Dining in Los Angeles

“At the table, one never gets old,” the menus announce at Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles. If this bit of Italian folk wisdom is true anywhere, it’s got to be at these twin new restaurants that sit side-by-side in Hollywood. Most of the cooks, servers, and diners are having so much fun with the food they don’t have time to age.

The two places are joint ventures between Nancy Silverton of La Brea Bakery fame, restaurateur Joseph Bastianich and superstar chef Mario Batali. Their combined talents and experience practically guarantee long-term success, though the kitchen right now still needs to work on maintaining consistent standards of quality.

At Osteria we and two friends started with four antipasti selections. The ribolitta and the milky burrata cheese with speck and English peas were wonderfully conceived and executed, but a sheep’s milk ricotta and a burricotti with braised artichokes tasted pedestrian.

For our next course the group shared two superb pastas, an orecchiette with sausage and chard and a maltagliati with wild boar ragú. Among the four entrees, we loved the sweetbreads and the grilled whole fish, but thought the rabbit and veal preparations required further tinkering.

The Pizzeria, with a simpler menu, was right on target with everything we tried, including a mixed salad, a chicken-liver bruschette with pancetta, two pizzas, and a delightful butterscotch pudding. The pizza crust is extraordinary, perhaps the best either of us has tasted, and the toppings sparkle with fresh flavor.

We had other good food in Los Angeles at smaller and less prominent restaurants—such as Dumplings 10053 and Animal—but the double whammy of the Mozza duo left an indelible impression. Since we didn’t age at two long meals, we must have an extra day sometime to return.

Cheryl and Bill Jamison write about food and travel, always with mouthwatering results. Among their best-selling books are Smoke & Spice, American Home Cooking and The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking & Entertaining. They are also frequent contributors to Cooking Light and Bon Appétit. Married 22 years, they live just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The Jamisons’ newest book, Around the World in 80 Dinners: The Ultimate Culinary Adventure, regales readers with a tasty account of their global travels in search of great local fare—from Bali to Brazil.

Learn more about Cheryl and Bill at cookingwiththejamisons.com. You can sign up to join them on a future trip by clicking on “culinary adventures.”

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