For month's I have been wanting to try Mario Batali's restaurant Osteria Mozza but because it is located in Hancock Park, which is basically mid-town Los Angeles, I haven't bothered to go. I don't mind the drive, it's the traffic that I can't take...and I typically won't drive east of Beverly Hills unless there is special reason for it. Well, I finally decided that my son's birthday dinner merited a trip to Mozza, so off we went.
Osteria Mozza and Pizzaria Mozza are both pretty casual, in design and ambiance, so I opted to wear a summer dress and some casual jewelry, citrine dangle earrings, a citrine ring, a peridot ring and a bunch of skinny gold bangle bracelets.
Mozza was busy, in fact we had to take a 6:15 reservation just to get a table. Luckily we all get up early in the morning so we didn't really mind the early dinner.
One thing that the restaurant does well is offer a large bar that serves food as well, so that if you can't get a table, you can always have dinner at the bar. While waiting for my son's girlfriend, the lovely Laura, we waited at the bar which was fine. But I'd love to know why is it that restaurants won't seat you at your table until every one has arrived?
Luckily, in spite of traffic we all arrived within a few minutes of each other and were seated a nice table tucked away in a corner amid the wine bottles. Here is my pretty girl and my handsome son. (I'm not sure what's up with his glow in the dark RayBans...)
I would love to report that the food was stupendous...but it wasn't. It was certainly good, but not awesome. Perhaps I ordered incorrectly. I opted for the mussels on the waiter's recommendation for a first course, but I probably should have stayed with the burrata. Then the sea bass for the main course was just OK. Stephanie and Laura had meat dishes, grilled lamb and grilled hanger steak, and those dishes were certainly better than the fish. The four of us shared a pasta dish that was also competent but not incredible.
Luckily the sommelier suggested a very good wine that was appropriately priced (for my budget) below $100....because I was totally lost when looking at the wine list where many wines were $600 and above. I wonder, who goes to Mozza and orders a $975 bottle of wine?
Luckily the sommelier suggested a very good wine that was appropriately priced (for my budget) below $100....because I was totally lost when looking at the wine list where many wines were $600 and above. I wonder, who goes to Mozza and orders a $975 bottle of wine?
Overall, we had a lot of fun celebrating Alex's 27th birthday in style.
