Pizzeria Mozza- Los Angeles, CA

If any place can can seriously consider itself a "gourmet pizza shop," it's Pizzeria Mozza. First off, I'm totally enanamored by celebrities. Since Food Network is my weekend TV station of choice, I'm extremely familiar with Iron Chef, and the man known as Mario Batali.

So this is the Pizzeria that complements the always-packed Mozza. The menu at the Pizzeria is different, from what I know of Mozza so far, but still gourmet, and it's PIZZA created by Mario.

First, I didn't think a pile of green could actually be tasty, but it is. We had the Tricolore with Parmigiano Reggiano & anchovy dressing (don't be scared by anchovy. it's just essence-of) and the Rucola, Funghi, & Paive salads. Both really light and tasty. We were also recommended the Pane bianco with olio nuovo (basic bruschette) which I had assumed would come out with some kind of salsa/tomato thing. It actually just looked like 2 pieces of toast. But trust me. the $3 you pay for expensive toast is totally worth it. In the words of the recommender, it was "divine" and that's all truth.

The pizzeria has a number of pizza choices all fairly priced and all delicious looking. We had the Coach farm goat cheese, leeks, scallions, and bacon (bacon being key) which was REAL bacon, not the crap you get in carl's jr burgers. We also had the Pizza alla benno (speck- a type of prosciutto, pineapple, jalapeno, mozarello, and tomato). Again both divine on the thin crust. The Pizza alla benno was my fave since it resembles my favorite all time pizza (Hawaiian, if you didn't get that from the pineapple) only the alla benno pizza had a little kick with the jalapeno and some goodass proscuitto.

For dessert, we had the Butterscotch budino (pudding) with rosemary and pinenut cookies. It sounds very strange, and it was, but it tastes AMAZING. I also had the opportunity to try dessert over at Mozza, where I tried (wait for it..) the Olive Oil gelato with Rosemary muffins. again an OMG moment (but in a good way, not disbelief).

Anyways, if you're looking for celebrity chef-style food, but don't want to wait a month for reservations or fork up $$ for a meal, Pizzeria Mozza is definitely the place for a tasty bite at a decent price.

http://www.mozza-la.com/pizzeria/menu.cfm

Craft, Century City, CA

Unfortunately, I was unable to snap shots since it was a business dinner, but definitely worth a few mins to discuss. This is what I remember eating...

First courses:

• Oysters: So apparently, the smaller the oyster, the sweeter it is (sweeter being better-tasting). My very first time eating a raw oyster...and it wasn't that bad! And I actually chewed it. I think they were called Kushi oysters.
  
• Crab Gratin: good. cheesey.
  

Main Course:

• NY strip steak. eh. (sad huh?)

Sides:

• baby broccoli
• asparagus
• another kind of gratin (just potatoes this time)
• assorted mushrooms
• polenta

My only comment here is that it was all very boring

Dessert:

• Apple pie crisp. nothing special.
• Waffles and ice cream. again, nothing special (but the ice cream was GOOD!)
• Mango Shortcake: interesting concept...maybe mangos aren't in season yet?
  
• Donuts: these were the best tasting doughnuts i've EVER tasted. not too sweet, not too fried, and super fluffy. YUM!

Ok, so really the only thing i enjoyed was the wine and the donuts. It was definitely nothing compared to the Las Vegas Craftsteak which was INCREDIBLE. I was sad, but at least it wasn't on my dime!