STELLA!!

AMAZING! If Pizzeria Mozza had a cooler, hip cousin on the Westside, her name would be Stella Rossa. She's way cool in her subtle, humble way. All the girls want to hang with her on a Friday and Saturday night, and all the boys will wait 20-30 min for her... especially because she'll call you back like she said, while you burn time around Main St.

This place truly does live up to its expectation. You can smell the aromatics walking through Upper Main St. The scene is lively and the DJs spinning the tunes that'll get your heads bobbing. Most importantly, the pizzas are one of the best things you'll find on this street (trust me, I ate pizza all over SF recently).

+ The crust is scrumdiddledeeumptuous - the edges are crispy but fluffy and slightly chewy on the inside; the center is thin but sturdy enough to be the canvas for the amazing market-fresh toppings

+ Really unique toppings - my fave is the crispy Purple Kale & Spinach. It's a light, white pizza with strong, *fresh* parmesean flavor.

++ Our waitress. She was so sweet and attentive, AND she brought Christmas a little earlier this year by surprising us with a bonus sausage pizza just because she wanted us to try the house favorite.

Take it from someone's whose on a "hot by Halloween" mission. I ate ALL my crust and didn't mind the carb bomb. Oh soo good...

Stella Rossa Pizza Bar
2000 Main St

Santa Monica, CA 90405

Pizzeria Mozza
641 N Highland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Italia!

I'm usually pretty generous about sharing my leftovers with my family so they can try what good food in LA is (ugh don't get me started on the time where my Mom sandwiched a beautiful Veal medallion from Providence in a Ciabatta loaf from Bay Cities Deli for a snack)... But Toscana in Brentwood might be the first and only place where I will be licking clean my own leftovers (and to prevent such horrid aforementioned incidents).

Quaint, cute place. It's very subtle and easily missed on this busy street - it's actually right across from Tavern, fyi. The place is small and not bougie or snobby by any means, especially after hearing all the rumors of celebrity sightings. I guess this place is like Fritto Misto for the stars? Good ol' hearty Italian cooking with a lot of yum.

I had the grilled calamari to start and it was unique since it wasn't deep fried like most places. It tasted fresh and I loved the char on the tentacles (don't be a prude). I also had the prosciutto pizza to start and it was amazingly thin. It was really light - no heavy cheese or tomato sauce. I'm glad I had this as an appetizer rather than my main lunch entree because I would not have been full because it was so snack-like (even though it was 16" in diameter).

As for my main, I got greedy and wanted to try both the Spaghetti Pomodoro (most popular dish) and their Daily Special Brisket Bolognese Shell Pasta AND they were surprisingly able to accommodate. Oh I was so glad I asked because they were both SO GOOD. Both pasta were cooked perfectly al dente - it had a good elasticity. I was already more than happy with the texture, but the sauce! I never order anything simple because it's just not me but after strong Yelp reviews on the Spaghetti Pomodoro - just tomato and basil sauce - I went against my grain. Boy was I glad because this simple dish had so much depth and flavor that it made me want to keep eating it despite how full I was. The tang gave me good stamina to power through my pastas and dessert. Next, the Bolognese Shell was oh so tasty too! Perfectly seasoned, very meaty, and comforting. My taste buds tangoed with the two pastas while my feet tapped to the rhythm of the sizzling wood grill in the visible kitchen.

As a dessert surprise, they brought this crispy sugar puff pastry pro bono. It was a delicate sugar crisp - perfect after a carby meal. It reminded me a bit of a butterfly pastry but lighter. They didn't have many desserts for lunch but I didn't mind because I rather eat more pasta, which is quite a statement from me.

I left a pretty happy (hefty) camper. I can't wait to come back... I'm like in love! Italia! Sorry mom, I'll save my next Cut steak for you instead.

Toscana
11633 San Vicente Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90049
http://toscanabrentwood.com

PS. The pictures are of my leftovers - Toscana doesn't really serve on Chinese plates. Haha.

Internationally Known, Not Just Known to Rock the Microwaaave

I don't know what it is. Maybe it is something about having too many perplex dishes or hitting that quarter life crisis, but there is something beyond appealing about pizza. Piece of dough, tomato sauce, melted cheese, and some meat topping and your day gets better. It is a sure win and it is comforting. Well… knowing me, it can't be that simple!

