HELLO STRANGER, IT SEEMS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU BACK AGAIN, OSTERIA MOZZA'S GREATEST NIGHT AS THE CORNER ROARS BACK
/By Jimmy Dolan, Mozza Tribune Staff Writer
Hello Stranger, it seems so good to see you back again. How long has it been? Ooh, seems like a mighty long time.
Those are the opening lyrics of one of the most enduring songs ever, Barbara Lewis’ 1963 monument to emotions, “Hello Stranger”. And last night in Los Angeles, the tide of emotions broke deep as Osteria Mozza roared back to life with what was - not arguably, it just was - the greatest night ever on the Corner.
It was great because it had been so bad and the great redemption on Saturday made the triumphant return to being open and full of life all the sweeter. As Knuckles Washington from Imperial Jordan Gardens in Watts says “The best thing about getting knocked down is getting up and having a magnificent redemption.
The “knockdown” was not one, but several. The shuttering of a city, of a nation, really. Then, after two weeks of a food giveaway program, the entire Mozza Corner locked because of the greatest blow of all, Nancy testing positive for Covid. Then Nancy going into San Quarantine with her trouble-searching boyfriend Michael Krikorian as they waited and prepared for Covid’s worst, which, thanks Zeus and ginger-infused hot water, never came. Then the powerful protests of the inhumane homicide of George Floyd swept through our city’s streets, and in its ugly wake, the trashing of our lovely neighbor MelroseMac and a dust up on the Corner itself by cockroach bitch ass punks.
So tension was thick before Osteria Mozza opened Saturday night. There was none of the usual banter, no wise cracks among the wait staff. It was all business. The staff was lean. But, they were elite. Five of them had been previously awarded the prestigious Employee of the Month. The Corner’s Director of Operations, Kate Greenberg, was the evening’s host. There were no somms, but Joe Bastianich, a wine guy from New York City, filled in. Even the kitchen crew, head by executive chef Liz Hong, was somber. The only thing her chef de cuisine Nicolas Rodriguez said at all to this reporter was “I finished ‘The Wire’ last night.”
The first hour of service was borderline awkward, it was that quiet. It took awhile to get used to not seeing people at the bars. But, as the night wore on, and the comfort level grew, the trepidation of being out in a public dining room dissipated and the place began to feel like, well, like Osteria Mozza.
Hello stranger, it seems so good to see you back again.
Eddie and Coco were back at table 31. Sid and Joni were out in the patio. Nancy, with the joint’s most striking mask, strolled the room, stopping to greet old friends, to congratulate a college graduate, to enchant a young chef.
For the vast majority of diners, it was their first meal out in months. And the staff felt honored they had chosen Osteria to be their initial foray into a sit down restaurant. Walk by a table and you could feel the relief people had of being out and feeling good. The wine flowed and the conversations did, too. So much so that people stayed longer at their tables than usual. So much so that by 8:00 there were 30 people outside on the corner of Highland and Melrose waiting for their table. Thankfully, at Nancy’s urging and Joe the Somm’s pouring, they all had a drink in their hand and were excited to be where they were.
If one table stood out it was 72, the hidden corner table nearest Highland and southside bar, where two Los Angeles fire fighters held court with their ladies. They were having a ball. They were the reason people go into the restaurant busines, to have customers like that. . One of them LAFD battalion chief Richard Fields had even briefly went to the same high school as Nancy, Birmingham.
But, our host asked Krikorian if he could get them out of that table so some of the sidewalk crowd could take it. They had reveled for three and half hours, but they had the vibe of people who would get it. So Krikorian explained and they were delighted to give up their table and join Nancy and Michael at the bar for a couple more. Alain Birnbaum, the Mozza GM, said today they were the coolest table of all time. Patrick “Paddy” Daniel, the bartender, agreed.
So in the end, we saw some old friends and met some new ones that we will be able to one day say ‘Hello stranger, seems so good to see you back again.”
One of the servers last night was Elyssa Phillips who this reporter enjoy messing with. But she said something that I thought was beautiful. Elyssa said “Last year we were awarded a Michelin star. Tonight we showed the world what that really means.”
Damn, if I’m ending a story with a quote from Elyssa, I guess the world really has changed. Hopefully, in a positive way,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSa0EH0LiGk That’s a link to Barbara Lewis singing a live version Hello Stranger. Who wrote Hello Stranger? Barbara Lewis did.
