Their website doesn't list prices. Could someone give an estimated range for appetizers, pastas, and entrees? Thanks! Or are there any recommendations for other romantic Italian places? Spiaggia seems a little out of my range lol I was considering Piccolo Sogno...

spiffytriphy wrote:Their website doesn't list prices. Could someone give an estimated range for appetizers, pastas, and entrees? Thanks! Or are there any recommendations for other romantic Italian places? Spiaggia seems a little out of my range lol I was considering Piccolo Sogno...

I think the appetizers were $7-12; pastas were around $10-14, and entrees maybe upper teens to mid $20?

thanks!

Ehhh ... a Tavola. Seriously, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about for this place.

I took my girlfriend there last night for a birthday dinner. There were four of us at the dinner table. We ordered the Braised Beef Shortrib, Fish of the Day (Alaskan Halibut), Lamb special, Gnocchi, Risotto, and Cuttle Fish and Figs and Prosciutto appetizers. The last two were also specials. The Cuttle Fish, which were described as an "improvement" on the perennial calamari offering was tasty, sure, but not the most noteworthy example of this underwater gem. In fact, actual calamari might have easily taken its place. The Figs and Prosciutto were good, well, the figs were good, the Prosciutto wasn't dry enough and a bit bland. But that's just the starters.

Next came the pastas and, yes, the Gnocchi with Sage were solid, but boy, could we get some more of that canned chicken variety meat in our Risotto? Seriously, the stuff looked like Progresso's finest, even down to the over-cooked pasty coloring, and infant-proof cube shape. At the very least, they could've stringed the chicken or simply left it in rougher chunks. Suffice to say the Risotto rivaled the imagination of that beloved post-industrial, mass-produced housewife staple.

On to the main dishes. The lamb special was not bad--the accompanying spinach pleased a few palates. The fish, umm, well, you see, how do you say, more oil, sir? I mean, how can you just possibly go wrong with fried fish?! And that's the thing--it. was. fried. fish. The lemon-caper marinade just barely upped the ante on the booster-seat Risotto. Finally, the one touch of grace to the whole evening came in the form of a braised, beef short-rib. The beef, was simply off-the-bone delectability at its finest. Unfortunately, it was presented as an island of bovine perfection, surrounded by the soggy accompaniment of an over-salted, under-reaching Risotto.

Sorry for the superlative disses, but the food was, in short, uninspired. I will say, on the plus side, that the setting offers a worthy rebuttal to the unimaginative offerings from the kitchen--the unpretentious, brick-building locale blends right into the neighborhood, and the ambience is certainly homey.

I just had to give a new review to A Tavola, considering the most recent review on this thread. I went last night with one other person for a birthday dinner. Overall, of course, the physical space itself is cozy and elegant, without being fussy. We must have had the same server that has been mentioned earlier in this thread. We received very elaborate almost theatrical explanations of all the specials. It didn't feel pretentious, just a little silly. Besides that, service was excellent. Throughout dinner, several of the staff came to check on us in a way that felt very friendly.
Onto the food... Overall very excellent. We started with a special of steamed mussels and clams in a tomato-y broth. My only criticism of the food all night was that the broth seemed to be underseasoned. (the bread that arrived before the appetizer was delicious!) We shared the tagliatelle with lamb ragu for our pasta course. This was my favorite part of the meal. For entrees, I had the braised short rib with saffron risotto, while my dining companion had the grilled beef tenderloin. I prefered the texture of my short rib, while my dining companion loved his steak with rosemary potatoes. For dessert we shared a lemon tart. The filling was great, very tart. The crust, although it tasted great, was a little bit hard. We tried using our forks to break off pieces and were almost shooting pieces of tart across the table.
We will definitely be returning. After reading the posts here, I am sorry we didn't try the gnocchi, but at least that's a reason to go back.