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It's All About the Crust at Urbano Pizza Bar
By Maya Meinert of ShopEatSleep / Special to LAist
What goes nicely with beer and other libations? Pizza, of course!
Urbano Pizza Bar, conveniently located next to Library Bar at 6th and Hope streets, offers a great food option. With pizza crust that’s perfectly chewy and crisp at the same time, as well as good side dishes and respectable beer and wine lists, Urbano is a new go-to for downtown revelers.
Chef Brad Winnaman, best known for his baking skills with stints at La Brea Bakery and Campanile, has created a menu focused on Neapolitan-style pizza and some stand-out bread, which obviously includes the crust and extends to grilled bread topped with crushed tomato sauce and/or hearty meatballs. Winnaman has had help from Top Chef alum and The Gorbals chef Ilan Hall, who was on-hand the night we visited.
Our favorite pizzas included the seasonal Scimmietta made with pureed pumpkin spread across the crust topped with applewood-smoked bacon, scallions and goat cheese, as well as the Selvatica made with basil pesto, slow-roasted tomatoes, pine nuts, fresh basil leaves and burrata. While the Selvatica was more traditional in flavor, the Scimmietta was a nice departure from the norm.
We were also impressed with the side dishes, especially the Mozzarella Trio and charred corn with balsamic butter. The Mozzarella Trio includes burrata with roasted tomato and basil pesto, smoked mozzarella with grilled radicchio and crushed tomato, and mozzarella with cherry tomato and basil oil. All were complementary combinations. And the charred corn took on a whole new dimension of flavor with the balsamic butter, which melted all over the corn and created a savory, creamy, smoky concoction.
Hall plans to continue helping out with the menu for a while longer, but rest assured Winnaman’s delicious bread will be a staple at Urbano. Paired with a glass of California central coast wine or a pint of locally brewed beer, such as the Craftsman 1903 Pale Lager, and you’ll have a tasty meal.
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