On Monday, Parasole Restaurant Holdings (Manny's Steakhouse, Chino Latino, Salut Bar Americain, Burger Jones) opened the doors on its latest venture, Mozza Mia (long name: Mozza Mia Pizza Pie and Mozzarella Bar), located in the former Tejas at 3910 W. 50th St. in Edina.
"We didn't want a restaurant -- we wanted a pizzeria," said Parasole creative force Phil Roberts. "This isn't an Italian Salut."
The star of the show is pizza, painstakingly made using imported Italian flour and Sicilian extra-virgin olive oil and sea salt, and baked in wood-burning ovens (even the cherry wood chips, tossed over blazing white oak logs, are Italian). For an extra visual touch of authenticity, a small San Gennaro statue stands perched between the kitchen's side-by-side wood-burning ovens.
The pizza was developed by longtime Parasole collaborator Vittoria Renda, an Italian ex-pat who goes back to the company's Pronto Ristorante and Buca di Beppo days, and features a crisp bottom ("No sag," said Roberts) and a bubbled, chewy top.
The short menu consists of a few salads, a trio of bruschettas ("My father used to say we were rich without the money because we had tomatoes and bread in the house," said Renda), a dozen pizzas, a few mozzarella dishes and three desserts, all managed by executive chef Heather Brinker.
A watch-them-work mozzarella bar ("We'll do the show so guests know that we make it in-house," said Renda) will keep the restaurant stocked with fresh cheese, which will be served caprese-style or rolled with other fresh ingredients. A nightly pasta -- gnocchi, manicotti -- will be baked in the ovens.
Service will initially start with dinner only, expanding to lunch in the spring; Roberts is estimating an $18 average check. The industrial interior is all black walls, concrete walls and mismatched furniture, as well as one of the Twin Cities' showiest open kitchens.
"We want Edina residents to feel like they're on a safe adventure," said Roberts. "You know, slumming, but cool."
