WOW! There's few places that I'd be willing to drive 15 miles for pizza or pasta and this is place I'd drive even further being I'm in Hollywood. The Porco (2 sausage pizza) and the Fungi E Tartufi which is a mushroom pizza and both are slices of heaven!
I'll admit I've been a big fan of the now defunct deep dish pizza of Chicago Pizza Works and I've panned Casa Bianca pizza and the new Joe's NY Pizza but this super thin crust wood fired oven pizza is the bomb!
The owner Chris Bollini I was told was trained as a chef at Pasadena's CIA and then worked in Italy for over a year and then worked at high end places such as the Water Grill in SM. He prepared a tasting for our group and our group of 11 from www.LAfoodies.org were treated to a gut busting lunch.
Arugula salad - superb, mixed greens salad excellent, Wild mushroom fetticini a must try, seafood pasta (honestly my least fav dish of the meal) which included shrimp, clams and mussels lightly dressed in sauce, an apple tart dessert with a rasberry sauce that was yummy, but it was simply too much food! The meal was so good though we kept eating. Chris wanted to prepare a prime rib dinner for us, but we were already too full to even consider that.
He will be expanding his restaurant as he will be taking over the space next door to build a dining room and then this place will be the IT place to go for pizza or pasta. As it is now, the dining area is woefully small and cramped and not a good date place. Also, not a place I'd want to dine on a $27 prime rib dinner... I can pay that much for a fine hunk of cow and have a swank atmosphere at no extra charge and closer to my home. That said, perhaps he's got an amazing twist on cow and I should try it.
In Summary: Of the two salads, I definitely loved the arugula salad best but both excellent. Loved both pizzas. Love the charred super thin crust. The mushroom fetticini was fabulous and is a must try. I'd pass on the seafood pasta next time. Because this was a tasting menu, we got way too much food and it cost about $24/person before tip which is pricey for a pizza/pasta place. If I came here with a couple of friends, I'd just order the mushroom fetticini a pizza and a salad and it would only cost about $12 plus tax/tip which is much more in line with the pizza world.
There's many other pizzas on the menu that I'd like to try and I'm still thinking about the prime rib as a curiosity. With his setup, he might offer steaks instead, but hey, I'm just the patron.
Is this my favorite pizza place? Hmmm... well, I'll reserve judgement right now as I'd have to eat here a couple more times before I make a decision like that, but it is definitely worth the trek out here for this fantastic food.
I think there's free corkage and you can byob so this could be great low cost dinner place with your own bottle of wine.
I'll admit I've been a big fan of the now defunct deep dish pizza of Chicago Pizza Works and I've panned Casa Bianca pizza and the new Joe's NY Pizza but this super thin crust wood fired oven pizza is the bomb!
The owner Chris Bollini I was told was trained as a chef at Pasadena's CIA and then worked in Italy for over a year and then worked at high end places such as the Water Grill in SM. He prepared a tasting for our group and our group of 11 from www.LAfoodies.org were treated to a gut busting lunch.
Arugula salad - superb, mixed greens salad excellent, Wild mushroom fetticini a must try, seafood pasta (honestly my least fav dish of the meal) which included shrimp, clams and mussels lightly dressed in sauce, an apple tart dessert with a rasberry sauce that was yummy, but it was simply too much food! The meal was so good though we kept eating. Chris wanted to prepare a prime rib dinner for us, but we were already too full to even consider that.
He will be expanding his restaurant as he will be taking over the space next door to build a dining room and then this place will be the IT place to go for pizza or pasta. As it is now, the dining area is woefully small and cramped and not a good date place. Also, not a place I'd want to dine on a $27 prime rib dinner... I can pay that much for a fine hunk of cow and have a swank atmosphere at no extra charge and closer to my home. That said, perhaps he's got an amazing twist on cow and I should try it.
In Summary: Of the two salads, I definitely loved the arugula salad best but both excellent. Loved both pizzas. Love the charred super thin crust. The mushroom fetticini was fabulous and is a must try. I'd pass on the seafood pasta next time. Because this was a tasting menu, we got way too much food and it cost about $24/person before tip which is pricey for a pizza/pasta place. If I came here with a couple of friends, I'd just order the mushroom fetticini a pizza and a salad and it would only cost about $12 plus tax/tip which is much more in line with the pizza world.
There's many other pizzas on the menu that I'd like to try and I'm still thinking about the prime rib as a curiosity. With his setup, he might offer steaks instead, but hey, I'm just the patron.
Is this my favorite pizza place? Hmmm... well, I'll reserve judgement right now as I'd have to eat here a couple more times before I make a decision like that, but it is definitely worth the trek out here for this fantastic food.
I think there's free corkage and you can byob so this could be great low cost dinner place with your own bottle of wine.
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