The Good Pizza - Westchester

The other day I recieved an e-mail from a site called Grub Street, with their top 10 list of the best Neopolitan style pizzerias in the area (Antica, Mozza, Ortica...). There was one called The Good Pizza in Westchester that cought my eye. Westchester? Yes. Nestled in a little strip mall right in the middle of a residential neighborhood, The Good Pizza is quite a pleasant surprise. One of the owners, Nando, is from Napoli, pizza capital of the world (not New York!). It is a small store front, primarily set up for take out, but the do have two small tables inside, and a couple out front, where we sat and enjoyed our pizza. All the pizzas are large 18 inchers - we decided to split one. Half pizza bianca, half meat lovers. They don't call it The Good Pizza for nothing. Just thin enough, just thick enough, with really good dough. We had to force ourselves to stop eating pizza when Nando brought out a slice of cheesecake for us to try. Owners Nando and Carlos chatted us up and made us feel very welcome and comfortable. We are so excited we made this discovery - it is almost our pizzeria version of Metro Cafe. Small, unassuming, great food and great company.

The Good Pizza
7929 Emerson Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90045
310-215-1883

Let's Hear it for Sepia

In Logroño, Spain, there is a street, Calle Laurel, which is jam packed with tapas bars and people, which we slowly walked through sampling the fare at many bars each night of our stay. Some specialize in particular tapas, and this one specialized in sepia. I normally don't eat it, but I figured I ought to give it a fair try. Tender, not too chewy sepia, covered in a thin, garlicky alioli and a drizzle of parsley oil on bread. With a small glass of white Rioja it was a fantastic starter in a night full of wonderful little bites.

Chalet Edelweiss

After several days of driving by Chalet Edelwiess, I finally stopped in. It is a cute (and a bit hokey) Swiss restaurant in Westchester, specializing in Swiss fare like raclette, Schnitzel, fondue, spaetzel, beer, etc. While browsing through the menu I was reminded of Waterfront Cafe in Venice, and rightly so - they share the same owners. Along with the traditional Swiss fare they also serve pizzas from their wood burning pizza oven, but while sitting in the covered patio in between a paper mache Matterhorn and a speaker blaring Swiss accordion music, you might as well skip the pizza and go full speed ahead for a Swiss experience.

I started of with 17oz of Erdinger, and we shared my first raclette ($15.95). Quite good, actually - potatoes, melted cheese, pickles and onions.



Then onto my main course of Rahmschnitzel with Spätzle, (spatzle and pork smothered in a mushroom cream sauce $17.95). Yes, it was filling, and good. You can't beat a bunch of cheese, cream and carbs can you?



Then we shared a "just OK" apple strudel. After the beer, bread, cheese, potatoes, spatzle I was so stuffed by this time, it was really hard to enjoy the strudel.



This place is really cute and funny with the all the corny Swiss nick-nacks and blaring music, but can be a lot of fun. Go after the sun sets, since there are no blinds and most of the tables come with a clear view of the sun. Just be sure to come hungry.



Chalet Edelweiss
8740 Sepulveda Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90045
310-645-8740