Date Night: Tavola

Tavola

Friday night HB and I went on our first date night since we moved. We know someone who works at tavola and said that it was the best Italian in town. I also read on the blog edible cville that it was the best new restaurant in town. So far all of our meals in Charlottesville have been good, so I was excited about this being better than some of the others we had tried.

We got there around seven and they said it would be about a 45 minute wait. I expected that because I had read on yelp that the waits on the weekend tended to be long. We ordered a bottle of chianti, parked ourselves in a place where we'd be out of the way, and hung out for a while. They have seating at the bar and will bring you appetizers but it was full when we got there. We didn't mind - date night is about spending time with each other, and that's what we were doing.

The inside of tavola is really nice and cozy. It isn't very modern or done up, which I like. The kitchen is small and is open to the restaurant, so you can smell all the amazing food being prepared. There is a small staff, and a small dining room, but it made the experience more personal (also, knowing our server) and romantic.

After getting seated we chose an appetizer. One of the specials was burrata, so we ordered that. I had never had burrata before, but I'd read about it, and it was delicious. I can never get enough cheese. It was served with pesto, crostini, and sun dried tomatoes. The pesto flavors blended very well with the cheese.

For the main dish HB had veal and I had a pasta primavera type dish. HB's veal was breaded, and he said it was delicious. My pasta was very fresh (I LOVE fresh pasta) and contained onions, fresh peas (nice and crunchy), asparagus, morels, and was topped with a light cream sauce with thyme. It was very good.

One thing HB and I noticed were the servings were pretty average. While this was plenty for me (in fact I took my dessert to go), HB would have still been hungry without the appetizer. They also have sides you can get, and I highly recommend it if you are a big eater.

For dessert HB got the cheesecake and I got tiramisu. They were both average. Good, but not as good as the meal was. The cheesecake came with candied oranges, a favorite of mine, but HB said he didn't think it was sweet enough.

The meal was about $120 for a bottle of wine, an appetizer, two entrees, and two desserts, which isn't bad at all. Most of their entrees were right around $20, if not less. We will definitely come back soon!