There are days that only pizza can fix.  Thankfully living in NYC I have my pick of places to indulge, allowing the cheese, crispy crust and chili peppers wash away a bad day.  Unfortunately I was over 3,000 miles away for this bad day in Los Angeles.  I have been to Osteria Mozza before but bad days don’t get better by fighting the traffic to cross over the 405 to the East Sid, since I was staying in Santa Monica.  All Google Searches seemed to point to Milo & Olive which just happened to  be an estimated $6 Uber ride away.

You enter into Milo & Olive and are immediately greeted by a robust bakery and pastry counter, giving me hope.  The hostess quoted a 20 to 30 minute wait time for a seat at the bar and I immediately ordered a glass of Malbec.  Two glasses later and unfortunately 45 minutes later a bar seat opened up.  The wait had enabled me to memorize the menu so I quickly ordered sauteed kale and a pizza with burrata, prosciutto and arugula.

An oven-fired pear and kale salad arrived that my waitress quickly offered to correct but I never like to send back a dish and I was running on empty.  The salad was fine but the pears were a little under cooked for my taste.  Rarely does it make sense to need a knife for a salad in my opinion.  Everything was quickly forgotten upon the arrival of the star a smoking hot pizza.  The danger of ordering burrata on pizza is soggy crust.  Milo & Olive added all of the toppings after cooking a thin layer of sauce on dough in a 600 degree oven.  The contrast in texture with a crispy crust and soft cheese, coupled with the contrast in temperature with steaming hot sauce and cool cheese was a pleasant surprise.  The crust very light but toothy with a nice char on it.

Milo & Olive doesn’t serve NYC style pizza but you will not notice, as expected by the end of my meal my day was forgotten.

Milo & Olive
2723 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90403