I had the good fortune of dinning at Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles the other day with a friend. The restaurant is a joint venture by Mario Batali,Nancy Silverton and Joseph Bastianich and boasts a beautiful menu,great atmosphere and wonderful service. The reservation process is very “LA”in that you’ll be disappointing to find out that they’re booking a month is advance…don’t let that discourage you! (They have plenty of great bar seats.) My friend Jeremy is from LA and well versed in the process,so he talked his way into a 5:45pm reservation a few days in advance. Ok,so it’s not the ideal time but with a 10:25pm red-eye back to the East Coast it worked out just fine.
What we ordered:
Grilled Octopus with potatoes,celery &lemon…it was ok,a bit chewy for me. I actually enjoyed the potatoes,celery &lemon more than the octopus and I’m a big fan of octopus.
Smoked Bufala Mozzarella with prosciutto di San Daniele… The prosciutto was delicious and the Bufala was pretty good. I must admit,after having Bufala from Caserta and Battipaglia…everything else pails in comparison.
We skipped the primi and went directly to secondi (did I mention we had lunch at 2:30pm?)
Rabbit con Salsiccia,roasted garlic,lemon &rosemary…First of all,the fact that rabbit was on the menu made me very happy! It did not disappoint. The rabbit,the salsiccia…it was all delicious!! A wonderful dish,perfectly portioned and a beautiful presentation. The only disappointment was that the restaurant was on the classier side and I felt like I left too much meat on the bone (tough to get it all with just your fork if you know what I mean.)
Jeremy had the Grilled Quail wrapped in pancetta with sage &honey and by the looks of the end result (clean plate with bones) he enjoyed it very much.
We went next door to Pizzeria Mozza for a drink before dinner…also a wonderful spot for a less formal dinning experience. They do not take reservations but from what I hear,get there early because the line is out the door.
Good company,too much meat on the bone –sounds likea grand time.
Good food –apart from the chewy octopus –and good company. That’s what eating at a restaurant should be. I’m a bit funny about two things though. First,I wouldn’t queue for a meal and,second,I wouldn’t really like to dine at a place where you wouldn’t feel comfortable eating your meat from the bone. That’s what fingers are for. I think those two things would ruin the experience for me. The quail in pancetta does sound divine,though.