Elina Shatkin
Just around the corner from Mozza (Osteria and Pizzeria), the juggernaut of an Italian restaurant keeps a low-profile takeout shop. Craving a miniature almond tart or a petite $6 bag of spiced caramel corn? Mozza2Go can oblige. The store is about as big as a sardine tin (a classy sardine tin) or maybe a Birkin bag, but Mozza2Go also happens to serve some killer sandwiches.
It starts with the bread. Does Mozza2Go make the best bread in Los Angeles? It's a contender. Sandwiches are served on large, lovely ciabatta-like rolls, chewy and fluffy in equal measure.
Mozza2Go's sandwich selection is neither extensive nor particularly wacky. Good. They do a few things and they do them very, very well. A sandwich of pink ham tarted up with a dab of creamy horseradish, a pesto-slathered chicken breast with avocado and herbs. The best of the sandwiches, the one that leaves pork fiends jonesing for their fix, is the porchetta.
The sheer visceral pleasure of chomping on meat, fat and crackling skin all in a single bite is hard to describe. This is a king among sandwiches, and on this sandwich, pork is king. The inch-thick hunks of roasted pork aren't overpowered by some fancy artisanal mustard; they're perfectly offset by a light herby spread of (we're guessing) fennel, caraway and mustard seed. Nothing is overdone, nothing is too fancy. Everything is perfectly balanced. Among a slew of terrific high-end sandwiches, Mozza2Go's porchetta, sort of a slow cooked version of Italian fast food, is their most terrific sandwich of all.
Previously…
- Day 1: Cole's vs. Philippe's
Elina Shatkin is a staff writer at LA Weekly. Follow her at @elinashatkin or contact her at eshatkin@laweekly.com.
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