About the chefs: This Highland Park hotspot is a project from Randy Clement (Silverlake Wine, Everson Royce Bar), Matt Molina (Everson Royce Bar, ex-Mozza) and Nancy Silverton (Mozza). Silverton's pioneering baking at Campanile and La Brea Bakery transformed the way Angelenos experienced artisan bread, and the remarkable pizza at Pizzeria Mozza also helped bring the gold standard to LA's haute pies.The décor: The line of eye-catching Highland Park hipsters at the lively counter signals how much this fast gentrifying neighborhood needed a casual upscale pizza joint with wine. A gleaming glass case displays half a dozen tempting, Instagram-ready pies, and friendly servers quickly cut it to order with specialty scissors. Lines move fast. The back concrete patio offers ample seating, metal café chairs and wood tables, and an awning for shade. Heat lamps take off the evening chill. So you can linger longer over rosé. It's super kid-friendly and there's an after school special too.Likes: Some of the most delicious pizza in town, at good prices, with fast, friendly service.Dislikes: Weekend lines and scarce seating at peak hours.Food & Drinks: It's hard to make choices between the alluring five-foot-long Roman-style pies ranging from a margherita to patate with black truffle cheese and rosemary, salame, nettle, asparagus and sausage with "five lilies." Fortunately, you can order squares by length and pay by the ounce, so try several. Toppings are top quality, no surprise coming from Silverton, and also unsurprisingly it's the crust that makes it one of the best in town --- arguably even better than Mozza's. Vegan pizza is always available. Get it Roman style (straight from the counter) or heated up. Look for a grilled autostrada sandwich with finocchiona, mortadella, prosciutto, provolone and arugula, and a Triple Beam chopped salad. Italian wine --- bubbles, white, pink or "Dolomite" red --- comes by the glass or bottle, and there's craft beer too.
