Mozza Salumi Bar: Finding a Cure on Melrose [CLOSED]

Salumi Los Angeles

Mozza leaves little doubt what to order first at their salumi bar.

For people who are interested in pork, they might as well have screamed, “Woo Pig Sooie” when they opened the doors to Mozza for their very first Salumi Bar on May 31. The famous hog call of football-crazed University of Arkansas Razorback fans wasn’t directed at the menacing wild pigs that roam Southern woods. Instead, Arkansans use those three words to urge on football players at Donald W. Reynolds Stadium in Fayetteville. And just like in Arkansas, it shouldn’t be long before Angelenos hear Mozza’s call and head to the multi-use Scuola di Pizza space between the Osteria and Mozza 2 Go.

Colby and crew worked for more than a year to set an L.A. County public health precedent so they could dry-cure meat in-house. The menu’s right sidebar did a good job of conveying their cause, including Scuola Salumi Facts like, “It took over one year to approve the Mozza Scuola for its dry cure case – Chef Chad butchers a whole sustainably-raised Heritage pig every two weeks in the Scuola to make our delicious salumi.”

Dealer’s choice provides access to any five house cured salumi for $22, drawn from four categories: Whole Muscle Dry Cures, Dry Cured Salami, Smoked & Poached, and Pate & Terrine.


Salumi Los Angeles

The sampler hit every mark, including a pork butter slab; beautiful fat-streaked coppa with concentrated pork flavor; lardo ribbons that melted beautifully on warm gnocco fritto, savory beignets, which cost $4 extra; silky poached cotto; a drier, spicier Tellicherry pepper salumi; and off-menu oregano, which Colby added as a bonus.

Biscuit Los Angeles

Semi-firm pork butter went great with flaky, multi-layered buttermilk biscuits ($4).

Pickles Los Angeles

Mixed Pickles ($4) included peppers, shallots, fennel, carrots and cucumbers and contributed light acidity to help counterbalance all the rich meat.

Italian Food Los Angeles

Colby sent out three different contorni, normally $5 each, including hearty lentils with carrots.

Italian Food Los Angeles

Creamy polenta could have been coarser, to my taste, finished with olive oil.

Italian Food Los Angeles

Cool shell beans with parsley and oregano, lemon vinaigrette and slow cooked cherry tomatoes delivered acidity that paired well with Mozza’s house-made sausages.

Sausage Los Angeles

We had two different kinds of sausage, including skewered coil of thin lamb sausage ($6) bound with beef fat that was firm and flavorful.

Sausage Los Angeles

Still, my favorite bites were of plump pork belly sausage patties ($6) seared on a flattop in the open kitchen and seasoned with anise, garlic and pepper.

Italian Food Los Angeles

Salumi Los Angeles

The Mozza Salumi Bar required plenty of research, dedication and due diligence from Chad Colby and the Mozza crew, and diners are finally reaping the rewards.

Mozza Salumi Bar is probably best for a snack or light meal, but they do offer a pair of Secondi, Hanger Steak and White Trout. We ordered neither.

I encourage Angelenos to patronize the Salumi Bar, not just because of the precedent – which wouldn’t be reason enough – but because the food’s interesting and flavorful. Sooie!

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Joshua Lurie

Joshua Lurie founded FoodGPS in 2005. Read about him here.

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