La Bocca

"This is the best mojito I've ever had," B----- said after sipping the La Bocca Fizz Mojito at La Bocca Urban Pizza on Mill Ave. B---- is not one to give out hyperboles easily and a few minutes later I reached out to the beautiful mint and iced drink to try it for myself. And I have to say: he's right. But more on that later.

Were together on that warm Saturday night April 17th right when it starts getting dark in the desert. We were meeting Sarah and Alan, D---- and A----- for dinner before my birthday party at Sarah and I's apartment and La Bocca was nothing but the perfect choice.

La Bocca is a staple of Mill Ave if you're ever in Tempe. It's an urban pizza joint, which means lots of rich colors, fancy mixing with funky furniture and artwork and plenty of wine next to rustic looking pizza pies. There are plenty of little candles to light up the bold red and green interior and retro paintings, and with techno infused jazz music in the background giving it a hip feel to the place. I've been to La Bocca for several occasions: out to lunch with Sarah, D----'s first legal drink on her birthday for lunch, Valentine's Day with B----, and Saturday night our first triple date birthday dinner.

B----- and I arrived early, with me in an orange and white dress and white strappy wedges and him in his fitted white suit shirt rolled to the elbows with dark wash jeans and white flashy shoes. Simply put: we were lookin' good, haha. We arrived first and ordered the Mediterranean appetizer with a mojito for him and a water for me. For the record, any restaurant that serves water with a slice of cucumber instead of a slice of lemon automatically wins an A in my book. I've been noticing this more and more in the area lately. Is this an new Arizona thing?

The seating was cramped in those cute red cushioned couches but I'm glad we stuck with the outdoor sitting. I think conversation is just more fun when it's outdoors with good food and warm weather.

D---- and A---- finally arrived and D--- was still in her gray and black fitted dress and Armondo in his collared shirt after our day at the horse races. [As a side note, the horse races were a ton a fun was more like a baseball game than anything glamorous but it was cool to dress up in dresses and hats anyway]

Alan and Sarah arrived at about the same time, tired but happy from a day of apartment hunting around Tempe. Our awesome server came around and said "So no hurry, but a hurry. Relaxed hour (happy hour) is about to end in 3 minutes so if you want anything..." A---- quickly order 2 rounds of wine and a round of Bocca Fizz mojitos for everyone (sans Alan and me who were driving). She came back a little later to check IDs and light the candle on the table. [I'm a sucker for any restaurant with candles]

The huge appetizer arrived just in time. La Bocca knows how to make a spread, with a flat wooden slab of golden basil hummus on one side, gray babaganoush with warmfeta and red pepper flakes on top, with roasted red pepper and local Cave Creek olives hugged in the middle and flat bread made from the pizza dough drizzled and baked with olive oil. And all for $12! Seriously cheap for us on a Monday-Friday money scale of plain pasta and stale cereal for 3 meals a day. (Gotta love Saturday treats =)

I'm not a fan of hummus. I think the first time I had it when I was teen I thought it was some sort of mashed potato and have never been able to shake off my bad first impression of the odd-not-a-mashed-potato taste. Even though I was suspicious of the gray matter called babaganoush I quickly fell in love with it. To me it was like a sweet sort of cream cheese on top of the yummy flat bread. The olives have a real kick for the taste buds if you're into spice.

The first round of wine came out, and were served in cute glass sphere cups. I'm really not a drinker so B---, A----, and Sarah will have to tell you what they all got, but the each got something different. One was French, one was Spanish, one was from California. Light, medium body--other descriptions that I totally don't understand since wine to me is red color or white color and they all taste sour to me. One day it's be nice to know a few things about wine just for kicks.

As I said, our server was amazing and didn't rush us to order our main meals. D---- made some sort of remark about how sophisticated we all were that night. A few minutes later we were on the topic of sex classes bodily fluids jokes. Gotta love it, haha. B---- and I talked about the party and losing a few bucks at the horses races; Sarah and Alan talked about the pros and cons of the top picks of the apartments, and D---- and A----- were joking about his position in the air force of being THE LOAD MASTER, which would make Delen THE LOAD MISTRESS.

With such good company food is only a bonus. It was a great combination of couples. A--- is former air force, now back in college a few years later and loving his job at Fedex delivery. D--- is full on into her horticulture major with her eclectic sense of style. Alan is a freelance web designer, photographer, and t-shirt artist. Sarah is budding in her political activism and I've seen her in her Prop 100 shirt more often than her usual bohemian fare lately. And then there's B---- with his surfer and easy-going personality look straight from his house at the beach in San Diego with his techie background going back to college a few years later, and me almost done with my English degree and skin often smelling of the white mocha and sweet chai from my job at a coffee shop with my fingers often stained with ink from my writings.

With all the teasing and laughing and discussion going on it was almost a forgotten thing that more wine and mojitos were on their way. The three of them held a mini wine tasting, passing each glass to each other. It was really funny when after dinner B---- asserted with some humor that his two wines were the best, and a few days later Sarah said separately to me with confidence that hers were the best two. (laughs). And those Bocca Fizz mojitos. I barely drink and if I do it takes a ton of sugar for me to even sip it down. But this Bocca mojito is sweet, slightly acidic from the alcohol with a nice blend of citrus from the LEMON (not lime) with a short minty after taste.

When we finally ordered our dinners and they arrived there were perfect as always. Both Alan and Sarah, B--- and I got The Margarita pizza which is made up of sweet crushed san marzano tomatoes, and dollops of fresh mozzarella rather than spread all over. The crust is slight charred on the bottom and top, giving it a rustic look and a nice crunch, and there is a bit of olive oil brushed on top of the crust, giving the crust a light butter flavor. And those beautiful basil leaves that decorate the top of the pizza. It can feed one hungry person or two people who've shared an appetizer and it's only $8! SOOOOOO GOOD.

I can't remember what D--- and A--- ordered but it was covered by fresh spinach and devoured like ours were.

They even brought us our a little hot chocolates souffle with vanilla ice cream to celebrate my birthday. I wished for money to eat like this more often, lol.

What a night. Yes, it was followed by a party which was a blast too. But I think that a Saturday night La Bocca trip is a fun night out by itself. Please please go next time you're in Tempe.