Osteria Mozza (Los Angeles, CA) [2]

Osteria Mozza
6602 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Dining date: 11/5/15

I’ve been to the Mozzaplex a bunch of times over the years, but this meal was a unique one. It was part of the Chase Private Dinner Series open to Chase Sapphire cardholders. A $175 ticket included everything from food, wine, tax, gratuity and valet, as well as some time with the chef (Nancy Silverton) and sommelier. It was my first time trying a dinner in this series and I wanted to see what it was all about.

Passed appetizers came by while diners sipped on prosecco. The offerings included mozzarella & fontina cheese pizza from next door, arancini, and these yellowtail crudo spoonfuls.

Bufala Mozzarella prosciutto di parma

A simple plate of prosciutto and housemade mozzarella was the first course.

Butternut Squash Mezzelune

Next was a dish of half-moon pasta, filled with a sweet butternut squash purée in a sage-butter sauce.

Garganelli duck ragu

Garganelli pasta had a nice chew with a delicious duck ragu; however, I would’ve preferred the lukewarm dish to be served hotter.

Brasato al Barolo polenta & horseradish gremolata

The short rib was tender, beefy and served with a rich sauce. There was plenty of flavor and the whole wheat polenta was an ideal way to soak up the extra sauce.

Pumpkin Gelato Pie rum raisin sauce & candied pecans

An ice cream cake met pumpkin pie in this dessert. It was probably just me, but it didn’t end up as good as it sounded – I didn’t love the pumpkin gelato.

Osteria Mozza has always sat in my ‘good-but-not-great’ bucket, something reconfirmed by this recent meal. While I generally enjoyed most of the dishes, none of them were likely to be memorable. As for whether this Chase Private Dinner Series ticket was ‘worth it,’ I’m not sure. I do think $175 was lower than the all-included retail value of everything we had, but it wasn’t the most interesting menu for me. The restaurant was very generous with the wine pours, however.