A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

We got take out from Tavolo so I can’t comment on the service. Located in Dorchester, right around the corner from it’s sister restaurant Ashmont Grill, Tavolo is a great neighborhood find. At 5:30 it was pretty empty but I can imagine that it can get crowded and have a good bar scene. It has received good press (Daily Candy) and we figured we’d give it a shot. The restaurant is divided into a few separate spaces. The bar has a great frosted wine glass mural separating it from the other room behind. The hostess was very friendly and welcoming. There were so many good things on the menu it was hard to make a choice. They have daily specials so it’s important to call and find out what they are. We went with the Bolognese ($17) and the meatball panini($8). When I got home and opened the pasta I was pleasantly surprised. There was a ton of meat! The pappardelle was about 4″ wide, more like lasagna than pappardelle which made it a little hard to eat. The noodles were handmade and cooked perfectly al dente. The sauce was mostly meat which was fantastic, there’s nothing worse than soupy sauce. It was a rich  mix of meat and vegetables. The panini was good as well. The meatballs had a nice flavor and were sliced in the sandwich, making it manageable to eat.The ingredients were high quality and the food was well made.

We would definitely go back again, try some of the other choices. I would  try the Garganelli Carbonara: pancetta, egg, parmesan, black pepper: $13 or one of the good looking pizzas.

They have a regional pasta tour every Wednesday night at 6:30pm. Here’s what they say about it: “Join us as we travel the beautiful country of Italy and present you with a delicious 3 course meal of regional specialties. Of course, pasta will play a starring role as we visit a different region of Italy, where we will learn about that culture’s cooking styles. Space is limited so reservations are a must!”

They had a gnocchi class on 2/11/10 that was filled up when I called, but they said that they were going to see how it went and if it was popular they would do it again. I hope they do!!

Tags: italian, restaurant