Located in Newport Beach right next to a Ferrari dealership, this is the second Pizzeria Mozza (the original is in Los Angeles) opened by celebrity chefs Mario Batali and Nancy Silverton of Campanile. The place is relatively unpretentious and casual, meaning even though the median age of the people there was around 55 and most were wearing blazers, I didn’t feel 100% out of place wearing sandals. Showing up in underwear, however, may have been a mistake.
$12 Arancine alla Bolognese – It’s like all the ingredients of a fine pasta dish in ball format. In the words of one of my eating companions: “Meat, cheese, fried, smiley face.” Order it.
$12 Bone Marrow al Forno – How can you go wrong with bone marrow? It’s like shoveling pure delicious fat into your mouth. Although most other times I’ve had bone marrow is was more pasty than fatty, so this was actually a bit of a change. And if you’re thinking to yourself “I don’t know if I can eat what appears to be pure fat” just put away your vagina and man up.
$19 Bacon, salame, fennel sausage, guanciale, tomato & mozzarella – By far the best of the three pizzas we got and it’s all due to the super delicious fennel sausage. Although they have another fennel sausage pizza that’s more popular and hence possibly more delicious. I don’t remember why we got this one instead, but I’m assuming it was for the bacon. Honestly though, I couldn’t care less about the bacon on this pizza because the sausage was that much better.
$17 Brussels sprouts with red onions, pecorino & pancetta – Probably the weakest of the three pizzas we got, mostly because the flavors are just so mild. Not bad, but I’d probably skip this one next time.
$17 Coach Farm goat cheese, leeks, scallions, garlic & bacon – The garlic has this crunchy chewy texture that I’ve never had on a pizza before. It’s kind of like a crispy chewy toffee that gets stuck in your teeth.
$10 Espresso Granita (espresso gelato, chocolate-dipped honeycomb) – A bit too sweet for my tastes, but it’s hard to mess up espresso gelato.
$10 Butterscotch Budino (Maldon sea salt, rosemary pine nut cookies) – I believe this is their most popular dessert and the salt definitely brings out the butterscotch. Pretty good but, like the granita, it’s a bit too sweet for my tastes.
Pizzeria Mozza
800 W Coast Hwy
Newport Beach, CA 92663
(949) 945-1126
www.pizzeriamozza.com/NewportBeach/home.cfm
