Before they opened Sotto last year, Steve Samson and Zach Pollack went direct to Naples and hauled in all the raw materials to build a proper pizza oven — that would be 15,000 pounds worth of cement, bricks and Vesuvian sand. So heavy were these building blocks that the delivery truck nearly toppled over when it came time to unload the parts. The truck eventually was righted, as was the world of Los Angeles pizza.

One year full of an awful lot of fine pizzas, pastas, sandwiches and cannolis later, the Italian restaurant celebrates its very first birthday this Wednesday, April 25, from 8 to 10 p.m. Mixologist Julian Cox will be on hand to launch the restaurant's spring cocktail menu, all of which will be specially priced at $9. There also will be bar bites on the house for all.

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