Thursday, February 5, 2009

A weekend in LA - part 2

On Saturday night, we ate at Osteria Mozza in Hollywood. About a year ago, we had a great meal at Pizzeria Mozza, which is the more casual restaurant next door. The Mozza restaurants are owned by Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich. I think Nancy Silverton is a great chef – I own three of her cookbooks and I cook from them regularly. I’ve also eaten at both Batali/Bastianich ventures in Las Vegas, most recently at Enoteca San Marco, which was not very impressive.

Unfortunately, we were also not impressed by Osteria Mozza. Everything - from the grilled octopus appetizer to the fritelle di riso dessert - was on the bland side. I didn’t get any pictures because the restaurant was quite dark. On the plus side, Nancy Silverton was working at the mozzarella bar, and my husband spotted Michael Hall and Jennifer Carpenter from the tv show Dexter.

On Sunday morning before we left town, we ate breakfast at Brent’s Deli. My entire family has been eating at Brent’s for as long as I can remember. A trip to LA is not complete without a trip to Brent’s. We really don’t have any good jewish delis in the Bay Area, so I can only get my smoked fish and black and white cookie fix when I’m in LA. As usual, they didn’t disappoint.
Smoked whitefish and cod platter, enough to serve an army (bagels not pictured)
Black and white cookies - the mini version. Their large version is 10 inches across!


39 comments:

Cathy said...

That's too bad that you weren't that impressed with the restaurant. Nothing worse than getting there and it doesn't live up to the hype.

Varsha Vipins said...

Nice reading your LA food experience Sara..u got a nice blog..:)

Dewi said...

Oh I could actually devour that smoke fish platter. Looks so scrumptious!
Cheers,
Elra

Selba said...

I would like to try the breakfast at Brent's and also the black and white cookies... looks yummy!

Rosie Hawthorne said...

You continue to entice me.
Even though the food wasn't that good this time.
I still want to be there.
I want to experience it.

Tyler said...

a 10 inch cookie??! that's like a pie!

Jaime said...

10" across?! wow!

Anonymous said...

What a disappointment with Osteria Mozza :( But the plate from Brent's looks huge!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh.. a part 2... I'll take the cookies, thank you!

Need my address? hehe

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

At least you had a good breakfast before leaving. I love that plate. I did not know about this restaurant when I was visiting LA. I wish I knew.

Sig said...

That smoked fish platter looks awesome! Looks like you had a fun trip!

The Blonde Duck said...

10 inches? That's a mondo cookie!!!

Jennifer said...

Gorgeous! and hey I made your honey roasted carrots, they rocked my world!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Another great post! Really delicious...

Cheers and have a wonderful weekend,

Rosa

Anonymous said...

Too bad about Osteria Mozza. I had heard good things about the pizzeria.

stephchows said...

mmmmm I LOVE black and white cookies!

Bummer that you weren't impressed with where you ate, I hate when that happens :(

Culinary Wannabe said...

That stinks about the restaurant. I've been to 3 of Batali's restaurants here in NYC and loved them all. And I love b&w cookies - I'm so jealous!!

Anonymous said...

Other than the Osteria Mozza, sounds like a great weekend of dining!

Rosie said...

Sorry to read it didn't live up to your anticipations at Osteria Mozza.

Many thanks for calling by my blog and leaving a lovely comment!

Rosie x

Diana said...

Aw I'm so bummed that you didn't enjoy Osteria Mozza, but I'm glad that your other meals here seemed to go well. I've never been to Brent's but those cookies look all sorts of fabulous! :)

Usha said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful time except for the restaurant that did not live up to your expectations...I have never even seen a 10" cookie :-)

Judy said...

A 10-inch cookie? Sounds amazing.

Robin said...

At least you had good food at your deli. That platter looks wonderful and I love black and white cookies. I like to get them when I go to Boston.

pigpigscorner said...

10" O.O I would love one pls =)

Wandering Coyote said...

Hey, thanks for your comment on my blog! Your blog looks great! I'm going to bookmark so I can keep up.

Ana Powell said...

Everything just looks beautiful and yummy.
Have a great weekend x

Michelle said...

Sara sounds like you're having a great adventure in LA! Those cookies look like they are to die for!! I'm from the LA area and definitely miss all the good restaurants down there.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

That's too bad that the restuarant wasn't up to par! Sounds like you still had a great time. How lucky that you're able to experience some of the yummies LA has to offer. I didn't know that LA was big on black & white cookies.

Btw, thanks for visiting my blog today! & I'll be checking yours out to see what goodies you have hidden on yours!
~ingrid

Joie de vivre said...

I'm just wondering Sara if anything would be a disappointment after your previous dinner?

Passionate Eater said...

I have heard so much about Pizzeria Mozza, that I am quite disappointed that they didn't live up to expectation. Well, at least Brent's Deli was there as a fall back option!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

Looking forward to going to a special restaurant to be disappointed is a bummer. I admire Nancy Silverman as well as Mario. My brother-in-law has eaten at Mario's Babbos restaurant several times in NYC and loved it. Glad your trip turned out well with the smoked fish platter.
Sam

Anonymous said...

I'm so jealous of your LA eats....they all look fabulous!! Especially the COOKIES!! :)

Anonymous said...

Sara, I LOVE Nancy Silverton's cookbooks too! Now that I have found your blog, look forward to keeping up on your adventures in eating wonderland. Thanks for visiting LunaCafe! ...Susan

Sara said...

The 10" black and white looks more like a cake than a cookie, it's also a few inches think. I prefer the smaller ones, better frosting to cookie ratio.

Joie de vivre - That is definitely something I considered, but the food style are so different that it would be difficult to directly compare the two.

Passionate Eater - We loved Pizzeria Mozza and will definitely go back, it's the Osteria we weren't impressed by.

NKP said...

It's amazing how many times I hear that people are less than thrilled with the cuisine at famous chefs' restaurants.
Fun to see a couple of stars though!
I love a good Jewish deli - there are lots of good ones in Montreal.

Karen said...

That smoked fish plate looks absolutely delicious. I could go for one of those!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely HAVE to restaurant hop with you one day! Every time you eat out it makes me drool and sigh out loud. Wow! And I remember getting Black and White cookies when we were kids every time we visited family in New York. Yum!

Srikitchen said...

wow1 it looks yum and colorful

Melissa said...

Another friend of mine said the same thing about Osteria Mozza. It wasn't bad, per se, it just didn't at all live up to expectations. Like a "meh." Sorry it was the same for you guys, though seeing the "Dexter" newlyweds would have been kind of fun.

I used to work in this deli after high school with huge black and whites. I gained so much weight from those things!