Osteria Mozza

Americas - USA West Los Angeles
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I ended up here on Halloween because I flew into LGB, rented a car so I could stop at Coni’Seafood for lunch, but it was closed (I presume thanks to Jonathan Gold putting it on his 101 list), and since my flight was delayed I was in rush-hour traffic. So when I realized I was near Mozza and they were open I thought I’d stop for a nice, civilized meal and finish my drive when traffic had died down. I think I was the first customer of the night.

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Broccoli di Ciccio with fried chicken livers and burrata ($18). Damn. So good.

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Tripe alla parmigiana ($13). Excellent, about as refined as tripe gets.

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Calf’s brain ravioli ($20), tasty but I was expecting a higher brain-to-pasta ratio.

Great service as usual. Wines by the glass seemed kind of expensive, but good, also as usual. I got back on the road much refreshed.

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Good brains are hard to find! No pun intended!

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my mouth is watering. Food looks great.

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I am so glad that hear that you had a good experience. My last two trips were disappointing in terms of food and service. I was such a fan for so long that I was fearing they were getting a bit careless. I won’t spilt up with them just yet.

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This thread is an oldy, but it seems to be the best place to put this update since there isn’t much talk of Osteria Mozza as of late. We had a great meal there last night.

Mozzarella from Puglia (w/ leeks & garlic bread)
Look at this mozza planet. I kid you not, there were tiny mozzarella moons orbiting this oil-drenched orb. And it comes with a comet of garlic bread. This is my happy place. One of my favorite things ever. It was sold as being a limited run, so it doesn’t seem to be a constant on the menu, but if you see it… immortality: take it - it’s yours!
(EDIT: Sounds like this Puglia mozz is actually a regular on the Osteria menu but is only available on certain days of the week.)

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Orecchiette (w/ sausage, swiss chard & bread crumbs)
I remembered @Haeldaur mention this as a favorite LA noodle dish, and I see why. Oh how I loved chewing on these little ears. Note: this was a half portion as they kindly split the dish for us.

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Ricotta Gnudi (w/ morels, green garlic & English peas)
And now we get to the morel of the story… This was wonderful. The ricotta-filled eyes to heaven were so delicate and popped with subliminality of the highest order. The flavor of sauce and morels reminded me of the brown shag carpet in my childhood home - substantial and dense yet warm and enveloping.

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Whole Roasted Purple Yam (w/ apple cider, mascarpone, horseradish & crispy shallots)
Yass queen.

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Roasted Baby Carrots (w/ pumpkin seeds, carrot leaf pesto, coriander & dill)
I’ll eat anything with dill. ANYTHING.

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Candied Kumquat Semifreddo (w/ pistachio, cocoa nib brittle & chocolate)
The Godfather of desserts. “You broke my heart, (semi)Fredo.” I probably preferred the strawberry version from Hachet Hall, but this was good. Could have been great if there had been more of the candied kumquat than the one piece.

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We sat at the Mozzarella bar and found the service friendly and the right amount of attentive. The vibes were right, amigos. Perhaps Osteria is old hat to many of the FTC vets and so it’s not quite the exciting spot to be, but I’ll be happy to return when I do.

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It’s still one of the very best restaurants in LA. It just isn’t as exciting anymore. The mozz bar and the pastas are amazing. I’ve always felt the desserts are better at the Pizzeria though.

I may go this week to get that cheese.

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I had a great meal there last month. I was catching up with an old friend so didn’t take notes or photos of the food.

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Yah, we like that Mozzarella, it’s always on the menu, but limited on the days of the week (I think it’s only 2 days a week), but it’s so good. :slight_smile: Glad you liked it.

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It seems like a great place to do that. Also nice for more celebratory meals. There’s a good spirit about it.

Ah! Good to know. I’ll edit my post to clarify. Thanks!

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Hey, @Chowseeker1999! Any idea what those days are? I think I feel about Italian v domestic mozzarella the way you feel about French v domestic butter. I’ve been meaning to go back to Mozza for awhile and I’d love to time it right to hit that mozzarella!

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If you phone them they could probably tell you when the Pugliese burrata comes in.

I like the burrata from Gioia in El Monte. A16 used to (may still) have them ship it in the morning to serve that night in San Francisco. Even a day later it loses what makes it special.

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Doesn’t Mozza also serve the burrata from Gioia?

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Same. The goia is great. But the good stuff from Italy is incomparable.

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The other burrata is probably Gioia.

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HI @frommtron,

Yah we love that Mozzarella. :slight_smile: Osteria Mozza gets it in every Thursday and once it sells out, it’s out for the rest of the week. So I’m guessing Thursday & Friday are the 2 days you’ll have the highest chance of getting it (we ate it multiple times on both Thurs and Friday before).

One note: There was one visit (last year) where Mozza didn’t get their shipment for the week, so they only had domestic for the entire week (call ahead to absolutely make sure if that’s the #1 reason you’re going), but most of the time it’s fine. Just noting what happened once for us.

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You can call ahead and reserve it.

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Whoa. I’m doing that just so I can say that at least once in my life I’ve reserved a cheese.

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Bring your cheese knife so you can brag later on about cutting the cheese as well.

:smiley:

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Gosh @Haeldaur, I agree with all of this.[quote=“Haeldaur, post:6, topic:4564”]
It’s still one of the very best restaurants in LA. It just isn’t as exciting anymore. The mozz bar and the pastas are amazing. I’ve always felt the desserts are better at the Pizzeria though.
[/quote]The budino at Pizzeria M is sublime.

Hi @President_Mochi.
Witty as usual :relaxed:. Everything looks pretty awesome. O.M. is still hittin’ it.

Psst… I know you do some cooking. I use chopped carrot leaves - instead of parsley - on my carrot dishes as well. But carrot leaf pesto? I’m so trying that!

Thanks!

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No carrot leaves for me, thanks.

https://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/the-toxic-salad/comment-page-2/