The perfect Tuesday night dinner - Baccomatto Osteria

The clever conversion of a large, harsh concrete rectangular room into the bustling ambience of Baccomatto Osteria (http://www.baccomattoosteria.com.au ) is a nourishing success. The room is full of diners of all ages.  By the door, a family with three kids under the age of five are happily swapping plates and food.  To the right, a table of twenty celebrating with towers of food.  Around the central bar, solitary eaters slowly become part of the community, drawn in by the warmth of the staff and the wafts from neighbouring plates of food.

There's a fine selection of Antipasto - the eggplants, roasted and served with chilli, are very good along the the fennel and the spicy salumi.

Entrees continue the joy. Superbly balanced chicken liver pate with almonds. Beef carpaccio with truffles.  The unctuous joy of baked Provolone with Oregano and Thyme. 

Most nights there's a house special - tonight it's Braise and Barbera with the wagyu beef cheeks on parsnip puree and mustard leaves just right on a bitterly cold Sydney night.  

My Spaghetti Ghitarra alla Carbonara is perfectly al dente and the addition of shaved truffles builds on the softness of the Carbonara.  Devine.

The waitstaff are warm and welcoming and very very good at what they do.  It is cosy without being cloying and friendly without being fake.  Plus the wine list has some gems!
Definitely an inner city winner!

Hollywood Stars

Osteria Mozza, West Hollywood: I knew i was done for at the starter of shaved brussell sprouts.  Shredded with exclamation marks of mint, roasted almonds, pecorino and reggiano, the sprouts' nuttiness comes to the fore.

top - shredded sprout salad and bottom - mozzarella

Just set homemade mozzarella, sprinkled with salty spikes of burrata and bursts of caviar. There's an entire page of mozzarella treatments, each exciting and enticing.

The Squid Ink Chitarra Freddi is a mountain of drama.  Al dente pasta capped with Dungeness crab, and sea urchin, dressed with just a hint of cream and then right at the back of the palette the heat of jalapeño.

simply devine - squid ink pasta

My pork fillet comes seared in cumin and fennel, cooked just the right side of pink, nestling into braised radicchio.

Heaped sides of spinach, shell beans of potatoes well and truly pull us up but the temptation to keep picking continues until the plates are cleared - everything sings together, and it's a happy, bang your belly kind of song.

And just as we're indulging in another glass of 2006 Poggio di Sotto, who should appear but Gwyneth Paltrow (complete with man to display PDA for the gathering paps outside the window).  She drapes herself at the adjoining table.  Just us, her and her PDA recipient, and the paps busily snapping away through the strategically draped window with the blinds arranged to allow just a peek of the dark, wooden interiors of Osteria Mozza.

And like moths to the flame, the stars continued to emerge.  J-LO, Kristen Stewart, Lea Michelle.

The Hollywood red carpet was out just for us, bringing just the right note of drama to close a perfect meal. Then, to add to the magic, our Uber Black back to the hotel was a Tesla :)

http://www.osteriamozza.com/LA/team.cfm

real life papps

Tesla turbo charged departure