Pizzeria Ortica

Recently I was tasked with selecting the restaurant for my wife's birthday dinner outing with her family, with the intent on keeping the place in or near Anaheim since that's where her mom resides. The limited dining options in Anaheim are, well, very underwhelming; let's just say that Anaheim is not a foodie destination. Knowing this, I decided to venture out from our usual comfort zone and have us take a small road trip to South Coast Plaza--a place beaming with upscale eateries such as Marche Moderne, Pizzeria Ortica, and Mastro's. One of those places, Pizzeria Ortica, happened to be on my very short list of must-try Orange County restaurants and so of course that is the place I selected for our dinner.




We arrive for our 6:30pm reservation and found the restaurant to be very busy with well-dressed diners grabbing an early dinner before attending a show at the adjacent Orange County Performing Arts Center. Owner and chef David Myers opened Pizzeria Ortica in January of 2009 and since then it has been attracting a lion's share of attention from food bloggers and reviewers. Chef Myers also owns the highly acclaimed Sona restaurant as well as the upscale brasserie Comme Ca, both of which are in West Hollywood. With that kind of build up, you can bet I was looking forward to experiencing first-hand what chef Myers has to offer.





We take our seats and begin reviewing the menu, which was categorized into antipasti, salads, pastas, pizzas, and side dishes.





My wife looks over the short but well thought-out wine list, samples two different wines, and ultimately zeroed on this Cavaliere Sangiovese for the group. It was a fine choice as I enjoyed the aroma and the subdued tannins, which all made for a very drinkable wine to with our gamut of dishes to come.


Carciofi alla Romana - Roman style braised artichokes, shaved ricotta salata. We start with this antipasti of braised artichokes and slivers of fresh ricotta. The artichokes were cooked to a point just slightly past firm, allowing the artichoke's layered texture to come through nicely. I enjoyed the pairing with the chilled ricotta and the earthiness of the light olive oil.


Tricolore - Radicchio, arugula, endive, apples, Gorgonzola, candied walnuts. I almost never order a salad when dining out, nor do I even take a few bites when I'm ordering family style, but I did enjoy this simple combination of fresh greens, Gorgonzola, and walnuts (which the birthday girl ordered). I wished the Gorgonzola had been crumbled over the salad, but instead it was served in large chunks off to the side. They weren't exactly easy to slice cleanly so that made for difficult combining of the cheese, the salad, and the walnuts.



Polipo e patate - Charred Mediterranean octopus, Yukon Gold potatoes, celery hearts, Sicilian capers. The octopus might look burnt, but it was actually cooked just right with a nice char on the outside; there was not hint of any burnt taste. Cooked octopus loses its ocean-like flavor that one would experience with, say octopus sashimi, but this was tasty nonetheless. In fact this was better than the version I had at Cube last month. To me the potatoes and the other items were simply afterthoughts for the plate as their flavors weren't spectacular by any means. I'd rather pay more for this to get more of the octopus.



alla Norma - Cherry tomatoes, basil, eggplant, smoked mozzarella, ricotta salata. My regular readers know that I make home-made pizza quite often and that I've already declared my creations to be better than anything you can get in LA. Coming to this David Myers' restaurant--with the name "Pizzeria" in the restaurant's name--you can bet was expecting some damn good pizza, but unfortunately Mr. Myers' version fell far short of what I was hoping for. It's intent on being Neopolitan style with a thin, fold-able crust and sparse placement of toppings, but unfortunately the crust was incredibly soggy. So soggy was the crust that it made for very difficult and messy eating with the hands. Also, the eggplant brought almost no flavor to the pizza because they were simply overcooked and under-seasoned. I enjoyed the cherry tomatoes and the outer, chewy portions of the crust, but other than that, this was a disappointment.


Moving on, we continue to order dishes from the Primi and Contorni menus.


Patatine montanare - French-fried Kennebec potatoes, sage, aged balsamic. You wouldn't think to see fries at a Italian restaurant, let alone order them! But I must say that these were quite good. You'd never mistake them for the triple-cooked fat fries at Umami, but they had a unique, slightly acidic taste with the balsamic vinegar. A little more vinegar would have been welcomed, though that might have lead to soggy fries.



Ravioli di burrata e ricotta al pomodoro - Burrata ravioli, fresh tomato, basil. Small in size, and small in flavor is how I'd describe these ravioli. Pastas here are house-made and you can tell the difference in the texture--it's got a certain bite to it that boxed pasta simply lacks. The dish however suffered from not having any distinct flavors; the ricotta was mild, as was the sauce and so the overall taste was simply underwhelming.



Cavolini di Bruxelles - Roasted Brussels sprouts, bread crumbs, hazelnuts, lemon zest. Again here's a dish that has the appearance of being burnt, but it's simply a wonderful char on the outermost layer of these Brussels sprouts. I couldn't taste much from the hazelnuts and lemon, but the crunchy bread crumbs brought a nice texture to the dish.



Pappardelle al sugo d’agnello - Pappardelle pasta, braised lamb ragù, sheep’s milk ricotta. The last savory dish of the night was also my favorite from Pizzeria Ortica. Biting into the house-made pappardelle and tender braised lamb was so pleasurable that it easily made up for the soggy pizza letdown. A thick, heavy cream sauce stuck to the pasta like motor oil on the side of its container. This is definitely a stick-to-your-ribs kind of dish. A must order if you're ever dining at Pizzeria Ortica.


After our dinner, the server brought out a piece of tira misu cake for my wife, complete with a single birthday candle logged to the plate with a little candle wax. The cake was actually quite good with strong notes of coffee and a wonderful butterscotch sauce.

Overall the food at Pizzeria Ortica was solid and I'd definitely come back if I'm in the area and have a craving for Italian fare. The service was good, especially with how they allowed us to sample a few wines before committing to a bottle. About the only service gripe I have is that it took quite a while for the bread basket to appear and we had to ask several times.

But the night of eating wasn't complete just yet as we had this raspberry chocolate cake--which I painstakingly made at home--waiting patiently for us at my mom-in-law's house.


I'm probably patting myself on the back by saying this, but it was easily one of the best desserts I've had in a long while. Luckily for my readers (all 4 of you, worldwide), I am going to post the recipe very soon =).



Pizzeria Ortica
650 Anton Blvd.
Costa Mesa, CA.
92626