Pizzeria Mozza

Another Mario Batali delight! I returned recently because I was craving the budino (a butterscotch pudding dessert) and also wanted to introduce my parents to this place. After several tries I scored a Sunday lunch reservation at a normal time. When we got there, the place was already pretty full – soon thereafter, it was packed! The success of this restaurant is phenomenal. By the time we were done, there was a line of people outside waiting for a coveted seat at the bar (with up to an hour wait)! Crazy!

Anyways, we were happy to have reservations and started with a selection of antipasti – baked mussels with a cream sauce (perfectly cooked, plump and sweet mussels); marinated roasted olives (which practically burst in your mouth); fried potatoes and chickpeas (simple and hearty); bruschette with white beans (comforting); salad mista (fresh with a lovely lemon vinaigrette). Each was fresh and flavorful. Then our mushroom pizza finally arrived – a beautiful masterpiece of cheese, funghi and crust. I’m not sure how they do it here, but the crust is a blend of chewy and crispy – an utterly delightful combination. I’ve tried doing this at home with Batali’s pizza pan but I think you need an actual pizza oven to get this effect (sigh). We were terribly full after this but still ordered a budino and some gelati (hazelnut, vanilla and espresso). Yum!

(ok - i suck - i got so wrapped up with eating, i didn't remember to take pictures of my pizza or dessert; but trust me, it was good!)

The food here is also wonderful; service efficient. It is always on the loud side though and reservations are tough to get. But if you can deal with that, you should be fine.

Random tip - this is a great place for celebrity sightings. First time I was here, I saw Jennifer Aniston, people from American idol, actors from Big Love, etc.

my friends and i finally got 8:30 reservations for a friday night to this popular place -- a month in advance. we finally got there (i was on time) and the place was really crowded. we still had to wait about 15-20 or so minutes for a table. we were pleasantly surprised that there was some celebrity-gazing to amuse us during the long wait.

once seated, the service was a little bit slow -- it took a while for the server to take our orders -- especially after waiting so long to get seated. once the food came, the wait was (almost) forgotten.

we ordered the prosciutto, olives and the chopped salad to start us off. however, they all came with the main entrees. the olives were warm to hot. the prosciutto was ok. the chopped salad had some spicy kick (if you happened on the peppers).

we tried the sausage pizza with red onions -- it was very tasty, the sausage was juicy and the crust just a nice happy medium between thick and thin. we also had the mushroom pizza, which was surprisingly very good. the mushrooms were also cut thick and were juicy. my least favorite was the clam pizza. a friend called the flavor "exotic". i did not care for it much.

for dessert, my friends had the affagato (vanilla with a shot of espresso), which was apparently very good. others had the butterscoth dessert, which they also liked. i had plain old gelato (vanilla and hazelnut), which was fairly good. i would probably go back when the place calms down a bit. it's just way too crowded and it seems that the service has suffered as a result.

my review (and other folks' review) also at:
http://losangeles.citysearch.com/review/44559313?rpp=57

My mum wanted to eat there for her birthday. i invited my best friend as well. mum made reservations a month in advanced. the only opening was 1pm from lunch. however, if you had no reservations you can press your luck to sit at the bar and watch nancy silverton make your salad :) you can miss this place. just find the orange awning on the corner of highland and melrose. valet only.

we got down to business. we ordered the Fried squash blossoms with ricotta as an appetizer. i can even explain how good this it. we shared a Chicken livers, capers, parsley & guanciale bruschette. this was heaven as well and Tricolore with Parmigiano Reggiano & anchovy dressing. we ordered 2 pizzas, Littleneck clams, oregano, parmigiano & pecorino and Prosciutto di Parma, rucola, tomato & mozzarella. we got a bonus 3rd pizza cuz the server gave us the wrong pizza. which was a happy mistake. we got the Speck, bufala mozzarella, olive tapanade & oregano. wow we ordered well. the service was fast and the servers were friendly and attractive. that was very good pizza. each flavor of each pizza was not conflicting with each other. it was well mixed. i wanted to get a picture of nancy silverton with us. then the waiter brought my mum a big slice of chocolate cake and everybody in the restaurant sang happy birthday, it was great. we had a good time. we will be back.

nancy hung out for about a hour then left. she has a very successful bakery of her own called la brea bakery. you see her bread in major markets all over the states.

Renowned chef Mario Batali, food network star and Nancy Silverton (Campanile, La Brea Bakery) are combining their love of authentic Italian food and artisanal breads to proffer what could be L.A.'s best pizza. The colorful restaurant welcomes business lunchers and late-night clubgoers with equal enthusiasm; the wine bar offers a selection of 50 Italian wines under $50. Menu items include crisp duck legs with lentils, lamb stracotto and 15 pizzas including squash blossom with burrata; prosciutto and argula; and clams, garlic and pecorino.