Pizzeria Mozza by Ed Milich
		Last weekend I visited the storied Los Angeles nuovo pizzeria, Mozza. Pizzeria Mozza has been heralded as the "pizza savior" in the famously pizza-deprived city of LA. Even on a Saturday, the place was hopping with mid afternoon business. I found a place at the bar and ordered up. Thought Mozza's menu features a number of other Italian - focused specialties, all of the guests at the restaurant seemed to be mowing down on little pizzas, so I figured that pizza was a good place to start. I got the Speck Pizza with black olives,basil, and mozarella. Speck? The only thing that that word brings to mind is serial killer Richard Speck. I hoped at the time that the pizza would outshine its unfortunate name. The pizza arrived and I was surprised to find that it was a pizza margherita, devoid of sauce. It was also heaped with prosciutto, which I had not anticipated. The pizza was very good with a wonderful crust of medium thickness. It was not,however, what I had expected. At restaurants with sophisticated menus, I usually like to start with something familiar, which is why I ordered what I thought was a basic pizza. Oh well. The proscoutto was of the "melt in your mouth" variety, which is always a mark of excellence. The mozzarella was heaped in a ball on top of the pizza, not shredded and distributed the way pizza lovers normally expect it. It was soft and mostly flavorless. I also had a small side salad with a fancy name, which was OK, and a little bit too bitter, and a side order of Polenta with another fancy name. The polenta was fairly bland, but still enjoyable. I grew up in a heavily Italian-populated area of Ohio, so I know good pizza. Mozza's crust is up there with the best of them. I only wish I'd had a chance to try the other essential pizza component, the sauce. I'll never get the margherita pizza thing. I like sauce. Big, thick, dense, flavorful, Roma tomato-dense sauce with bitter little tomato seeds dispersed within it. Margherita pizza to me is like baked cheese and crackers. It's functionally incomplete. Alas, I will have to wait until another visit to try Mozza's sauce. With tip and tax, I ended up spending $40 for lunch at Mazzo, so this will remain a special occasion lunch until I win the lottery...which aint gonna happen until I start playing the lottery. In short, this was a good, but expensive lunch at a restaurant that is going in new directions with the basic pizza formula.
	Pizzeria Mozza 641 N. Highland Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90036 (323)297-0101 www.mozza-la.com