On March 5th, I called Osteria Mozza to make a reservation for April 5th (they only take reservations a month in advance.) I thought I would call at lunchtime when they would first be open. A critical mistake. Turns out that the reservation line for both Mozzas opens at 10 am. I could get 5:30 or 9:45. Not being a New Yorker, I took the earlier time. Thanks to Daylight Savings, it was full......

Photo by K. Moriarty via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr FILM It might be hard to enjoy the recent Lindsay Lohan film I Know Who Killed Me, but the Silent Movie Theatre believes it’s possible. Tonight, filmmaker Chris Sivertson and the theatre’s Holyf*ckingshit series presents his arts-ploitation movie, and encourages viewers to take another look. How can one resist a film with a hairless cat and a rechargeable prosthetic limb? 10:30 p.m.......

Al Gelato sits on Robertson in the southern part of Bevely Hills. It came recommended from a couple of friends, but I initially had doubts because it was billed more as a dessert place, but hey, if they have cake and pizza and gelato all in one place, who am I to complain? The pre-meal bread is huge! It's got a thin crust and very soft and fluffy insides. They plop down a plate of......

Baby spinach adorns the NY White pizza above, Porco pizza shown underneath. Two of my friends have been raving about this supposed "real Italian/napolitana" pizza in Monterey Park, and after months of accumulated hype I decided to give in and drive 20 miles just for fucking pizza. I even took five other friends in tow for the expedition to Monterey Park, the hotbed for all great cheap eats -- some of my favorites include......

Photos by Zach Behrens/LAist It's a sad day week for those who frequent Fairfax Village, for those who need a late-night nosh alternative to Canter's Deli, or for those who love some vegan pizza -- Nova Express Cafe announced (letter below) that they are closing their doors this Wednesday at 2 a.m. (not be too confusing, that would officially be Thursday, 3 hours in). According to Cary Long, the owner of the Sci-Fi 15-year-old......

It it 80 degrees on LAist's thermometer today | Photo by delara-photos via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Shivering puppies can remove their little sweaters: it was warm today, wasn't it? 80 degree weather, when it was cold and rainy a mere 48 hours ago. We're not complaining. Naomi Campbell was hospitalized in Brazil this week...no, not for "exhaustion," but for treatment and removal of a small cyst. Man, that's so uncontroversial!......

Killing on the big screen at the New Beverly tonight, courtesy of Eli Roth. / Photo by hemmob via flickr. TALK Author Katha Pollitt discusses her new book On Learning to Drive: And Other Life Stories with UC Irvine Professor Jon Wiener as part of the ALOUD at the Central Library series. Pollitt is a poet and columnist for The Nation who’ll discuss her latest essays that deal with sex, death, ex-lovers, politics, motherhood,......

I like to think of myself as a person who does what they say they’re going to do when they say they’re going to do it. So it was that, two days after spending the afternoon in the bathroom with the stomach flu, I found myself walking into Ugo: An Italian Café to partake of their DineLA menu. I’ve been there before, and generally Ugo is a solid though not particularly creative Italian option......

The sirloin at The Palm was red, tender and juicy -- a vegetarian's nightmare. After a rocky start, my DineLA restaurant experience last week at The Palm Downtown had a happy ending. (Unlike my fellow LAisters who, unfortunately, didn’t.) When The Palm was first listed on the restaurant week website, a friend noticed that they only served lunch. Fine. The best restaurants on the list probably didn’t need to entice a dinner crowd. But......

Sitting besides Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Allegria is a cozy and warm fine Italian restaurant. As part of DineLA Week, we visited to try the prix-fixe menu. LAist has been offering you some great coverage of Restaurant Week: to join in the party, you can find a listing of participating restaurants at DineLA.com. Participating restaurants typically offer a three-course lunch for $22 and dinner for $34.......

Last Friday night at Bordello, Elite Yelpers gathered for drinks and music to wish Stephy S, Community Manager of Yelp.com for Los Angeles (she's like Tom of MySpace, but goddess style), a farewell adieu as she takes on a larger responsibility for the website up at its San Francisco HQ (sister site SFist should feel so lucky). Since May 2006, Stephy has been leading the way for Yelp.com, bringing in the energy for a site......

photo courtesy of paramount pictures I'm shocked at the middling critical response that Cloverfield has generated. Sure, it's only a popcorn movie, but it's a perfect popcorn movie! Plenty of movies are described as a roller-coaster ride, but when Cloverfield finally ends you physically feel like you just got off a roller-coaster. I can't imagine a scenario where Cloverfield is not a huge box-office hit. I also can't imagine there not being a huge......

Sole pulls confidently on his hat while the Skyrider Band form a protective barrier Sole is a badass, a rapper, a visionary, and this Friday he will be the dopest show to check out in town. Sole is often best known for his solo work with Anticon, and did a killer interview with us back in July, but will be killing it with his new music-homies the Skyrider Band. So like they recorded this......

Cisco Adler protégé and collaborator, Shwayze (seen to the left), is hitting up Redondo Beach tonight with his happier sounding indie hip-hop. He grew up in a trailer park... a trailer park in Malibu that is. “To me, it was the nicest trailer of all time," the 22-year-old musician says. He and Adler play at the Venezia Italian Grill and you can start your night in Malibu, riding the bus down with the gang (RSVPs......

A different kind of web-server: Los Angeles based social networking site MySpace is getting served with subpoenas in the case of the teenager who committed suicide following a friend fake-out that was allegedly helmed by a classmate's parent. All I wanna do is BANG BANG BANG BANG! and take your...Fritos? Two Lancaster gang members have been convicted for killing a kid over his junk food. Laquane Keith and Reno Williams shot and killed 18-year-old LeMarcus......

