Even from places that I’ve loved in real life like Robertas or Full of Life Flatbread, frozen pizza usually leaves me feeling disappointed, unsatisfied, and bummed it is now sitting in my belly. It never lives up to the memory you have of eating it in the restaurant and most certainly doesn’t look like the picture on the box when it’s pulled out of the oven.
So, when someone reached out and told me they were sending me some frozen pizzas from La Morra Pizzeria to try, I wasn’t expecting much. I always love checking out new products and what companies are coming up with, but frozen pizza? I mean, how good could it be?
Immediately, upon receiving our delivery, I knew this pizza was different. It’s lightly charred, wood-fired crust looked like what you get at a great restaurant, the cheese looked real (thank god), and even frozen, it looked goddamn delicious. And, I’m happy to report that it was everything I always wished a frozen pizza could be. Even Andre, the most critical critic of all things (especially his pizza), couldn’t believe he was eating a frozen pizza.
This frozen pizza blew my mind, and I needed to know more. How did this pizza come to be? Where do I get more? Tell me everything, La Morra! Marlee Blodgett, the co-founder of La Morra, was kind enough to answer a few questions for me about their delicious creations and give us the intel on something very exciting happening this spring!
Q. As you probably guessed, Marlee, I am one of your newest, biggest fans! As a small business owner and major foodie, I would love to know more about how this pizza journey began for La Morra and where you guys are today?
Zach and I’s pizza story began in NYC over after-work beers when we both discovered we had a history with and adoration for the art of the pizza pie. Meddle this with our fixation on well-executed and warm hospitality, and well, you basically know everything about us. About a year later, we would hit the road dreaming of a slower-paced life, or so we thought, and after some Italian travel, ended up in Charleston, SC for a year where Zach turned all of his unheard-of time and backyard real estate into the project of building a pizza oven, and so the La Morra story began. From that point on, we’ve since created and cooked pizzas with so many different people in so many different places that it is near impossible to get a stationary address verified on Google My Business. This year has brought us directly back to where we began this journey, fixated on how to best deliver a complete product, although there may be missing pieces. In our early days, it was the restaurant and accompanying wood-fired oven that was missing, so we built one. In March, it was the remaining product from a pandemic shuttered event and the lack thereof options to utilize it, so we ventured into a world that we thought would come at some point, but much further down the line – that being frozen pizzas. We are now over six months in and retailing frozen pizzas directly via our website, delivering five days per week in Los Angeles and OC, and operating a takeout operation in West Hollywood where we offer both hot and fresh or frozen pizzas.
Through the many twists and turns of this new business adventure, we have remained filled with gratitude for the opportunity we have received in discovering a product that will withstand even the wildest of events in pizza and for our followers who have supported us through it all!
Q. My mouth is literally watering right now. Tell me more about these pies? What is your best seller? Do you ever have specials?
Our best seller in the frozen world is always the Margherita, as it is the benchmark pizza, after all. From there, we get you hooked on all four. We often do limited releases, the most popular of late being the BBQ Chicken pizza. At the takeout window, the new number one is the Patate, which also had a frozen moment and happens to be my favorite of them all.
Q. Ok, now everyone needs to know how to get these pies! What do we do?
All orders can be placed online via our website www.lamorrapizzeria.com for pickup at a few locations around Los Angeles or contactless delivery in Los Angeles and Orange County. We are very excited to announce that nationwide shipping will be available this spring.
Thank you, Marlee! I’m so inspired by what you are creating and grateful that there is finally delicious frozen pizza in the world.
I’m also happy to report that Wine and Eggs Shop in Atwater Village started to carry La Morra Pizza too, and I picked up a few pies for us to have this week for an easy and delicious dinner. Don’t sleep on this one, people; it surely won’t disappoint.