OH MAMMA!

WOW. For those of you Los Angelenos living under a rock, Osteria Mamma is Larchmont Village's local Italian haven. Since the past summer, I have been reading reviews and hearing lots of great things. The magical thing about Osteria Mamma is Mamma. She hand makes the pasta and is becoming well known in the community for her squid ink creations. For anyone who hasn't tried fresh homemade pasta, please make this your new year's resolution. It's worlds different from the dried and boxed pasta you're probable used to. There's got to be blood sweat and tears or something crazy in this stuff. It's fantastic.

My dinner companion tonight was my step Mom Danelle. We each ordered a salad to start. Danelle got the Gorgo Magno- arugula, carmelized walnuts, pear and gorgonzola dressing. I got the Tre Colori- radicchio, Belgian endive, and argula with Grana Padano cheese and a simple vinaigrette. These were delicious enough- especially with the table bread that was crusty on the outside and perfectly fluffy but dense on the inside. Then came the pastas. Danelle had the Reginette della Mamma. It was some kind of noodle that looked like someone had sliced up a bunch of ravioli noodles into 1/2 inch pieces- kinda like a really wide, curly linguine. It had a light cream sauce, sausage, and Traviso radicchio. I had the Gemelli alla Vodka- pretty obvious. Gemelli with pink vodka sauce. But it had shrimp which were portioned and sized excellently and cooked to perfection. We got dessert to go- a piece of tiramisu and a slice of peach tart. The tiramisu is without a doubt the best I have ever had. The marscapone cream is so fluffy, sweet and delicious. The coffee-soaked lady fingers- yum. The peach tart was just ok, but that was semi-expected as peaches are a summer fruit and it's December.

 The salad was actually twice this size, but I got a little carried away eating it 

and forgot to take a picture... oops!

 Gemelli alla Vodka

 Best Ever Tiramisu

Peach Tart

Overall, I give this place an 8.5 out of 10. The food was great but the service was a little lacking. I had an Arnold Palmer and once I had slurped it all up, the bus boy filled it up with water thinking that was what I had run out of. The same thing happened to Danelle with her empty beer glass. We also got seated at the only table in the middle of the dining room which was a little awkward. The decor was simple and sweet- dark wood with deep orangey-browns and big blown up black and white pictures of the family who owns the restaurant. Last recommendation- don't valet park. It's not worth the $6 service charge as they're most likely going to park you in their small lot right behind the restaurant.

Osteria Mamma, I hope to be seeing you again very soon.