We’re big fans of Osteria La Buca on the east side of Melrose near Wilton, here in Los Angeles. Beautiful, real Italian food, handmade pastas, gorgeous ragús, pizzas that’ll never make you want to touch an American fast food joint pizza again. They’ve expanded recently, tripling in size, so maybe we can get a table now some time after 6, which is when we usually go.

Vincenzo Marianella, head barman at The Doheny Copa d’Oro, concocted a superb aperitivo for La Buca, which was published in the Los Angeles Times Magazine last weekend. “[A] well-orchestrated delight in a glass,” they call it, just in time for the beginning of strawberry season. It’s named after the restaurant’s chef (who’s also known as “Mamma”). The sweet, deep red spring fruit is offset with a touch of Campari. “Muddling releases the flavor of the strawberry,” says Vincenzo. “It’s like the moment when you take the first bite of the fruit.”

The Loredana
(Created by Vincenzo Marianella for Osteria La Buca)

1 ripe strawberry, hulled and sliced.
1 dash simple syrup.
5 ounces chilled Prosecco.
1/2 ounce Campari.

In a mixing glass, muddle the strawberry with the simple syrup. Add the Prosecco but don’t stir — you don’t want to beat up the bubbles. Carefully pour the drink into a Champagne flute, add the Campari and serve immediately.

We need to go back there soon. I’m feeling the need for some proper tagliatelle alla Bolognese.

Don’t worry, we’ll get to the cocktail, but surely you won’t mind sitting through some food porn first.

You may be familiar with Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles, which (along with its sister restaurant next door, Pizzeria Mozza) is one of the hardest tables to get in town. It’s very, very popular, booked up a good while in advance, and the “Don’t you know who I am?” Hollywood thing doesn’t work there. We managed to get a reservation there just before the end of last year, and were lucky to get in on just a couple of weeks’ notice. “All we have on that Saturday are 5:45 and 10:00pm.” That was actually kinda perfect, as we took the 5:45pm reservation … and didn’t leave the restaurant until 10. It was one of the two or three most memorable meals of the last several years.

Mozza is owned by Chef Mario Batali and his partner Joe Bastianich, and local Chef Nancy Silverton (formerly of the La Brea Bakery and Campanile), and run by executive chef Matt Molina. It’s crowded, but not too crowded, noisy but not too noisy. It’s lively, which is something I love in a restaurant. We’ve only had the one dinner there so far, but everything was fantastic — the service, the food, the drink. Here’s a bit about what we had:

Grilled octopus with potatoes, celery and lemon. (I would never have thought to order this, but when Mary and Steve went a few months ago and sat at the mozzarella bar with Chef Nancy more or less waiting on them, they asked her to just feed them, and this is what she startedt them with. The big problem with this dish is that I now no longer want to go to Mozza and not have this, and that’ll make it a bit more difficult to work my way through the rest of the menu. “Okay, we’ll try this, but we have to get a plate of grilled octopus to split! Okay? Please?”)

Burrata with bacon, marinated escarole & caramelized shallots. (Mmmmm, burrata … an outer shell of fresh bufalo mozzarella with a cream-and-mozzarella filling. It is to die for. And with bacon. I ask you. The version with guanciale that’s currently on the menu would have been the one we’d have ordered had it been on the menu when we were there.)

Gnocchi with wild boar ragú. (Perfect gnocchi, light as pillows, and that ragú … oh God.)

Pork loin alla griglia, seasoned with fennel pollen and served with caramelized fennel, onions and olives. (We had had our hearts set on the slow-roasted pork Mary had told us about, and when I tried to order it our server’s face fell. “Oh no … we just took that off the menu today!” she said. “But …” she continued, and told us that it had been replaced with another pork dish, this one grilled, and I got that one. It was stunning. Boneless, and with a half-inch strip of luscious fat along the side — which our friend Eric told us some stupid L.A.-type gymbunny people saw “ewww” and leave it behind. Sheesh. Anyway, it was seasoned with fennel pollen, perfectly medium rare, and absolutely delicious.)

Crisp Duck al Mattone with pear mostarda & Brussels sprouts. (Duck cooked weighted down by a brick, an ancient recipe, and beautiful. A whole duck, crispy as bacon on the outside, served on a wooden platter with that gorgeous fruity and pungent mostarda, and Brussels sprouts that not only didn’t stink but tasted great — ya just gotta know how to cook ’em.)

You get the idea.

