Jonathan Gold's 101 Best Restaurants
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
36. Pizzana
Price: $$
11712 San Vicente Blvd.,
Los Angeles
(310) 481-7108
pizzana.com
11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays to Wednesdays,
11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays.
Beer and wine. Valet parking.
Credit cards accepted.
Can a pizza have a pedigree? Daniele Uditi earned his bones at his family’s bakery near Caserta, the buffalo mozzarella capital of Italy, as well as in one of the best pizzerias in Naples. Even before he had a restaurant, the pizzas he made for Hollywood parties marked him as a celebrity chef in Italian newspapers. So it is no surprise that people line up for hours outside Pizzana’s Brentwood dining room — there is nothing quite like his pizza in Los Angeles.
Uditi favors a slow pass through his fiery wood oven and a crust edged with crispness. There are pizzas based on classic pasta preparations, including an awesomely garlicky pizza made to taste like Roman aglio e olio, and a pignatiello pizza topped with a grandmotherly Neapolitan ragù. His dough, made completely by hand in a traditional wooden bin, is allowed to ferment for nearly two entire days. Uditi is the real thing.