were also a good twist on the original version.
3. Butternut squash, applewood smoked bacon & sautéed bitter greens. Becky highly recommended this appetizer. It was yummy with the sweet butternut squash puree pairing nicely with the saltiness of the bacon. However, there was definitely a lack of texture. The addition of some type of nut or tangy cheese like goat or feta would have added another dimension to the dish.
4. Pizzette: Ipswich clams, garlic, oregano, pecorino & parmigiano. A mini clam pizza with a hint of spiciness. Very tasty and reminiscent of the garlic clam pasta we had at Esperanza.
5. Squash blossoms, tomato & burrata - who can say no to burrata? I had my first burrata experience at Osteria Mozza and it has quickly become one of my favorite cheeses. Burrata is mixture of mozzarella and cream. The outside of the ball is made of a solid mozzarella skin and the inside is a soft and fluid mixture of mozzarella and cream that oozes out when the ball of burrata is cut. You can find burrata in the fresh cheese section at your nearest Wholefoods. This pizza was pretty good too, although it was hard to detect that flavors and textures of the squash blossoms under all the burrata and tomato.
6. Bacon, salami, fennel sausage, guanciale, tomato & mozzarella. Batali's version of the Meat Lovers' pizza. Always a safe and yummy choice and they were not skimpy on the meat.
Our second visit to Pizzeria Mozza was better than the first. Having tasted some of the best pizza in America at Pizzeria Bianco, it's hard not to compare all wood-fire pizzas to it. For the record, I still think Pizzeria Bianco was worth the 3-hour wait although Ray will beg to differ. Definitely makes us want to invest in an outdoor wood-fire pizza oven....maybe next summer.