Mozza Mia – Edina, MN

Trash and I hadn’t been out to lunch in a while, so we made it happen. We went back and forth on places to go and finally decided to go someplace neither of us had been. Mozza Mia was near the top of the list, so we both skipped out of work for the lunch hour and checked it out.

After we had claimed a booth inside (it was farrrrr too humid to eat outside), the waitress walked past our table and swapped out my white napkin with a dark one, so I would be sure not to get lint on my dress pants. I’ve never had that kind of quality service from a restaurant. Ever. Super thoughtful, and I wouldn’t have even noticed had she not pointed it out. It made the place seem even classier. The place is pretty classy anyway – it has a very open kitchen next to the dining room where you can see people preparing all kinds of delicious looking dishes and making pizzas in the fire-y oven.

I had finally decided what I wanted when the waitress came back and read the specials to me and ruined it. There was a truffle pizza with all kinds of cheese on it (including Pecorino – my favorite). I was torn, but I decided not to get it and to go with the Calabrese Pizza (lunch sized) – it has fennel sausage, mozzarella curd, chiles, and Swiss chard. It sounded amazing. And since the name of the place is called Mozza Mia, we thought we’d better get the cheese sampler as an appetizer.

The sampler came out pretty quickly and it was brilliant. There was house-made fresh mozzarella, smoked bufala mozzarella, fresh ricotta, buratta, and rollatini served with grilled crostini. The menu says it serves 2-4, and since I’m basically 2.5 people at my current weight, I got to eat most of it. The cheese surrounded some sort of pear salad which was good, and also a corona bean salad which was REALLY good. A few cherry and heirloom tomatoes thrown in and the whole thing drizzled in olive oil made the entire dish perfect. The smoked bufala was quite smoked and probably our least favorite, but I loved the rollatini, buratta, and the fresh ricotta. I could eat this entire thing as a meal – and might…

The pizza arrived and I was looking forward to it. The sausage was in large chunks and was quite flavorful. The chilies on top gave everything even more kick than the sausage did. The mozzarella curds were perfectly melted and the Swiss chard was more delicious than I remember it being. The crust was pretty old school Italian and was very thin and cracker-like. Just a little bit of sogginess in the middle towards the end of the pizza where the ingredients had soaked through the crust. One of the better pizzas I’ve had recently.

Trash said her plain cheese pizza was perfect for her, as was her bowl of cheese tortellini soup. She was rude and didn’t share, so I can’t personally vouch for it… hahahaha
I’d recommend this place to anyone (well, maybe not people who are lactose intolerant and haven’t taken their proper medication, of course). It isn’t outrageously expensive, but you get really quality food, so it’s difficult to complain about it. We also had an amazing server who made the trip more enjoyable, so that also helped. Check this place out.

Top 5 things about Mozza Mia
1. Cabrese Pizza
2. Rollatini
3. Buratta
4. Fresh Ricotta
5. Super staff people

Bottom 5 things
1. Smoked Bufala Mozzarella
2. We immediately asked for more crostini after they brought us what looked like a children’s portion
3. Trash may or may not have been hit on by a waiter upon first arrival – the verdict is still out
4. It will never compete with Hot n Ready prices, so if that’s your style, don’t go here
5. You have to park in one of two parking garages and walk a bit to get there

www.mozzamia.com