pizzeria mozza

Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza each day (read: 350 slices per second). With pizza's popularity, it's a no brainer that a pizzeria (a good pizzeria) would open to success and popularity in the pizza-deprived Los Angeles.
Los Angeles is no New York, but it's food scene is now powered by uber-chefs and food that can rival the Big Apple. Where else but in L.A. would Wolfgang Puck have a Richard Meier designed building (re: Cut)? This is the city that birthed Puck's Spago, Nobu Matsuhisa's Matsuhisa and invented the power lunch. Los Angeles is making people notice (or salivate, rather). Our chefs are becoming household names, namely Suzanne Goin who was named one of the best new chefs in 1999 by Food + Wine magazine.

The city is filled with culinary gems hidden in its nooks and crannies where you can find kalbi and soon doo boo (spicy tofu) 24 hours a day in Koreatown, shabu shabu and ramen on Sawtelle, kebabs along Westwood and Mexican taco stands that I miss so much when in New York. In a sea of a ethnic communities, there is no equivalent to Manhattan's Little Italy. Sure, California saw the newer, later wave of immigration, but where can you go for good, authentic Italian food?

I have my personal favorites where the waiters speak Italian and the menu extends beyond linguine vongole and insalata caprese. But even these restaurants don't transport me to Italy or even the ristorantes in New York, revealing what real Italian food is like. Italian seems so "un"ethnic, many people think of spaghetti and meatballs. What about the wonderful joys and flavors of tripa (stomach lining), bone marrow and squid ink?

My favorite restaurant in New York has to be Babbo, where they serve an amazing beef cheek ravioli. Babbo is Mario Batali's flagship restaurant that has been around for almost 10 years. It is a neighborhood restaurant that maintains that feel (unlike Batali's Del Posto that neighbors and tries to compete with Craft and Morimoto, other behemoths from celebrity chefs)). One of New York's most recognizable, influential (and in my opinion, exciting) chef is probably Mario Batali. He was named one of the most influential players in food by New York magazine along with Keith McNally (Pastis, Balthazar), Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Jean-Georges, Mercer Kitchen) and Danny Meyer (Tabla, Gramercy Tavern), among others.

Batali has created an empire as celebrity chef on the Food Network, brand name behind his cookware, author of cookbooks (which I owe thanks to for many great meals) and restauranteur (Babbo, Del Posto, Lupa, Casa Mono, Bar Jamon, Esca and Otto Enoteca...phew). And with more New York chefs branching out to L.A. (Tom Colicchio's Craft is coming to Century City in the Spring), it was a matter of time until Batali set foot in L.A. and show us Angelenos what real Italian food tastes like and can be.

Batali has teamed up with Nancy Silverton of Campanile and La Brea Bakery. (Who doesn't love Campanile and their breads that you now see at markets from Gelson's to Costo.) Although the adjacent Osteria Mozza will open in a few months, Pizzeria Mozza is now open for lunch and dinner. On Highland and Melrose, Pizzeria Mozza now occupies the space of many failed Italian restaurants. But my instincts and experience at lunch today tells me that they've got the recipe for success. (But really, how can you go wrong with cheese and bread? It may very well be my reason for living.)

Pizzeria Mozza is just that, a pizzeria. (Ristorante is a restaurant in all the sense of the word; trattoria is cheaper and more casual; osteria is even more casual and traditionally an inn; and pizzeria is very casual, serving what else? pizza). The restaurant has a casual, neighborhood feel with a diverse group of diners from the stroller set to industry lunchers. The space is small, with about twenty tables and stools along the bar and an open kitchen where I saw Nancy preparing food, orange apron and all. (What is with the orange? From Mario's clogs to the uniform, I have to wonder what significance orange plays. But I kind of like the outrageousness and Mario's quirkiness.)

