There’s a song in “A Chorus Line” that refers to “One Singular Sensation” – a catchy phrase that could refer to singly obsessed restaurants as much as Broadway musicals.

It is not a rare phenomenon. Go to the numerous hawker markets in Singapore, and you’ll find warehouses filled with food stands that make just one single sensational dish. Not just noodles – but one particular noodle dish like the much-loved mei fun. Not just crab – but chili crab, a dish locals can argue about all night, as long as the Tiger Beer keeps flowing.

And while those singular sensation restaurants are a way of culinary life over there, they’re far from unknown here. And ours often come with an option or three, since we do like to have choices. But they’re still built around the one object of culinary desire – a dish that most of us would add to our list of the last foods we’d want to eat before shuffling off this mortal coil. This is Bucket List Cuisine, tasty as it gets.

The dish of choice at Pizzana (13826 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; 818-698-1009, www.pizzana.com) is pizza – of course. It’s a restaurant created by Candace and Charles Nelson, a power couple whose names may not ring a bell, but they’re previous eateries sure do. They’re the folks who created the Sprinkles Cupcakes chain. And along with actor Chris O’Donnell and Neapolitan import Daniele Uditi – who arrived on these shores with his family’s long-treasured dough starter – they managed to make the upscale pizza of the last decade, which continues to be the pizza of our current decade.

Beginning with a location in Brentwood, Pizzana has spread to Silver Lake, West Hollywood, Dallas and right here on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, adjacent to the magical Mark’s Garden flower shop. (Decorated with thousands of yellow roses last I looked.)

The menus have a penchant for a fairly minimalist look; all the attention is saved for the food. Which in this case, runs to 16 pies of singular size – no supersized here – with toppings that have a certain quirk, but don’t go as far as the dreadful option of pineapple.

Here, the toppings run to Berkshire fennel sauce and fior di latte cheese … to braised short ribs and parmigiano crema … to spicy salami, charred shallots and honey. For a little extra, you can opt for a gluten-free crust (but why would you want to?), for shaved cremini mushrooms, for anchovies and, yes … black truffles.

And though pizza dominates the menu – as it should – antipasti of wood-fired meatballs with San Marzano sauce, the crispy panko crumb cauliflower, and the charred artichoke hearts are all worth the calories. Ditto the chop salad, a wonderful mishmash of the whole kitchen. The menu says, “Substitutions respectfully declined.” And well they should be!

A mile or so to the east, in the affably lively Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge, Uovo (The Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge,12833 Ventura Blvd., Studio City; 747-212-2690, www.uovo.la) is every bit as obsessed with pasta, if not more so. There’s a long essay on the flip side of the menu, explaining the Uovo search for the perfect pasta, including how it found the wellspring of fresh pasta in Bologna. They realized that the only way to serve pasta that good was to make it in Italy and ship it overnight. Which is declared at the top of every menu.

The result is … amazing! It’s done in three pasta categories – La Pasta di Bologna, La Pasta di Roma and Pasta Classica – mostly in shapes like tonnarelli (akin to spaghetti), flat thin tagliolini and flat medium-width tagliatelle. There are lasagna, tortellini and ravioli, too. The toppings are wondrous – I’m mad for the cacio e pepe with pecorino Romano and imported black pepper. So simple, and so good.

And, as at Pizzana, there are openers and sides – yellowtail crudo, insalata arugula and mizuna, wagyu beef tartare, roasted cauliflower, broccoli and mushrooms.

Once again, the menu informs that, “We politely decline any modifications.” When you have one singular sensation dominating your menu, why would anyone ask for changes?

Though with a tip of the toque to SoCal, there are gluten-free options. And a Van Leeuwen Ice Cream shop next door for dessert. Both real and vegan.

Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email [email protected].