Osteria Mozza!!!
It's no secret I'm a huge fan of Mario Batali, and I used to travel to NY to eat at his restaurants (and still do) - but I was supremely pleased when he partnered up with Nancy Silverton (a renowned chef in LA) to open up 2 LA locations - Pizzaria Mozza and Osteria Mozza - www.mozza-la.com. Both are yummy and great for celebrity sightings (at the pizza place one night, we saw Jennifer Aniston, Jeanne Tripplehorn and some American Idol contestants; at osteria we saw Adam Levine from Maroon 5)... but back to the food!
Last night we dined at Osteria Mozza for the first time and I was giddy with anticipation. Our reservations were quite late so I had to go to a happy hour for 2 hours and refrain from eating (very difficult task indeed)! When we arrived, we had a short wait while they set up our table so we had time to appreciate the typical warm, coziness of a batali restaurant immersed in a buzz of activity. Our server (Chris?) was charming, friendly and helpful - but I really don't remember anything once the food started coming (it could have been the 2 cocktails and the bottle of wine - but no worries - i can still remember (almost) everything I tasted). :)
Our group began with a selection of appetizers:
- Grilled Octopus with potatoes, celery & lemon - wonderfully tender, plump morsels of octopus, lightly seasoned - yum!
- Burrata with bacon, marinated escarole & caramelized shallots - the burrata was amazingly creamy and the bacon smoky and sweet - delicious!
- Caprese with bufala bocconcini, cherry tomatoes & Genovese basil - fresh, sweet, creamy with a touch of tang - what caprese should be
- Crispy Pigs Trotter with cicoria & mustard Crispy Pigs Trotter with cicoria & mustard - interesting flavor and great texture, but a bit too salty for me
then for our primi:
- Orecchiette with sausage & Swiss chard - i just have to say i love love love pasta! and when pasta is done as wonderfully as this, I could eat it forever! The orecchiette had lovely texture, and was wonderfully complimented by the brown butter, bread crumbs, sweet spicy sausage & chard .
-Fresh Ricotta & Egg Raviolo with browned butter - I admit I didn't taste this but my friends loved it - it's essentially one huge ravioli stuffed with cheese and an egg - very cool display
then for our secondi:
- Grilled Whole Orata wrapped in fig leaf with olio nuovo - fish was tender, light and fresh
- Roasted Pork Arista, fennel & onion agrodolce with cranberry beans - wonderfully fatty and flavorful and tender pork
- Beef Brasato with polenta & horseradish gremolata - melt in your mouth tender slices of beef
I think there were others .
finally - desserts!
- Bombolini with lemon mascarpone & raspberry sorbetto - little fried donuts dusted with sugar and served with tart sorbet - delightful little treats!
- Cioccolato bittersweet chocolate cake & perugian chocolates - for dark chocolate lovers - very intense, rich flavors
all in all - a heavenly meal with fabulous company! what could be better?
Check this place out if you get a chance - reservations are required and difficult to get (they only take them a month in advance), but some walk-ins are allowed at the bar but that usually requires a long wait.
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