Trattoria Amici

So I went to a rather nice Italian restaurant the other night. They have a few, what they call Neopolitan style pizzas, so I thought I'd try one. I don't usually review Italian restaurants, or rather places that don't specialize in pizza. Though this place seemed to take pizza seriously and who am I kidding I can't not order the pizza.

I ordered their only size, personal 12 inch and it was about $10. Not bad for a fancy place.

Sorry for the quality of pictures. They were taken on a blackberry and after we already ate half of it. The pizza was better than I expected. The sauce and cheese were put on in a good ratio and worked well together. They also tasted fresh. The sauce was a bit untraditional. It had a creamy sweet tomato taste. They were doing something different here and I appreciate that. It tasted good and went well with the salty, surprisingly oily cheese. The crust looked good, it was nice and charred with a good crispy texture. It didn't taste half bad either, though it wasn't the right kind of bread. It looked and felt more like pita bread, or some kind of flat bread than your typical pizza dough. I'm sure this was an intentional choice as they were really trying to make a signature pizza. Despite it being the wrong crust, I thought it was cooked well and tasted good anyway.

The rest of the food was pretty good too, modern Italian, with a nice L.A. ambiance. I can say though, definitely consider the pizza if you are going for dinner. It is on par with the rest of their food. It is slightly different than your usual pie but yet very traditional at the same time. I can't say its even close to the best, but it's certainly satisfying.

Trattoria Amici

Price: $$

469 N. Doheny Dr. Beverly Hills

310-858-0271

Overall:

LaRocco's Pizzeria

This is a small place hiding on Main Street in Culver City. It is even smaller when the farmers market comes to town. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of publicity about this place, at least not like Mozza, Vitos, Village or Casa Bianca. So it slipped through the cracks at least on my radar. Can you believe radar can have cracks. Anyway I found it through a recommendation of a friend, and boy am I glad I found it.

Up to this point I felt like I had eaten all the pizza that was worth eating in L.A. The last month or 2 I have been eating nothing but crap. I was disappointed and missed the east coast more than ever. It was a let down that 150 pizza joints ago I tried Vito's and Village Pizzeria and haven't found a better place since. I could have stopped this blog after 2 places. However to my surprise, there is a place that is actually as good as the above mentioned.

I ordered the only size they have a large 18 inch cheese pizza. It was around $18 so a little pricey but worth it.

The pizza was fantastic. Just what a pizza should be. It was thin and crispy, a little chewy and a little doughy but mainly just crispy. It had a good amount of cheese and sauce that mixed well together and produced a slightly salty oil. The sauce was light and sweet, with some other herb flavors mixing in.

It is most similar to Vitos. In fact the pizzas are almost identical. I would say Vito's has a thinner crust that doesn't have as much rise to it. Though I'd like to eat these at the same time to really decide which is better. Both are excellent pizzas that are far better than the majority of pizza in LA. These places are good examples of what pizza is to the East Coast. They represent N.Y. right. They have slices, large pies, fresh ingredients and the basic understanding of how to cook pizza. Thank God all the pizza tasting was not a waste. I finally found another place that I can call a good N.Y. slice.

VIDEO COMING SOON

LaRocco's Pizzeria

3819 Main St. Culver City 90232

310-837-8345

Price: $

Overall:

Pantry's Pizza

This is a small pizza delivery/ mexican eatery place. It might be called Pantry's Pizza but it makes Mexican food. There are several place like this. Mexican families who cook what they know but are also trying to capitalize on the pizza market. The only problem with that is you need to know how to cook pizza.

I ordered a X-Large 16 inch pizza, half bell peppers for $9.25.

There is only one thing I can say about this pizza and that is cheese. Of course I'll say more but cheese is what it's about. There is more cheese on this pizza than any other I have found. It oozes of milky, oily, salty, low-grade mozzarella. It starts high on the crust and gets thicker and thicker till it is just a chuck of warm cheese, creating the long point of the Isosceles triangle that is pizza. It stretches larger and larger and drips endlessly as you try and eat it. The doughy crust has no chance to support the weight and instantly bends down to a vertical position in your hand. Sauce what sauce ? It's just cheese and this time, green peppers drowning in the white sea.

I honestly think it crossed the line, even for the most hardcore cheese heads. There is such a thing as too much and this is it.

What more is there to say.

Again this is a Mexican food place with pizza. So if you want to get Mexican food thats probably the right way to go. I can only speak of the pizza.

Pantry's Pizza

1976 S. La Cienega Blvd 90034

310-204-1414

Price: $

Overall: