Found Treasure: Mezzaluna Pasteria Mozzarella Bar

August 30, 2024 – Pacific Grove has official sister cities in Chambéry, France, famed as The Gateway to the Alps, and Anacortes, Washington, the gateway to the San Juan Islands (including Orcas Island, Edible’s own sibling of sorts).

Now P.G. has a new sis in Bentonville, Arkansas, a gateway to a new sort of two-wheeled lifestyle.

That’s where five-star Found Treasure and truly remarkable Pacific Grove restaurant Mezzaluna Pasteria Mozzarella Bar opened its second location Aug. 19.

The upper northwest corner of The Natural State (Arkansas’ nickname!?) sits 1,781 miles from P.G, 26 hours by car, and only 169 hours by bike.

The choice of Bentonville will prompt Huh?s among most and OMG!s among a smaller subpopulation. 

Members of the smaller subpop live amongst us, while bombing through Fort Ord brush and along Santa Cruz single tracks on their mountain bikes.

They know the name Bentonville because it’s made a brazen bid to be the all-out mountain bike capital for the continent. Maybe the world.

The historic town of 50,000 people enjoys 250 miles of interconnected trails, many accessible from the center of the town, plus multiple bike parks with skills areas, pump tracks and dirt jumps, cycle-themed public art installations, bike repair stations, rest areas and facilities that cater specifically to mountain bikers.

It’s like Disneyland and the Sea Otter Classic hatched a love chick, complete with commutes designed to traverse only trails rather than traffic and a coffee shop positioned in the wilderness along the way.

That news also inspired a revisit to MezzLu 1.0.

Mezzaluna Pasteria Mozzarella Bar earned my affections long ago, for reasons including far more than the mozzarella, though that would be enough for it to qualify as a Found Treasure. (The mozzarella “bar,” by the way, roars through five different plays on epic wet cheeses, including soft burrata with oven-dried heirloom tomatoes and bufala mozzarella with pear, arugula and pine nuts.)

A few reasons to note:

• Perhaps the best homemade pasta in the area, with presentations to match, by way of plates like the butternut squash ravioli and the clams and squid-ink linguini.

• A range of stacked mini menus beyond the mozzarella, which are independently worthy of Treasured status—note the six negroni choices, nine antipasti options and the “Gin Tonic” menu using house-made syrups and curated liqueurs, with highlights including pink grapefruit and blood orange served in long stem globes.

• A historically convenient and cute setting in the former Fifi’s Cafe, a long-running P.G. legend in its own right—with a deep and curated wine bottle roster that remains available at retail (and not restaurant markup) to take home.

• One of the more down-to-Earth and galactic-brained chefs in Soerke Peters, who has been a sustainability pioneer around here for 15+ years, launching Basil’s pioneering organic sourcing program and lending leadership to groups like the local chapter of the American Culinary Federation.

• A zesty vibe populated by staffers who are about their craft, from Briana behind the sticks to Freddy at the door.

Before my latest visit, I turned to local ace photographer, graphic designer, new dad and friend of Found Treasure Manny Espinoza—a Mezzaluna superfan. 

Here appear his top three dishes at Mezzaluna, with a quick note on each:

1. Pâté di Anatra ($18) • The duck liver pâté and its crown of dark berry gelee come with grain mustard, cured stone fruit cubes and house crostini. While the rich spread could solve global conflicts, paired with the Italian whole grain mustard and atypical fruit options—both presented in little jars with tiny spoons—it’s yet another Found Treasure all its own, an exhibit of attention to detail starring craveable house crostini.

2. Rigatoni alla Buttera ($26) • The house tribute dish to Peters’ time at Restaurant Coco Pazzo in New York City deploys small nubs of pork sausage, English peas, a touch of cream, tomato, garlic and a tone-adept lick of chili flakes. This represents a contender for best pasta dish I’ve had in 2024, elevated by the power of simplicity, sourcing and freshness. Mezzaluna’s best seller is wow-worthy.

3. Linguine al Nero con Vongole ($29) • Clams, black squid ink linguine, garlic white wine, butter, chili flakes, basil. • The only reason I didn’t order this is our sequence of pâté, rigatoni and lamb meatballs—the latter so finely ground, tender and layered in flavor they made me pine for Mezzaluna’s polpete bar gone by—had me over-stuffed with contentment.

I called Peters in Arkansas to check in on the distance between places. 

Not so much the geographic gap, but what could be seen as a chasm between a local farm obsessed chef and…Walmart. 

The global behemoth is based in Bentonville, eight miles from Rogers, Arkansas, where the first Walmart opened in 1962. Its local leadership and Walton Family Foundation were crucial in the development of Bentonville.

He reports life is brisk as #2 is booming—#1 was similarly packed on a Thursday—and that he rolls a Vespa rather than a MTB Tallboy.

And, more importantly, the community makes rural preservation a prerequisite for commerce, in harmony with its history as a farming community.

“I wouldn’t have guessed or predicted our second restaurant would be here,” he says. “But it’s been a good fit for a lot of reasons.” Peters explained that a former NYC colleague found the restaurant opportunity and tempted him to open there.

Salinas resident and local-national marketing guru Marci Bracco has spent time in Bentonville to help Mezzaluna get cooking. 

“It’s a very diverse small town—that now has a chef bringing the values he brings everywhere, including adapting the menu to fit the land,” she says.

She observes surprising similarities between here and there, including preserved history, Sand City-style urban art, craft breweries and family farms who grow the blueberries for Mezzaluna cocktail muddling. 

“It’s like Monterey County, distilled down to a town,” she says.

In other words: Welcome to the family, sister.

Mezzaluna Pasteria Mozzarella Bar | 1188 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove | mezzalunapasteria.com