Generally speaking, The Knife will leave restaurant birth announcements to Daily Candy. Preview parties are swell, but they've got nothing to do with a place once it's twirled a valet sign out the front door and declared itself open to paying customers.
And the fact is, for a town that huffs buzz, hype and all the other PR drugs, Los Angeles doesn't get all that excited about new restaurants. An opening night party may bring out the fire marshal, but that's free food (the true lifeblood of L.A.). Bone-deep anticipation is rare. Maybe it's because no one knows the scene it will create, or because we've seen so many crap restaurants come and go, or the sprawl problem means it's easier to post on Chowhound. In any case, people often seem to have more enthusiasm for, say, Target opening a Paul & Joe pop-up store.
And then there's Pizzeria Mozza, which opens today at noon.
"Hotly anticipated eatery" is usually a restaurant publicist's keyboard shortcut, but in this case it's fact. (It bears noting that neither Nancy Silverton nor Mario Batali employ a publicist.) Of course, at this point Pizzeria Mozza is as famous for blowing its opening dates as it is for teaming celeb chefs Silverton (former Campanile, La Brea Bakery) and the multi-tasking Batali (ubiquitous orange clogs).
Preview-party reports say it's great pizza, something this city has in short supply; I'll reserve my judgment until next week. (Full disclosure: I did snag a slice at Phil Rosenthal's book party, which Mozza hosted last month. It was pretty good, but I suspect it will be that much better when I don't have to worry about elbowing someone.)
In the meantime, here's what we know:
RESERVATIONS?
The 65-seat pizzeria began
taking reservations Monday and "we've had four lines ringing nonstop,"
says general manager David Rosoff. If you're not picky about the
timing, odds are you'll get in; It's open seven days a week, noon to
midnight. No one's throwing their weight around yet, but he says "some
people are really surprised" to discover prime seats gone up to a month
in advance. And if you're looking to work the Rosenthal angle, get in
line: "I'm worried I will lose friends," he says. "I am just an
investor with no say as to who gets in, but I'm hoping that won't stop
women from throwing themselves at me, anyway."
THE BATALI FACTOR
Silverton says she
expects to see him once or twice a month, although "he'll always be
here in spirit." (Especially if you consider his artisanal salumi a
spiritual experience, which might explain why someone took the trouble to steal a $700 sausage from the restaurant's kitchen.) But the reality is Batali oversees seven other restaurants, not including the two he's currently building in Las Vegas. And if he is in town, you might be more likely to find him at Hyde. At Batali's celebrity roast
in New York last week, "Queer Eye For the Straight Guy" foodie Ted
Allen declared him a "Kobe human," adding, "Mario hasn't actually
cooked since 1979 -- unless you count freebasing."
WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG?
Back in January
2005, Silverton told the Los Angeles Times' David Shaw that she hoped
to open by the end of that summer, an assessment that the late
journalist presciently described as "ridiculously optimistic."
Silverton attributes the 15-month delay to a long list of city
requirements for the site that formerly housed Alessi. (Among them: A
$100,000 grease trap.) In any case, they've learned their lesson:
Rosoff will only say he hopes to open Pizzeria Mozza's neighboring,
companion restaurant, the Melrose Avenue-facing Osteria Mozza, "in the
first quarter of 2007. I can't say exactly when. I couldn't even
guess."
WHAT DOES MOZZA MEAN?
Depends who you ask.
Silverton says it's a made-up word, one that suggests both mozzarella
and matzo and thereby honors both owners' backgrounds. It may also have some other, less savory meanings. (Although we like the idea that it means "hottie" in Arabic.)
FOOD
Pizza, plus a lot of little things - antipasti, bruschetta, hand-cured meats.
Most expensive:
The daily special is $20; on Tuesdays, it's crispy duck legs with
lentils and saba. (Pizzas run $9-$14 and are designed to serve one.)
Least expensive: Six bucks gets you an appetizer: Fried squash blossoms, eggplant caponata.
WINE
Fifty bottles, all from Italy, priced between $25-$50.
Most expensive: Vespa Biancho is $50, produced by the third partner in Mozza, Joe Bastianich.
Least expensive: For $25, you can get a bottle of Biferno Bianco, Borgo di Colloredo.
Pizzeria Mozza
641 N. Highland Ave.
(323) 297-0101
Open noon-midnight, seven days a week.
Wow! Great info. I wish, I could have such a writing skills.
Posted by: Amien | June 05, 2007 at 07:18 PM