Brace yourself friends, after reading this post, you may find yourself salivating, drooling at the corners of your mouth and/or hungry. You may also wish to sue me for taunting and teasing, but let's hope that's not the case. And being that I am a legal professional, I'm confident that taunting and teasing is not a felony or misdemeanor, but you take that up with California statutes.
If you follow Madame Munchies you are aware of the "list". This isn't just any list, it's my restaurant list, which I started well over a year ago. It's where I keep track of restaurants I want to try out and last night I crossed Osteria Mozza off that list. I hate to admit that it's been sitting on that list, dusty, like an old pair of shoes, but it wasn't for not. This joint is so popular, getting a reservation is like going to war.
The benefits of going to OM with a party of seven is getting to taste a variety of dishes and we definitely ordered a larger variety of dishes, some of which will be pictured but I may not write about. I will focus on the dishes I ordered for time management's sake.
To start, I ordered the red endive, fennel and parmigiano reggiano salad with an anchovy-date dressing. It's the stacked salad pictured above. A beautiful presentation, the crunchy endive was layered with paper thin slices of sweet fennel and rectangles of a nutty parmigiano.
Prior to visiting OM, I had spent a considerable amount of time studying the menu and scheming exactly what I would like to order and when I scrolled to the pasta section, I knew I wanted to try the gnocchi with duck ragu. The last place I had gnocchi was at Angeli Caffe and I had a hard time believing that OM's gnocchi would surpass my expectations. The gnocchi were miniature and were lovingly dressed with a rich, comforting duck ragu. The gnocchi weren't necessarily better, they were just different. The best way to describe them is ultra-potato-ey. They were hearty, but not heavy.
The sauteed broccolini with vinegar and chiles were addictive. Tart, bright flavors with a splash of heat, easily devoured by all sitting at the table. For dessert, I had to go with the bombolini with a huckleberry marmalade and vanilla gelato on top of a lemon mascarpone cream. The bombolini are fried donuts tossed with sugar. The warm fritters of dough with the tangy huckleberries and lemon mascarpone were amazing.
It was definitely a night to remember, I'm looking forward to trying out the pizzeria next.
The benefits of going to OM with a party of seven is getting to taste a variety of dishes and we definitely ordered a larger variety of dishes, some of which will be pictured but I may not write about. I will focus on the dishes I ordered for time management's sake.
To start, I ordered the red endive, fennel and parmigiano reggiano salad with an anchovy-date dressing. It's the stacked salad pictured above. A beautiful presentation, the crunchy endive was layered with paper thin slices of sweet fennel and rectangles of a nutty parmigiano.
Prior to visiting OM, I had spent a considerable amount of time studying the menu and scheming exactly what I would like to order and when I scrolled to the pasta section, I knew I wanted to try the gnocchi with duck ragu. The last place I had gnocchi was at Angeli Caffe and I had a hard time believing that OM's gnocchi would surpass my expectations. The gnocchi were miniature and were lovingly dressed with a rich, comforting duck ragu. The gnocchi weren't necessarily better, they were just different. The best way to describe them is ultra-potato-ey. They were hearty, but not heavy.
The sauteed broccolini with vinegar and chiles were addictive. Tart, bright flavors with a splash of heat, easily devoured by all sitting at the table. For dessert, I had to go with the bombolini with a huckleberry marmalade and vanilla gelato on top of a lemon mascarpone cream. The bombolini are fried donuts tossed with sugar. The warm fritters of dough with the tangy huckleberries and lemon mascarpone were amazing.
It was definitely a night to remember, I'm looking forward to trying out the pizzeria next.
You are right, it was a night to remember. So different from our other foodie adventures as we cross them off the list. Adding 5 more people to the mix created a new dimension to be able indulge in so many different dishes all at once. Yes, your Gnocchi was more of a traditional recipe than Angeli. Not better just different. That is one of my favorite parts of our journey through the list, the way the same dish can be interpreted so many different ways. Now, on to the next one.........
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