Rain rain has gone away...so Tuesday we'll go out to play. Here's what's going on around town tonight: MUSIC The LA Phil’s Concrete Frequency series continues tonight. “Songs of the City” is being billed as a program where “urban troubadours share lo-fi songs about city life.” We’ll believe it with a lineup that features: Marc Bianchi, Biirdie, Franklin Bruno, Zooey Deschanel, John Doe, Inara George, Stevie Jackson, Sondre Lerche, Kyp Malone, Bob Mould, Zach......

A vast knowledge of fine wine and great Italian food are not a prerequisite for visiting Talia's Restaurant & Bar in Manhattan Beach, because you could pick blindly from the menu and whatever arrived would be delicious. It's "one of those" kinda places. Owned by the same people who operate nearby Mangiamo (another great Italian restaurant) Talia's offers an intimate setting that suits the casual beach neighborhood it is situated in. And although i......

Following up on my last post, here are five favorites I return to time and time again. All are reliable sources for good eating! Home Cooking and More Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin The novelist Laurie Colwin wrote playful, funny novels (Goodbye without Leaving is my favorite) about complicated characters, and also wrote straightforwardly about everyday cooking, the kind that sustains body and soul. Home Cooking, the first collection of her pieces from Gourmet and......

A previous owner of Pane Dolce (Italian for "sweet bread") in Sherman Oaks, went up and down the immediate neighborhood on Ventura Blvd., taking notes on the neighboring restaurants' soup selections. What he found was little selection for vegetarian and dairy free soups. So he went to work on his cafe's soup menu, which is now the most popular item ordered. Made daily with fresh ingredients, the neighborhood cafe offers two or three soups......

This is the recipe that will bar me forever from the Cordon Bleu, that will cause Anthony Bourdain to look upon me with scorn; it is cooking's dirty little secret. I first discovered these meatballs at a raging 4th of July party. I couldn't believe what they put in the sauce! It's just so awful! Then I tried it myself and now all of my friends are addicted. They stand around at my parties......

In the decadent tradition of hand-massaged, beer-fed Kobe beef, a new taste sensation is coming to California: La Quercia artisanal pork. These happy little piggies are raised on an organic farm in Iowa and fed a diet of acorns, just like the famed pigs of Spain's jamon iberico. EaterLA had the scoop yesterday: These acorn-fed pigs are supposed to produce amazing meat, as they do in Italy and Spain. The company that's responsible for......

I know you haven't been to Gambrinus on the Redondo Pier and had their "Russian style hamburger" called belashi, which they describe as meat-filled fried bread. IF you have, skip this post... But if you haven't then what are you doing wasting your time with these stupid American hamburgers?! Seriously though, people who think they are "in the know" rant and rave about how wonderful it is at Naja's, which is located about 2......

If you like songs that are fast, heavy and noisy, then LA trio Icebird may just be up your ear-splitting alley. Comprised of Barry Monahan (guitar and lead vocals), Kate Wise (drums and vocals) and Mike Monahan (bass and vocals), Icebird brings an energy and exuberance to rock that shines with each pounding performance. The band recently released a follow up EP titled "Championship Bloodline." Looking back at the tour earlier this fall, lead man......

Gingersnaps and cocoa and rum balls and Italian knots and Kolacky and biscotti and chocolate chips, oh my! LAist has been in the kitchen, cooking up a Cookie Exchange. I Can Has JGoldBurger? Omg the PULITZER PRIZE WINNING JOURNALIST uses LOLspeak, I don't know what to say, my world has been all shook up like a snowglobe. It's entirely possible I was Afghani in a previous life (as well as Korean, Persian, Icelandic, and......

Could you imagine Los Angeles without the Getty Museum? If that serene white chunk of Italian marble nestled above the 405 suddenly removed its bulk to some other parts, would you notice? Would you care? An article in yesterday morning's LA Times reconsiders the Richard Meier-designed edifice in the light of its 10th anniversary, and in doing so, asks some important questions about the nature and integrity of architecture in Los Angeles. "there is......

Top Reasons Why a Dyed-in-the-Wool Westsider Sometimes Wishes She Lived East of the 405...

All right, I know this was only supposed to be a cookie recipe exchange, but the power of Santa compels me to share my Italian American aunt's killer "Frangelico Balls." I suspect it was either her allegiance to the old country or a whacked out jones for hazelnuts that made her tweak the classic rum ball recipe. So yeah, there's no actual baking required and these are technically considered candy, but we're talking alcoholic candy.......

Italian cookies are always a bit of puzzlement. The food of my ancestors is so damned delish, but their cookies—not so much. Take it from my semi-Italian American childhood, most of the time you’re cracking your tooth on something twice baked and/or steeped in anise. When my Nona brought out the cookie tin, I used to pray for a Pogen. Instead, I’d get something you had to dip in hot tea to chew. Of course......

Clippers 91, Nets 82 - Nothing like a trip to New Jersey to make you feel better about yourself. Los Angeles came into East Rutherford having lost 8-of-9. By the end of the night, it was the Nets who had lost 8-of-9. The struggling Clippers were able to pull off the W even without Elton Brand and Sam Cassell. Chris Kaman continued to impress with a team-high 18 points, 14 rebounds, and 2 blocks. USC......

Biscotti have been my passion and my specialty for over 10 years. It all started in high school with one side of my family being Molto Italiano and everyone had their own specialty. I wanted something of my own so I took stock of what was missing. We already had an amazing cook in the family, my step-dad. His greatest pleasure in life might just be cooking, taking an entire Sunday to create a......