Cosetta Is the California-Italian Spot Ocean Park Needed

Chef Zach Pollack has been cooking Italian food in Los Angeles for years — first at Alimento in Silver Lake, then at Cosa Buona in Echo Park. His approach has always been the same: use California's extraordinary produce as the foundation for cooking that is technically Italian but honest about where it comes from. Cosetta, his Ocean Park newcomer, is the most confident version of that idea yet.

The restaurant sits on the stretch of Ocean Park Boulevard near Main Street, in a neighborhood that has always had good independent restaurants but rarely this level of ambition. The room is comfortable and unfussy. The patio is expansive. And the pizza is worth driving across town for.

"The crust at Cosetta has the kind of char-blistered puff that takes years to develop. The toppings are restrained enough to let you taste it. That's not as common as it should be."

The Pizza

Pollack's pizzas have a signature quality: a puffy, lightly charred cornicione (the outer crust edge) that has real structure — it doesn't collapse or go limp — and a center that stays pliable without being wet. The toppings are minimal in the way that confident pizza always is: a few high-quality ingredients, nothing competing, no excess. The margherita is the right benchmark order on a first visit.

The dough ferments slowly. You can taste the time in it. California flour, imported San Marzano tomatoes, local dairy. It is regional Italian cooking in the sense that every region has its own best local ingredients — and this one happens to be the Central Coast.

Small Plates and Bread

The menu beyond pizza is worth exploring on a second visit when you already know you like the place. The small plates change with what's good at the farmers market, but they consistently hit the notes that make Italian food work: acidity, salt, fat, something green, something cured. The house-baked bread arrives warm and should be ordered immediately.

Pasta is available on the menu and is made in-house. The quality is reliable. Order one and share it as a middle course between the small plates and the pizza.

Wine and Drinks

The wine list is Italian-forward with some California representation. It's reasonably priced — this is not a $30-a-glass list — and the by-the-glass selection is thoughtful. Natural wines appear without being the entire point. There are Italian aperitifs and cocktails that work well before the pizza arrives.

Getting There

Cosetta is in Ocean Park, the southern section of Santa Monica bordered by Pico Blvd to the north and Venice to the south. Street parking on the surrounding blocks. It's walkable from the southern end of the Venice Boardwalk if you're coming from that direction, and a 15-minute walk from the Santa Monica Pier.