Los Angeles

Combine Mario Batali’s Italian cuisine with California baker Nancy Silverton’s bread, and you have all the ingredients for the ultimate pizza. West Hollywood’s Mozza has been hailed far and wide as one of the best pizza places in America, and I am almost sorry to say that the reports are correct – sorry, because it’s 3,000 miles away from New York.

Really, Mario, why does LA get Mozza and we get Otto? The ingredients at Otto Pizzeria are top notch, but the lack of a wood- or coal-burning oven at the restaurant means it will never reach ultimate pizza status. Despite New York’s reputation as one of the major pizza capitals of the U.S., the zoning restrictions against installing wood- and coal-burning ovens make it easier to start up a stellar pizza restaurant in L.A.  (more…)