It's Getting Hot In Here: 800 Degrees Opens in Westwood

2012 looks to continue one of the biggest LA restaurant trends of 2011: gourmet pizza, especially in the Neapolitan style.  The first contender to open is 800 Degrees, from Adam Fleischman, the owner/founder of Umami Burger.  I was invited to try the pizza just before it opened and I think Fleischman will have another hit on his hands.  The pizza is good, but moreover it is an amazing value.  The ability to have a handmade Margherita pizza for only $6 is mind boggling.

Customers enter the line near the entrance and are offered their choice of three base pizzas: Margherita ($6) with crushed tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, parmigiano reggiano, olive oil and basil; Bianca ($5, white pie) with fresh mozzarella, garlic, oregano, olive oil and sea salt; or a Marinara ($5, sauce but no cheese) with crushed tomato sauce, garlic oregano and olive oil.  Oregano, chiles and garlic are all available as free add-ons.

Once they select their base pie, patrons have a choice of about 30 toppings, most of which are $1, including a variety of proteins, cheeses and vegetables.  Note that rock shrimp, proscuitto, truffle cheese and artichokes are $3.

We began our sampling with two variations on the Margherita pie.  Above just garlic was added.  Below, with cherry tomatoes, pine nuts and carmelized onions.  Both were enjoyable and were prepared speedily.  In case you were wondering, 800 Degrees is the temperature of the pizza oven, and due to the high heat, the pizzas cook in only one to two minutes.  By the time you are through the line after customizing your pie and perhaps getting a salad to go with it and paying, your pizza will be ready.  It is that fast.  Everything about a meal at 800 Degrees is easy - a few choices which can be customized any way you like (this is not one of those no substitutions, no changes, no exceptions joints), fast service and reasonable prices.  Even the soda machine can mix and match literally hundreds of flavors, depending on your mood.

As mentioned above, the toppings are incredibly reasonably priced.  Below is the Bianca with meatballs (beef), which are broken up into small bits once you order, and an additional cheese.  I will certainly be back to try more variations as the convenience factor, price point and quality are an impressive combination.  Pizza, toppings and a beverage for $10?  You could pay more in a mall food court for a far inferior product.  800 Degrees is using ingredients from good producers; even the eggs are from organic free-range chickens.

For dessert there is Gelato from LA Creamery.  The pistachio flavor was the hit of our group, although the cookies and cream was rather popular too.  The gelato is also only $2.50 per scoop.

Below, the literal Ferrari of soda fountains, produces endless varieties of beverages.  Vanilla root beer is my recommendation.

The pies are rolled to order from balls of dough before they are cooked in the wood burning oven:

Another bonus is that 800 Degrees does both take-out and delivery in addition to dine-in and you can order online on their website.  Quality, convenience and value and most importantly a good tasting pizza?  Watch out Westwood Village.

800 Degrees: 10889 Lindbrook Drive @ Westwood Blvd, Westwood Village. | 424.239.5010 | 800degreespizza.com

Second Take: Ilan Hall Develops the Menu at Urbano Pizza

Last month Ilan Hall, the chef of The Gorbals in downtown LA and the winner of season 2 of Top Chef, has joined Urbano Pizza Bar, the downtown pizza spot that opened this summer to positive reviews.  At Urbano he has partnered with Chef Josh Moser on expanding and revamping the menu (he is still at The Gorbals as well).

Hall is excited to be working with the huge oven, saying "you have a lot of freedom with a wood burning oven.  We want to use the oven as much as possible.  There are two ovens and we can't just be using the wood burning ovens for pizza."

He has changed the flour to a higher gluten blend, which makes the crust of the pizzas crisper.  Hall and Moser have also been using leftover pizza dough to make open-faced sandwiches.  Below is the meatballs with warm pizza bread, which was delicious.  The meatballs are made with all beef and the sauce was full of flavor.  It is great to see pork-free meatballs on a menu.

The margherita pie ($12) is made with fresh mozzarella, hand crushed tomato and petit basil.  The pie was well executed.  The crust was firm enough and the sauce again was good; I would have preferred just a little more of the mozzarella cheese.

