Pizza dates are the best. Whether with a friend or lover, a feast of pies all but guarantees a hearty spread, fair prices, and best of all, leftovers for breakfast.
The Astronomer and I headed to Stella Rossa Pizza Bar in Santa Monica for our latest pizza date. Though barely six months old, the restaurant has made quite an impact on the city’s pizza scene. In fact, one old school restaurant critic even declared Stella’s pizzas some of the best in the world.
The restaurant’s open kitchen is headed by Chef Jeff Mahin, a Cal grad who’s worked in some mighty fine kitchens including L2O, The Fat Duck, Nobu, and Arzak.
The key to Stella’s stellar pizzas is the dough. Made from milled flour from the San Joaquin Valley, filtered water, sea salt, and fresh yeast, the dough rests and ferments for thirty hours in special jars.
To start, The Astronomer and I shared the prosciutto plate ($12.95) from the “For the Table” section of the menu. Pork products from La Quercia never fail to make me weak in the knees, and these silky slices of prosciutto rossa were no exception. The Astronomer and I were also taken by the amazing house-made bead dipped in Olave olive oil from Chile. All in all, this was a killer starter.
