Seattle WA: Last Monday night for dinner we slipped in for dinner at Tavolata on 2nd Avenue in Belltown. Given the heat wave engulfing Seattle and the observation that air-conditioning had never been installed or wasn’t working, we opted for a table on the sidewalk out front and hoped for breeze.
Bingo. Shade and vague air movement.
The parade of people past our table with different gaits and varied expressions turned out to be a bonus and a topic for conversation until the house focaccia from Columbia City Bakery ($2) arrived. The focaccia received rave reviews from Megan, and held both of our attention unto the arrival of an Arugula Salad ($11) tossed with white nectarines, black cherries, almonds, and shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Points for both: good ingredients, not over-wrought.
Then onto two of the house pastas: the Gnocchi alla Romana ($16) and the Spaghetti ($15) served with anchovies, chili, garlic, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. The spaghetti struck me as a risk, and turned out to be acceptable but not life-changing. The Gnocchi, on the other hand, was intriguing. “It isn’t what you might be expecting,” our server warned. “It is baked.”
Up until two months ago, virtually every gnocchi I’d tried looked basically the same. Small divots of potato or ricotta mixed with flour and possibly a binder. These would then be boiled, sauced, and served. This formula held true until two months ago and the most expensive meal of my life to date in New York City.
Now Tavolata has further expanded the category of gnocchi at a price in the teens.
Not only is Tavolata’s gnocchi baked, each piece is relatively huge. The kitchen appears to roll them out into tubes two to three inches in diameter, slices them into inch portion and sets six into a personal baking pan. Then they drench the said six in a bright tomato sauce, top them with mozzarella, and pop them in the oven. At least this is my imagined recreation of the scene in the back of the house.
I can speak with more authority about the front of the house experience: hot, bubbling, and delicious. If you like baked polenta, you might be tempted to compare. Don’t. The gnocchi is more tender and the flavor more subtle, and the match with the sauce and mozzarella is close to inspired. Two bites and I thought: “Brilliant.” Three and I began to scheme: “How can I recreate this at home?”
