800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria - Westwood, CA

800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria

Westwood, Los Angeles

Pizza in about a minute. And it's not frozen, gooey, or something you got in the dorms. It's really good!

Adam Fleischman, creator of the very popular Umami Burger, came up with this place. You should read Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Jonathan Gold's review...by the way, he's a Bruin and will be at UCLA Alumni Day in May. The restaurant had the copy of the review taped to the window. It's a good review and I concur.

Left: I ordered the Pizza Marinara (tomato, garlic, oregano, olive oil - no cheese) $5.15 plus three toppings at $1 each - eggplant, mushrooms, and arugula that is placed on after the pizza is cooked. A big pizza for only $8!

Right: My friend Barbara got the Pizza Margherita (tomato, mozzarella, parm, olive oil and basil) $6.45 plus three toppings at $1 each - mushrooms, sausage, and broccolini that is charred in the wood burning oven then placed on top.

The set up is much like Chipotle...place your order and watch it being made by the staff. The oven is super hot (hum, wonder how they came up with the name ;) and it bakes the pizza in a minute. Sweet. They have a boatload of toppings including pine nuts, caramelized onions, pesto, feta, rosemary ham, bacon, and salame.

I found the pizza really delicious! Barbara enjoyed hers too...we both ate our entire pizza. There are many other topping combos I want to come back and try. The crust is thin and a bit chewy. If you want it more crispy, you can let them know (they have a little sign about it as you enter).

Next time, I'm going to get a salad ($4 - $5) and maybe some LA Creamery Gelato ($2.50). It was a good deal and the line does move pretty fast (especially when the pizza only takes 1 minute to cook!) Barbara and I were in Westwood right after the place opened and we skipped it after seeing the line...however, knowing what I know now, I would totally wait in the line. They also have this crazy awesome soda machine. You can get your Coca Cola with added flavors like Lime and Raspberry. And, they have Mello Yello!

If you are UCLA Bruin, the restaurant is in the former La Salsa and Togo's location. There is a Peet's Coffee next door now, and it's across the street from the Hammer Museum. You can park in the lot on Broxton for 2 hours free (before 6 pm).

After pizza, we went to the new Herb Ritts: L. A. Style exhibition at The Getty Museum. It was a beautiful day in Los Angeles. Postcard pretty and warm. Herb Ritts was such a talented photographer and artist...someone we lost too early to AIDS. When I worked at Project Angel Food, Herb Ritts was gracious enough to create an event photo for our annual fundraiser, Angel Art. I wasn't lucky enough to meet him, but have admired his work for years. If you are in Los Angeles, please go see the captivating works of Herb Ritts at the Getty - now through August 2012. 

800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria

10889 Lindbrook Dr

Los Angeles, CA 90024

More stuff you might want to see and read:

800 Degrees: website with menu

Jonathan Gold's review in the Los Angeles Times

Yelp folks arguing about stuff

LA Weekly sneak peak

Strawberry Cones and Pa Pa Walk, San Gabriel, CA

A few weeks ago, the LA Times Food Section's article "In LA, pizza goes global," mentioned Strawberry Cones, a new Japanese pizza place in San Gabriel. Immediately emailed JustJenn and said we need to go. They have Mochi Pizza. And if it has mochi, I'm there.

Strawberry Cones, a chain in Japan, has unique pizzas. They have 200 outlets in Japan and one in Canada. This San Gabriel restaurant is the first franchise in the United States. A different franchise owner just opened one in Little Tokyo. They sell pizza and pasta; we had the pizza.

While waiting for our pizza, Jenn's son colored Red Tornado. Recently, he kicked my butt in an intense game of Disney Memory. I've been practicing at home getting ready for a rematch.

The most popular one is the Teriyaki Mochi Chicken Pizza. The crust is made with rice flour and the pizza is topped with chicken pieces, small pieces of mochi that melt into the crust, onion, teriyaki, cheese, mayo (the Japanese put mayo on everything...you really don't notice it), and topped with nori (seaweed). This was definitely my favorite pizza. ($11 for a small)

Is that crust gray? Yes, it is a Ninja Pizza. It uses powdered chikutan, Japanese bamboo charcoal that is supposed to be mineral rich. We got a 1/2 and 1/2 pizza: Avocado Salmon (above) and Mochi Mentai (below). I wish the avocado salmon was double avocado instead. I didn't care for the salmon - it was a little like lox on your pizza. ($12.80 for a small)

This is the Mochi Mentai pizza. I saw the mochi, and didn't even think about the Mentai. Mentaiko is marinated roe of the pollock fish. It is salted and gives it a seafood flavor. I love seafood, but I probably wouldn't get this one again because roe isn't top on my list of favs. However, I do love the nori on all the pizzas. Life is better with nori.

After our trip to Strawberry Cones, we walked through the entire little complex...including visiting the Hilton Hotel (you know, hotel bathrooms are always the nicest). We stopped at Pa Pa Walk for this awesome Brown Sugar Milk Snowy.

They have two types of yummy frozen desserts: Shave Ice and Snowy. Shave ice is the usual - finely shaved blocks of frozen water. But the Snowy is super finely shaved blocks of milk, coffee, green tea flavor. We got the milk snowy with "toppings" - that are actually served UNDER the mound of snowy ice! We got mochi balls (of course!), almond tofu jello, red beans, pudding and condensed milk. I love, love all things shave ice - more than ice cream! I know that is crazy to some people, but I think shave ice is much more refreshing on a hot day. Sweet and cool.

If you are in San Gabriel, check out these two places. And see JustJenn's post about our trip.

Strawberry Cones (Suite 118-B): (626) 293-1852
Pa Pa Walk (Suite 148-B): 626-281-3889
227 W. Valley Blvd. San Gabriel 91776