never let me down (the best damn pizza in LA)

whenever m21 has a visitor to LA from near or far, one of the places he insists they visit is pizzeria mozza.  "pizzeria" you say?  doesn't sound very special- there is one on every block, of every city, in the u.s. of a., right?   well, that's true- pizza joints are a dime a dozen- but few, if any, are the equal of this one.

food of the gods- a mozza sausage/fennel pizza.

founded by nancy silverton of campanile/la brea bakery fame, and mario batali of babbo/GOOP fame, mozza is both a serious restaurant, and a casual, rockin', pizza joint- a perfect combo!  maison21 has never had a meal there that has disappointed.  i mean, how could it disappoint- we ALWAYS order the same thing, starting with nancy's chopped salad (ah-may-zing & serves 2-4 easily) and couple of other appetizers depending on the amount of guests (they only seat up to parties of six, btw).  follow that up with an individual pizza for each person at the table (so you can cut up and share the delicious tastes amongst your party); we recommend the sausage fennel (we could eat it every freakin' day), the funghi misto, and the salumi- all yummalicious.  add in one of mozza's reasonably priced wines (nothing over 50 bucks or so) and it's a near perfect meal. don't forget dessert- the butterscotch budino and the caramel copetta are both revelations on the relationship between sugar and salt, and if you skip them, like mr. T says "i pity the fool".

butterscotch budino- yummmmmmmmmm

if you are visiting LA and want to partake of the yummy-pizza goodness, we advise you to book early- it took m21 six months after mozza opened to score a reservation, and still, 3 years later, it's a "we can seat you at 5:30 or 10:00" reservation situation- but it's worth it, we swear- mozza is a meal that never disappoints...

pic number 1 from here, pic 2 from here and 3 from here

too damn hot...

why the becks foto? well, if tomorrow's temperature is anything like today's blazing 113˚, i might as well have a reason for being all hot and bothered.

*rimshot*

"thank you, i'll be here all week..."

photo courtesy of the ever-hilarious michael k. at d*listed

sweater weather!

fall in southern california doesn't mean donning your favorite cashmere, "sweater weather" instead is more like "i'm a really heavy sweater" (as in sitting in a puddle)!  the temp at noon is 111 degrees, so by 3, we'll all be charbroiled crisps!  thank goodness,  it *is* fall and not june, so this unseasonable heat shouldn't last too long.  i hope.

howza weather in your neck o' the woods?

ingo! ingo! ingo!

we love roy lichtenstien (all pop art, actually) and we love the lighting designs of ingo maurer, so how could we not love bangboom!, a limited edition issue of maurer's classic 'zettel z' chandelier...

more ingo:

the original 'zettle'z'

'egg'

'bulb', early ingo circa 1967

'xxl dome'- $27,000 worth of fabulousity

to give you an idea of the size of 'xxl dome'- about 6 feet across!

don't know the name of this one, but we loves it.

'floatation'- classic 80's chic, still in production

'birds birds birds' -whimsical, yet not too twee

'porca miseria' broken china artfully transformed into a striking chandelier, it is our favorite of ingo's oeuvre, and of course, obscenely expensive.  when we rightfully come into our deserved bazillions, this $67,000 chandelier/work of art will hang in the m21 dream atelier...

 

next time you are in new york, be sure to stop by the ingo maurer store in soho- all of his greatest hits (still in production), gathered under one roof, it is a treat not to be missed!  and bring your checkbook so you can buy m21 a 'porca miseria' chandy for his birthday, k?

o.g. glam

much as we abhor the phrase, there is a reason the term "hollywood regency" gained so much traction, as there really is a tradition of "hollywood" in the regency, and the style is strongly associated with golden age of hollywood glamour of the 1950's.  john elgin woolf almost single-handedly invented the architectural style here in the 1940's and because of the style's early association with celebrity chic, it was hugely popular here in the 1950's and early 1960s, ending up being knocked off all over the place for retail, residential and rental buildings.  it's neo-classic meets mod panache instantly conveyed glamour and sophistication, and made everyone  feel like a movie star upon entering a building built in the style...

one such glammy woolf-style knock off was this beverly hills apartment building we chanced upon the other day.  built on the cheap in 1964, but with an eye for style,  the building's minuscule lobby features a black and white fornasetti style wall mural and white patent and black lacquer bench (too dark and cramped for photos, sorry). each apartment is entered through tall, skinny threshold to ceiling  double doors (originally burnt orange, now updated in glossy black like the front door) and inside each unit, the living room is popped out to about 10 feet high, and has a mirrored wet bar behind bifold closet doors for complete cocktail swank.

