Roberta's Pizza: A Pictorial Essay

When the (Mid-Autumn Festival) moon hits your eye (and you feel) like a big pizza pie,
That’s amore…

Without much fanfare, Roberta’s Pizza at Platform LA quietly opened for business over the weekend. Lots of table and bar seats were open when I sauntered in.

Lemonade: My mistake in ordering this. Not that it was bad, I mean the lemonade was fine in and of itself. But the sourness overpowered lots of the more delicate flavors of the night. Wanting to remain a teetotaler on a Monday night, I stuck with water the rest of the meal. (BTW: Plastic straw?! And at PlatformLA, of all places?! lol) There are lots of drinking options here at Roberta’s, with wines by the glass, bottle, cocktails, draft beers, and other beers available to order.

Our Bread and Cultured Butter, with Sicilian Anchovies: Worth it. The taste of this presentation is reminiscent of the delicious sfincione at Felix. The oil from the anchovies really elevate this already addictive bread.

Famous Original Pizza, with Tomato, Mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano, Caciocavallo & Red Pepper Flakes: Great, great pie. Even better than the one I had at the Roberta’s Pop-Up last year. The crust was damn near perfect in terms of its crunchiness versus softness. Just a really enjoyable pizza.

Gratuitous undercarriage shot…

Sweet and Baby Corn, Lightly Steamed with Garlic Chive & Black Lime: A nice contrast of sweet and sour. (They were not serving the yellow polenta with Santa Barbara uni, clam broth, pear & nasturtium today…)

Bucatini Carbonara, with Guanciale & Pecorino with Egg Yolk: The flavors here were a tad too strong and not melded enough together as a whole (which would have made it work better overall). I also found the pasta to be a bit past al dente as well. (They were not serving the gigli vongole today…)

No dessert menu (“It’s coming,” as my friendly server informed me when I inquired)…

While their pizza game is undeniably strong, I’m not yet convinced on the rest of the menu here at Roberta’s. Given it’s only their third night of operations, the proverbial return visit shall likely reveal more of the tale. Come here for the pizza and grab a drink or three!

RECOMMENDED.

Roberta’s Pizza
at PLATFORM
8850 Washington Bl.
Culver City, CA 90232
website

p.s. Post-Roberta’s Bang bang: Affogato at Van Leeuwen… Hits the spot, so I can go admire more full autumn moon, and still have the energy to do this writeup.

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Even if only the pizza(s) are good, that’s enough for me. Thanks for the report.

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Nice shots as always, @J_L. Any idea if the Bee Sting pizza was on the menu?

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Thanks! And yes indeed, the Bee Sting is on the menu.

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Nice pics and report as usual @J_L. :slight_smile:

Good to know their pizzas are still good with the new kitchen and to skip the pastas for now. Thanks.

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Nice report. Are the pies the same size (aka amuse bouche sized) as the ones at the pop-up?

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Pretty sure it’s the same small pies as the pop-up. Looking at the Brooklyn original, that seems to be all they serve too.

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Appreciate the upskirt shot :joy:

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I don’t think I’ll ever order anything else. Just go with the specialties bros

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Check out the Roberta’s cookbook. I think their pizza is amazing, but they do a whole lot more than just pizza. Their technique for an uni-based pasta sauce is simple and excellent, for example.

Pizza is the reason to go, but hopefully they can get their kitchen in order soon because I think their other items are pretty rad.

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The Brooklyn location has great pastas. I suspect that post-early opening jitters that part of the menu will be in great shape too.

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Also went yesterday. Thought the pizza was good (though not as good as Brooklyn), the cocktails sounded awesome (but it was lunch so I didn’t have one), and the vibe is weird and not great and I still just don’t like Culver City much in general.

There are enough places making pizza on this level these days that I don’t think Roberta’s is really a destination for me, though if I had to schedule a meal in Culver City I would consider it.

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Lunch at Roberta’s.

Yellow polenta, Santa Barbara sea urchin, clam broth, pear and nasturtium.
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This was very good. The uni was sweet, and the uni portion generous. Next time, I am going to ask for double polenta, because it was creamy and briny and pretty great, but skimpy.

I had a Zero Wolf, Roberta’s version of a Paloma, which mixes tequila with beet, grapefruit, lime, and blood orange juices. (The straw was at my request.)
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They have reasonably priced wine by the glass, and interesting cocktails.
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I look forward to an expanded menu and specials once the Roberta’s team settles in. After all, the refrigerator in front has pig heads, steaks, and ducks hanging upside down. They are going to have to serve those sooner or later. :slight_smile:

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Had a great dinner at Roberta’s tonight.

Started with the little gem lettuces. Wasn’t expecting to be impressed, as I’m not much of a salad lover. But it was perfectly dressed and the produce extremely fresh. Highly recommend as a light starter.

Next came the Bee Sting pizza. The pizza itself was very well cooked. Just the right amount of char, but still some chewiness. Sauce and cheese were well applied and had good flavor, but the man of honor here is the spice. My lips are still slightly tingling an hour later as I write this. But, though I would say it was DAMN spicey, it was not unpleasantly spicey. Highly recommend, but not for the faint of heart.

Finally, finished dinner off with the Spacatelli Pomodoro. For some reason, I was expecting a very lightly sauced dish. In fact, the sauce is quite thick and luscious. And quite delicious at that. However, echoing what J_L said, the noodles were just a tad over cooked. I mentioned it to our waiter and they promised to pass it along to the kitchen. But even slightly over cooked, still really delicious, and would be a legitimate contender against the pasta pros of LA if the noodle was al dente.

Layout is spacious and inviting, with a large patio and sizeable bar seating area. They do have a full liquor license, though the selection of hard liquor is fairly limited. That’s intentional, as all of their hard liquor is stocked to be used directly in one of the on-menu cocktails. Our waiter emphasized to me that they have absolutely no syrups or other artificial sweeteners. All sweetness in their cocktails comes from fruit juice that they squeeze in-house (saw a basket of green apples sitting below the bar).

Very impressed with my first visit on day #2. A few minor kinks to work out (pasta cooking, kitchen capacity), but nothing major. It’s clear they took the time to get things right before opening. By the way, the quiet, unassuming, lack of fanfare opening was intentional, per the hostess. I imagine they know they will be swamped as soon as word gets out, so they tried to sneak in a less chaotic opening.

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it’s happening…

And they would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for us pesky FTCers :grin:

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Shaggy?!

I’m thrilled at Roberta’s opening…will def get over their soon…but I agree with Srsly, LA is now a true “pizza city.” What was a pizza desert not that long ago has been completely transformed into a pizza oasis! I’ll go to Culver City to check out Roberta’s but not likely to keep going back there…too many great pizzerias around town

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Did Roberta’s originate the concept of the Bee Sting pizza? I had a version of it tonight at Pitfire Pizza (for a friend’s birthday) and they had something that seems similar but I was willing to bet that it wasn’t their creation.

If you mean honey on pizza, I don’t believe Roberta’s was the first to do this. Also looking on the Pitfire menu, the Honey Bear looks very different. (No mozzarella cheese, for one thing.) How did you like it?