Their cocktail menu is world-class, featuring classic and new cocktails plus a selection of terrific aperitivi, which our friend Eric helped put together when he was there. Here’s an original cocktail created by him, for which he was kind enough to share the recipe with me. It’s not only a great way to start a meal but a perfect refreshing drink for warm weather.

Sculaccione
(Created by Eric Alperin for Osteria Mozza)

2 ounces blanco tequila (these days we’re likin’ Partida).
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice.
1/2 ounce fresh grapefruit juice.
1/2 ounce Campari.
1/2 ounce simple syrup.
1 dash Angostura bitters.

Combine with ice in a cocktail shaker and shake for 10-12 seconds. Strain into an Old Fashioned glass over fresh ice, and garnish with a lime wheel.

Eric’s now one of the founding bartenders at The Doheny co-owner and head bartender at The Varnish, and Chris Ojeda is running the bar at Mozza as of the first of the year also at The Varnish (as of 2010 I’m not sure who’s running the bar at Mozza, as I haven’t been in a while, unfortunately). It is undoubtedly one of the best places to drink (and eat) in Los Angeles.

(By the way, “sculaccione” means “spanking” in Italian.)

This one’s an original by Dr. Cocktail — yay, we love it when Ted comes up with new drinks! This one, which he referred to as “my tequila cocktail,” gets its name from the look of the garnish; the garnish is available at more well-stocked supermarkets or Asian specialty markets, and is the colored version of what you get in a little pile on your plate of sushi at a Japanese restaurant.

The Sow’s Ear

2 ounces reposado tequila.
1/2 ounce apple cider.
1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur.
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters.
Large thin slice of pink sushi ginger.

Combine with ice in a cocktail shaker and shake for 10-12 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and float the piece of ginger as a garnish.

Delightful drink. We tried this with clear Martinelli’s apple juice last night, but next time we’ll use an pressed unfiltered apple cider, which I think will be a little better.

Of course, now he need to come up with another cocktail called The Silk Purse …

It’s just a gin and tonic, pretty much … but my own spin on it. We frequently drink G&Ts this way once the weather starts getting warm (and it’s starting right about now), and I never really gave this much thought until a bar manager from Asheville, NC wrote in recently. He found my recipe for our G&T variation on the recipe pages and liked it so much he’s putting it on his bar menu. (Wow, thanks!)

I didn’t do much to it, really, but it does make for a lovely drink. Sipping this made me think of sitting on the porch of the Columns Hotel, watching the streetcars go by, and inspired me to give this G&T its own name.

The St. Charles
(Chuck’s Gin ‘n Tonic, slightly kicked-up with a taste of New Orleans)

2 ounces gin.
1 ounce fresh lime juice.
4 healthy dashes Peychaud’s Bitters.
4-5 ounces tonic water, to taste.
Peel from one lime.

Remove the lime peel with a vegetable peeler, leaving most of the white pith behind. In a tall Collins glass, add the lime peel then the gin. Muddle the peel slightly in the gin to release the oils. Let that sit for a few minutes if you have time (proceed if not); then add the lime juice and bitters (don’t be shy with the bitters — big dashes, shake from the elbow). Fill with ice, then top with tonic water. Stir to mix, then garnish with a lime wedge and a swizzle stick.

We’ve long eschewed plain ol’ supermarket tonic water (Schweppes, Canada Dry, etc.) — too sweet, not bitter enough. Then there’s the abomination that’s “diet tonic water” — never ever ever use this. It’s horrid.

Any gin and tonic will reach a new height when one of the newer, high-quality tonic waters like Fever Tree, Q Tonic or Stirrings is used. If you want tonic water with some real kick to it, add a pinch (about 1/16 of a teaspoon or a bit less) of powdered quinine — it’s horribly bitter stuff in any significantly greater quantity. Or, if you’re really hardcore, make your own tonic water. It’ll take care of your malaria, too.

An old classic, dating back to Boston in 1898, created at the Locke-Ober restaurant. As with so many drinks of its era, there are various stories about its creation, the most popular being that it was created in honor of a powerful local politician running for statewide office, and named for the political ward that delivered the lion’s share of his votes.

Simple and delicious. If you like Whiskey Sours, try this — it’s similar, but less sweet and with the addition of a couple more flavor elements. We hadn’t had this one in a while, and it served as a reminder that we should have it more often.

Ward Eight

2 ounces Bourbon or rye whiskey.
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice.
1/2 ounce fresh orange juice.
1 teaspoon real pomegranate grenadine.

Combine with ice in a cocktail shaker and shake for 10-12 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

It’s usually made with Bourbon, but we sometimes make it with rye — it gives the drink an extra spicy layer that I really like.