6602 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90038
www.osteriamozza.com
Tel: 323.297.0100
$$$$ ($50+)
Cuisine: Italian
Thurs, 05/21/2015, 9:30pm reservation
(3.5 Piglets)
From the creators of the casual Pizzeria Mozza comes the more sophisticated fine dining restaurant Osteria Mozza. Located next door from each other, Joe Bastianich, Mario Batali and Nancy Silverton construct an Italian menu composed of pastas, a mozzarella bar, and a multitude of proteins. There is an extensive wine list, including ones from Bastianich's winery.
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| The bar |
The ambiance is sophisticated, yet unpretentious. White table cloths line the tables with squeaky clean wine glasses. High ceilings create a sense of grandeur, but creates an echo throughout the restaurant. A mozzarella bar sits in the middle of the dining room for diners enjoyment. Every detail and intricate decor was met at Osteria Mozza, except the service (which I will go into later...).
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| The interior |
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| Place setting |
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| Given a 2012 wine from Bastianich's winery (although on the menu it was listed as a 2011). Good, nonetheless. |
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| BURRATA ($15.00): Grilled asparagus, brown butter, guanciale, and almonds. The burrata was nice and creamy. The cured pork was delicious. The asparagus was cooked well. I appreciated the texture the almonds gave to the dish, but I felt it wasn't cohesive with the overall ingredients. |
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| GNOCCI ($21.00): With duck ragu. The gnocci was cooked perfectly. The duck ragu was rich, coating the gnocci with every last bite. Overall, it was a good dish. |
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| RICOTTA AND EGG RAVIOLO ($21.00): With brown browned butter. This was probably my favorite pasta dish out of the three. It was one large ravioli with a runny egg yolk and ricotta mixture in the middle. As soon as you cut into the pillow, the mixture oozed out a creamy filling. I loved it and the browned butter was the perfect sauce to the ravioli. My only complaint was that you only get one. |
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| Inside the ravioli |
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| SQUID INK CHITARRA FREDDI ($25.00): With Dungeness crab, sea urchin, and jalepeno. This pasta is visually stunning. It's served cold with the sea urchin on top for you to mix or enjoy on its own. The pasta had bold flavors with a little spice from the jalepeno, but was not overpowering. The uni was delectable. I think this dish is worth a try, but it wasn't my favorite. |
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| MY FAVORITE DISH. GRILLED BEEF TAGLIATA ($36.00): Rucola and Parmigiano with aceto Balsamico. The beef was cooked to the perfect medium-rare. It was succulent and moist, but it did take on the flavor of the dressing. Nevertheless, the dish was still delicious. It had a sweet and sour taste with a touch of saltiness to bring out the flavors. I wouldn't mind ordering this again. |
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| ROSEMARY OLIVE OIL CAKES ($11.00): Olive oil gelato and rosemary brittle. The cakes were good, but I didn't love them. I've always been a fan of the olive oil gelato at Pizzeria Mozza and this is the same one I've tasted. The brittle was a nice touch and gave the dish a bit of crunch. It was a good dish, but I would have rather gone to Pizzeria Mozza for the caramel copetta. |
Overall, the food was good, but not exceptional by any means. The service can use some improvement. It was slow and we waited 30 minutes for our first order to arrive and nearly an additional 30 minutes for our pastas. Drinks didn't arrive until significantly later; we also had to ask for our bottle of wine to be delivered to our table after the arrival of our first dish. Furthermore, the wine we ordered was of a different year and when mentioned to the sommelier, he blew it off. The waitress was inattentive and literally ruined our experience at the restaurant. Luckily, the second waitress we had (when they changed shifts) was more observant. Would I come back here? Maybe...but I definitely wouldn't come out of my way for Osteria Mozza. There are many other exceptional restaurants in Los Angeles. Word of advice: Don't come hungry because you will probably have a 2.5-3 hour dinner for two on a weeknight for an a la carte menu.
Notable dishes: Grilled Beef Tagliata and Ricotta and Egg Raviolo
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