Lunch at Pizzeria Mozza

New Year’s Eve- where should we go to carbo load? As a good “food baller,” I knew it was important to eat well if I planned to indulge a bit for New Year’s Eve. A group of us decided on Pizzeria Mozza. I have not been in a number of years and but was happy to see the food was still high-quality.

We ordered a series of appetizers and pizzas to share. Since there were six of us, we double-up or tripled-up on some apps including the prawns with beans. The flavorful prawns were large and I really enjoyed the beans with the dish.

 

My favorite appetizer turned out to be the cauliflower fritti. The fried cauliflower had a great batter and I didn’t really need the sauce.

 

The fried squash blossoms were also good though a bit heavier since they were stuffed with cheese.

 

My pizza instincts are divided towards mushroom or sausage. Lately mushroom has been winning out. Pizzeria Mozza does a great pie with a generous amount of “meaty” mushrooms.

 

We also got a side of Brussels sprouts to go with our lunch pizzas.

 

A friend had the guanciale with egg. The beautiful egg really set off the pizza.

 

I was very happy with the goat cheese, bacon and leek. Enough that I didn’t miss the meatball pizza (not shown) I was eying across the table.

 

We couldn’t leave without a gelati tasting. I remembered how subtle the olive oil is and thought it was a nice flavor, especially paired with a nice minty mint chip and perky espresso. I was very impressed with the huge waffle chip sitting on top of the gelati. It was bigger than the bowl!

 

But my favorite dessert at Mozza will always be the salted caramel budino. It’s just so smooth, rich and creamy. With just the right amount of salt. The salt didn’t overwhelm the delicate pudding but enhanced the caramel, just like it should.

And with that meal, we were quite ready to face the early New Year’s eve revelers.

Pizzeria Mozza

641 N Highland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036  —  (323) 297-0101

© The Minty 2014