Korean pizza. I heard about this concept 3 years ago but never acted on it - let's face it, if I am going to K-Town in LA, I am going to grill meat, end of discussion. But recently, my friend had told me about Pizza and Chicken Love Letter in Cerritos. Appealing because it is in the 'burbs where parking is abundant and it is away from the temptation of Korean BBQ. Thanks to Yelp, I found a closer location right in front of my parents' house in a random, janky strip mall. SCORE! Why Korean pizza you ask? It is atypical. Ok more? Rather than your traditional pepperoni (which, don't get me wrong, I LOVE), they have zany toppings like bulgogi. Do I need to say anymore? You can put that meat anywhere and it is delicious! All right, if that has not hooked you. This place also has a potato and sweet potato topping. Ok the former is becoming more main stream so we will let that slide but you still doubt carb on carb? Sounds too heavy? Well, it is not too much if the restaurant does it right. Sliced thin or chopped small and the starchiness will not be overwhelming. Enter Pizza & Chicken Love Letter's sweet potato pizza – WOW!

First of all, if you love (yellow) sweet potato, then this is it. If you are not a fan of this starchy friend, then you will NOT get the point of Pizza & Chicken Love Letter. They take a pan-roasted crust and pile on diced sweet potato, pineapple, sausage, onions, corn, tomato sauce, and cheese. If you're feeling more adventurous (and you should because you've already walked through the door), upgrade to the "gold" crust where they fill the pizza crust with mashed sweet potato. I have never tasted such an amazing combination – all these flavors together work! It is just the right amount of savory remixed with natural sweetness from the sweet potatoes. It might be weird for some people, but again, if you enjoy sweet potatoes, then you will like this pizza.

Did I mention this place was super cute? It made me think I was in a CUE photo booth. It is a little barny because of the brownish wood interior and red & white checkered tables. The place is lined with booths for a more intimate love session… with yo' pizza! The walls are decorated with cartoonish writing along with cheesy chicken mascots that remind you of the Asian authenticity of this place.

They also have a variety of different chicken styles and flavor. One of them is chicken bulgogi that has been baked in cheese – tell me how awesome does that sound? While the sweet chili chicken wings are as addictive as Nutella, I happily optted for the sweet potato gold pizza because it is… just… that… amazing. Between the cute atmosphere and unique combinations, this place is stomach-worthy fo' sho!

These are the location addresses:

18333B Colima Rd.
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

8891 Garden Grove Blvd.
Garden Grove, CA 92884

11752 Garden Grove Blvd.
Garden Grove, CA 92884

That'sa Pizza!

Pizzeria Mozza: This place will always have a fond place in my heart. I had this place earlier on in my food career when my boyfriend at the time whisked me away after a stressful day at work to introduce me to the best pizza he ever ate. Not knowing how different gourmet pizza can be from my favorite take out joint, Pizza Hut, I became a new person that night.

While I have not gone very often, I hold Batali’s pizza as the bar for what great pizza should be. Their pizzas are made with the freshest ingredients. The tomato sauce is tangy and rustic. Their cheese is made in-house and sprinkled with just the right amount (not too much, not too little though nobody ever complains about extra cheese!). And… the perfect bubbly crust which makes the pizza. Just to give you a little background, I am not a crusty person. I am that girl that would cut the middle of the pie and eat it if you’d let me. Why waste my stomach space on an area that does not contain cheese, meat, or tomato? Worse of all, it is usually pretty dry and hard to eat. Well that mentality changed after having Mozza’s light, airy crust.

Fast forward a few years, I have yet to find another pizza place as tasty as Pizzeria Mozza. Recently his pizzeria gave me a new reason to come back: Nancy Silverton’s new Wednesday night Italian-rubbed baby back ribs. Boy oh boy were they tasty! Extremely flavorful – tangy, savory, spicy, and moderately saucy. The aromatics on the ribs fill your senses with every new bite. They aren’t bbq so don’t expect smoke or grill marks on this baby. Also, unlike your traditional baby backs, these are much smaller. It’s an interesting cut – only half the size of what you are used to. (They are more like Chinese short ribs if that means anything to you.) Don’t fret though! The volume of flavor truly does make up for the smaller size.

On that night, I also shared two pizzas – the Bacon, salami, fennel sausage, guanciale, tomato & mozzarella and the Egg, bacon, Yukon gold potato & Bermuda onions. The first one was basically a meat lovers-kinda pizza (YEA!!). It was ok. I wished it had a little more tomato sauce on it and more bubbly in the crust. The second pizza was better. I was surprised by how tender the potatos were, and I was more than stoked to have an egg on my pizza. The egg didn’t quite live up to the idea I had of it – maybe if it was bigger? It is tough to get enough of the egg on the pizza when its divvied up into four slices.

Sadly, the pizzas weren’t quite what I remembered. Maybe I did not order the right ones. Their maragherita (mozzarella, tomato & basil) is their best pizza after all, and I previously loved their prosciutto. Maybe it was the ribs. They were just so damn delicious it suppressed every other capable sensation that night. Or maybe it was that treasured first memory – it’sa Amore! Regardless, I will still love this pizzeria and now I have the ribs to look forward to.

641 N Highland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036