Osteria Mozza

Los Angeles, CA

After having two amazing dining experiences at Pizzeria Mozza the last two trips to LA, we decided to give its original predecessor Osteria Mozza a try. The menu is quite vast, offering a well rounding selection of antipasti’s, offerings from the mozzarella bar, a variety of pastas and main entrees which made selecting quite a difficult task.  Because everything sounded so appetizing and also foreign we did a bit of research on what to order. We debated between the pasta tasting versus ordering a la carte. Ultimately we decided to go a la carte since many of the popular recommended items were not on the tasting menu.

Upon arrival, we were immediately seated in the extremely low lit, noisy restaurant interior. 

The very dark ambiance and frequent stares of other patrons at our camera lead us to opt not to take pictures for the meal, a shame since food presentation was quite beautiful. Alas, as we celebrated our second anniversary, we decided to enjoy the meal without the stress of photography.

 Burrata with bacon, marinated escarole, caramelized shallots

We started with two appetizers, the grilled octopus with potatoes, celery and lemon ($18) and Burrata with bacon, marinated escarole, caramelized shallots ($15) based on the high recommendations from previous diners. The selection was a success! We’ve had grilled octopus at Michael Chirello’s Bottega in Napa Valley about a year ago and fell in love. Mozza’s octopus was equally memorable, with heavy grilled flavor on the sweet, three generous sized tender gorgeous tentacle pieces placed atop a fresh and light lemon, celery and potato salad. Next was the highly touted bacon and Burratta served on two individual crostini which was great in its own right. I’ve never really appreciated the delicacy and flavor of Burratta until having it from Mozza’s mozzarella bar. It was perfect textural glue binding the perfectly grilled crostini, salty flavor full bacon and balsamic caramelized shallots. Another winner from the start.

Our primi’s consisted of two of the most reviewed and popular pastas, the Ricotta & Egg Ravioli with browned butter ($18) and Orecchiette with sausage & Swiss chard ($18). Admittedly, we would probably would overlook these two dishes, based on their simple description. Thanks goodness we didn’t since both were both great. The single three inch by three inch ravioli sat in the center of the dish surrounded by brown butter encompassing the entire surface of the plate. After a fresh grating of Parmigianino Chu-Toro cut the ravioli in half allowing the egg yolk to ooze out. We’re still not sure how they create this creative dish. Filled with ricotta, this dish was a lot lighter than expected. It was creamy and enjoyable as we sopped each bite with the luscious brown butter sauce until the plate was dry. Something very unique and original which we’d never tasted before. On the completely different end of the flavor spectrum, the orecchetti was bold, strong and heavy laced with amazing sausage flavor.  Chu-Toro mentioned she wanted to eat it anytime she was depressed because she knew it would instantly make her happy. There’s something special about the sausage at Mozza because for the third straight visit we’ve had a sausage component in our dish and each time it gets better and better.


For our secondi, we shared the Porcini Rubbed Rib Eye Bistecca ($63). It was perfectly cooked medium rare and carried a very smoky charred flavor through the peppery spice rub. The steak was sweet and well flavored with good marbling and delicate texture. Chu-Toro even mentioned she liked it more than her steak at CUT. The large rib eye came with some nice fried potatoes heavily flavored by rosemary. A quite filling and well executed entrée.


The dessert was per the recommendation of the server, a trio of gelatos ($12). The first, a strawberry gelato with accompanying compote of strawberries and a waffle cone. It was a little sweet for my tastes, but pretty refreshing. This was Chu-Toro’s favorite out of the three. The second flavor was the mixed berry gelato atop a homemade meringue, my fav of the trio. The last offering was a vanilla gelato in a mini mint cookie, like an iced cream sandwich. We both found this one to be a little off, since the cookie had a bitter aftertaste.
Overall, a very good anniversary dinner with some unique and memorable dishes. Once again the Mozza duo continues to satisfy our LA dining experiences. We agreed that every time we’re in LA, we should go visit one of these two amazing restaurants since each visit makes us want to come back more and more.


Rating 9/10
August 28, 2010