I sat at the bar with my friend, John, as the bartender (also serving as our waiter, hence even more waiting) makes the aqua fresca of the day, with orange juice, lemon juice, syrup, mint and club soda. The menu is small - antipastis from roasted olives, squash blossoms to eggplant caponata; salads from a very Californian "chopped" salad to a rucola salad; three different bruschette and panini; a half dozen different salumi like Prosciutto di Parma and coppa; and about a dozen different pizzas. Although I didn't have wine, the wine list was simple and user friendly. (You know the overwhelming feeling of deciphering Italian wines and going through the extensive wine list?) The menu makes it easy for us unofficial foodies and semi-wine enthusiasts; there's about 20 whites and 20 reds and every bottle is under $50.

Waiting seemed to be the trend as we waited half an hour for our pizzas and staved off hunger with breadsticks and boredom with the fun and whimsical (much like Batali...hello. orange clogs?) paper place mats. (The silverware comes in a paper bag along with your paper napkin.) My place mat looked like someone's nonna could have scribbled down the recipe for pizza margherita. (John's place mat was of an Italian comic strip. The bill holder was covered by an old Italian newspaper. It's so fun and novel, it almost seems kitchy, like a faux Italian "McNallyland".)

When I finally decided what to order, our waiter didn't notice until another 10 minutes later. The waiting was appeased when we got our squash blossoms, perfectly fried - crisp and light and oozing with warm ricotta. The waiting was well worth it (especially considering we only waited 10 minutes for a table as other people who came in later were told "45 minutes") when we got our pizzas.

The crust was unlike anything I had seen before, the sides had puffed up like a balloon while all the good stuff sat sunken in the middle. The crust was light and airy yet chewy, probably from a dough with real elasticity. There was enough salt from the fontina and taleggio cheeses and balance between the herbaceous"ness" of thyme and woodiness of the shitake, portobello and white button mushrooms. Maybe a sprinkling of white truffle oil would have perfected the pie? (Although there was a $40 white truffle pizza, but I couldn't justify eating a $40 lunch at one on a Tuesday. Well, at least not outside of Napa Valley.)

The popular choice seemed to be the fennel sausage pizza with panna (cream, like panna cotta - my other reason for living) and red onion, which John got. I love sausage, so this was very good with ping pong-sized meatballs scattered on the "plate" (an idea the Greeks had to use bread as, thus inventing the first pizza). As we sat with full stomachs waiting for our change, I thought how undecidely "L.A." we were. We weren't having a salad and tea at Urth Caffe. We were happily stuffing ourselves with carbs and oil. ...then we left to have some pink berry immediately after.

Pizza Margherita

Pizza Margherita was created in 1889 by a pizzaiolo (the official Italian term for a pizza maker) who made a pizza for Queen Margherita using ingredients symbolizing the Italian flag - mozzarella (white), tomatoes (red) and basil (green).

Pizza Dough:
1 cup warm water
1 1/2 ounces fresh yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup passata (pureed and sieved tomatoes, skinned and seedless, essentially canned tomato paste)
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced into 12 equal pieces
8 leaves fresh basil

Combine the water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and stir until dissolved. Add salt and 1 cup of the flour and mix with a wooden spoon to make a loose batter. Add 2 more cups of the flour and stir with the spoon for 2 to 3 minutes to incorporate as much flour as possible. Bring the dough together by hand and turn out onto a floured board or marble surface. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes, until you have made a smooth, firm dough. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a towel. Set aside to rise in the warmest part of the kitchen for 45 minutes. Cut the risen dough into 4 equal pieces and knead each portion into a round. Cover again and let rest 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place a clean pizza stone in oven to preheat. Dust a clean work surface lightly with flour. With your fingers and palms, flatten one of the dough rounds into a 10-inch oval about 1/4-inch thick. Spread 1/4 cup of the passata evenly on entire surface of dough, leaving 1/4-inch of dough to form edge of pizza. Take one piece of mozzarella, slice into 4 uniform slices and put on top of passata. Rip 2 leaves of basil into smaller pieces and sprinkle on top of mozzarella. Slide pizza directly onto pizza stone and bake 15 to 18 minutes, until edge of pizza is golden brown and cheese is bubbling. Repeat with remaining 3 dough balls and serve hot.


You can order your Mario Batali pizza kit at cooking.com.