The Testa Verde pizza ($13) is one of the more unusual pizzas I have tasted in that it uses Irish cheddar as the base.  There is no tomato sauce on this pie.  Instead, baby spinach and herbed ricotta as well as the aforementioned cheddar are the toppings.  The cheddar was surprisingly good, mellower than I was expecting and I preferred this pie to the margherita.

Hall and Moser's collaboration is bearing fruit and they have been experimenting with putting more and more dishes into the wood burning ovens, including potatoes, lasagna, artichokes and corn.  The wood used in the ovens is almond wood, which is reasonably priced, less smokey and doesn't pop.

My favorite pie is the Mushroom Ricotta pizza with mushroom oil, eggs and bottarga.  The eggs are runny and delicious and ample enough to coat the pie.  The mushrooms are enhanced by the mushroom oil and the whole concoction is a decadent pie worth going out of your way for.

If it is on the menu when you go, a visit to Urbano is not complete without trying the Nutella dessert, pictured below.  It is made with fresh pizza dough with carmelized raw sugar, sweet ricotta with cream, sweetened and creamed nutella.  I am not a dessert guy, but I'd happily have this on a regular basis as it is not too sweet but the chocolate comes through.

All in all, Hall has rounded out the offerings at Urbano, enhancing the pizzas and expanding the menu with fun and approachable offerings.  There is a happy hour from 5 - 7 pm with six dollar margherita pizzas and four dollar draft beers, both of which are great deals.  Urbano is a great addition to the downtown dining scene and at dinner it is easy to get a table.  At lunch they also offer pizza by the slice, which is priced at $6 for two slices.  Tables are communal.

My visit was hosted.

Urbano Pizza: 630 W. 6th St @ Hope St, DTLA.  Phone: (213) 614-1900.  Web: www.urbanopizzabar.com

Now Open: Mother Dough Pizza

Fans of Neapolitan pizza can celebrate a new addition to the LA scene, Mother Dough Pizza.  Mother Dough is named for the starter that contributes to the pizza dough.  According to the restaurant, "a piece of each day's batch [is saved and added] to the next day's dough mixture" and the term for this fermentation starter is mother dough.  The restaurant is located on Hollywood Blvd just East of Vermont Avenue and is across the street from Umami Burger and down the block from Bar Covell.

The menu is small with five pizzas, all of which use buffalo mozzarella, and and six starters.  The pizzas are made with imported zero zero flour and the dough is hand-stretched before being cooked for 60-90 seconds at 850 degrees in the wood-burning oven imported from Naples.  The Neapolitan style is thin crust and crispy.  The choices are: Margherita, Zucchini, Oven-Roasted Vine Tomatoes, Prosciutto and Arugula, and Sausage and range in price from $15 to $19.  There is a short wine list of about a dozen wines plus half a dozen beers, all imports or microbrews.

I ordered the Margherita Pizza ($15), which is always my tester pie at a new pizza spot.  The ingredients are: san marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, basil, aged parmigiano-regiano, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt.  The pizza was good but not great.  There was char as I expect with this type of pizza and oven, but a bit too much for my taste. The crust at the center of the pie is limper and chewier than ideal.  But the ingredients are great and the ratio of toppings to dough is as it should be.  I am hopeful and confident that as they get more use out of their oven they will gain experience and the pies will get better.  Do I think they will be a rival to Mozza?  No, but this is a much more casual operation and a welcome addition to the neighborhood.

The Burrata Salad ($11) above was a very nice iteration of the dish.  The portion is enough to be someone's lunch or for several hungry people to share as a starter.  The portion of burrata in particular was quite generous.  The heirloom tomatoes came in a variety of colors and the whole dish was plated attractively.  The salad was simply dressed and some sea salt was sprinkled on it.  I'd happily have this again.  The other appetizers include raw almonds, duck crostini, a charcuterie platter, olives and a mixed green salad.  

The pizza oven

There are currently two desserts on the menu: oven roasted pears with chocolate shavings, creme fraiche and hazelnut liqueur; and triple chocolate mousse with caramel sauce and lavender sea salt.

Mother Dough Pizza is located at 4648 Hollywood Blvd in Los Feliz.  Phone: (323) 644-2885.  Website: www.motherdoughpizza.com  Note: website not currently operational