“Fortune favors the brave” may as perfectly have been published about David Wilcox, who formerly operated the formidable but sick-fated Atwater Village cafe Journeyman. In 2018, as a last-ditch effort to preserve the restaurant, Wilcox transformed it into a pizzeria. The gamble paid off. Hail Mary Pizza specializes in funky, char-edged pies with blistery, chewy, conveniently digestible crusts built from normal levain and whole grains.
The Pep Pep, with pork chorizo, peppers and honey, is a sophisticated and lush constellation of sweet and spicy flavors. The Westside-motivated Giust-oh is brilliantly paved with feta and Mornay sauce and smooth, starchy bites of potato, chard and lemon zest, although the anchovy-additionally-jalapeño combo of the Frederick is a gleeful smack of cheesy, briny heat. Salads are created from the best farmers sector create — not long ago there was a beautiful autumnal blend of extremely-new dandelion greens tossed with squash and pomegranate seeds. Desserts, like the residence brownies and the almond-crusted Basque cake with pastry cream on the aspect, are motive plenty of to connect with for takeout.
Exterior the kitchen area, Wilcox is a fervent advocate for unbiased eating places, and has experimented with financial gain-sharing models in an exertion to counter the industrywide shell out disparities in between entrance- and again-of-property roles. But you never will need to know any of this to savor the pizza, which is some of the most distinctive and satisfying in Los Angeles.