we only hope the well preserved facade once had a long, skinny french-french lantern in the central arch above those fab extra tall double doors.  that disk treatment on the iron grills running up the facade is going in the "style file" for future reference, too- such a unique, yet simple, ornamental motif, we'd love to steal it for something, someday...

a proposal for an entry hall.

here's a lil peek into a recent proposal by m21 for a client's entry hall:

m21's elevation of a wall niche in the proposed entry hall.

the architecture of the residence is quite contemporary and virtually every room has a stellar view of los angeles- except for the entry, which is rather dark, and not very inviting- hardly even a real entry at all- not what you want to make a exciting first impression, if you know what i mean.  our philosophy is you want to wow your guests (and yourself) the minute they step through the front door- just like a job interview, you can't undo a bad first impression!  the entry needed to be seriously glammed up and lightened up as well, so to up the glam factor, add in some needed elegance and sophistication, as well as lend a subtle sheen to bounce and reflect light around the space, we chose one of our favorite wallcoverings, roger arlington's chinese teapaper, for a focal wall niche. we particularly love this shimmery paper as it's not gold, and not silver, but a little bit of each depending on how the light hits it.  teapaper is very traditional material, so to keep things modern, we chose the random squares pattern which reminds us of the chic and modern 1970's cityscape series by paul evans.

roger arlington teapaper in a dining room by jeffery bilhuber

vintage paul evans club chairs in the cityscape pattern- the inspiration for our choice of the teapaper

to further keep things light and bright, we selected to hang a large, round, polished nickel mirror from orange on the teapaper, over a bargain-priced vintage lucite and suede console in the style of milo baughman (from a consignment shop in palm springs); we also proposed to replace the original navy suede covering the body of the console with a bone colored waxed linen (the suede was cool, but a bit too pimped out for our modern and sophisticated vision). using maison21's patented decorating law of opposites*,  we like the idea of using a round mirror against the squares of the wall paper, and the texture of the linen against the shine of the paper.


*m21's decorating law of opposites: to avoid being too matchy-matchy, when using a design element, try to use its opposite somewhere else in the room:  matte = shiny,  rough = smooth, light = dark, etc.  opposites add needed tension-  but don't get too carried away- too much of a good thing = a mess!

custom mirror from orange

vintage console selection- a steal at $475!  the original navy suede to be replaced with a waxed linen in bone, keeping things light and modern.

above it all, in a stairwell just off the entry, on an ugly 3 x 8 foot stub of a wall, we proposed to again repeat the chinese teapaper wallcovering, which would reflect the light of a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.  we originally selected a pretty fabulous vintage 5- globe chandelier, priced at $3800.00, but at the last minute discovered a just-as-cool modern version made by sonneman (almost a quarter of the price of the vintage version @$1050.00- why spend it if ya don't have ta, y'know?)  the ball shaped globes of the chandelier also echo the round mirror below, and again provide the tension of opposites against the repeating squares of the wallpaper.

kinda of glam for a thousand bucks, we think...

whaddya think?  would this proposed scheme for the entry make you excited to see the rest of the house? or make you want to go home and take a nap instead?

high on hayon

spanish designer extraordinaire, jamie hayon, introduced a line of furniture for sé london this weekend, and m21 is crazy about the tables and the arpa lounge chair.

come to papa...

arpa lounge chair

time piece "a" table

time piece "b" table

tambor table

 seriously, if this man can make lladro cool, is there nothing he can't do?

parrot party vase for lladro

j'did not know...

that the classique dorothy draper bird cage chandelier from her fabled "dorotheum" restaurant interior inside the metropolitan museum of art had been re-issued by the urban electric co. (though slightly scaled down from the 9 foot high original).

chic.

now if someone would only recreate the entire interior as a restaurant/nightclub, we'd be all set. it's a shame the museum didn't keep it intact to begin with, given mrs. draper's resurgence in popularity; but alas, times change and so does taste in decor...

rue the day...

as you all undoubtedly already know, today was the premiere launch of rue magazine, so m21 just wanted to congratulate the team behind it for putting out a fresh and fun new product! it really looks great!

 
m21 also wanted to congratulate his good friend, heather clawson, of habitually chic, on her feature in the mag- the first of many published projects, we're sure! (we also love your trina turk skirt in the photo, chic, because it reminds us of your fun visit to LA!)

again, congrats to all involved, and we wish you much success!

flor'd

we received the new flor catalog in the mail yesterday, and were excited enough about their new- and sometimes quite hip- offerings to spend some time thinking about ways we could use them for upcoming projects (or even for our self!)  fun, inexpensive and they look pretty easy to install- we're going to give them a try!

random likey!

clicked on a link while watching a little TV on the interwebs (hoarders... *shudder*) and found this chair from some random modern furniture store- we likey!