Daily Slice gives a quick snapshot each weekday of a different slice or pie that the folks at the Serious Eats empire have enjoyed lately.
I have a secret. I love kosher pizza. It almost always means a thick doughy pizza-parlor crust with a crispy, stiff underside, and drowning in toppings. When I seek such a slice in Los Angeles, Nagila Pizza reins supreme.
Famous for their mushroom and cheese stuffed crust, it's the more subtle—yet still innovative—Buffalo ($4.35) slice that draws me in. The generous slice is smothered in mozzarella and feta with rings of tomato, green olives, fresh basil, and za'atar, and gets sliced down the middle into two pointy slivers.
This slice isn't for the pizza snob. The glossy mozzarella has a vicious processed cheese food quality, but when smothered in veggies, the texture actually works. The cheese is not at all greasy. The sauce is practically nonexistent, adding more moisture than flavor. These are all the reasons you should not order a plain slice. The toppings make this pie. Soft chunks of feta and green olives add a briny element to each bite. Clinging to the tomatoes like glitter, the bold za'atar is what really sets this pizza apart. A finely ground mix of thyme, oregano, savory, sesame seeds, and other herbs, this complex blend adds a much richer accent than a shaker of dried oregano ever could.
Nagila Pizza
9411 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035 (map)
310-788-0111; losangeles.nagilapizza.com
About the author: After nearly a decade in Brooklyn, Kelly Bone landed back in Los Angeles where she writes The Vegetarian Foodie. She spends the rest of her time designing office cubicles... you might be sitting in one right now! Follow her on Twitter at @TheVegFoodie