La Italia!

I apologize if "La Italia" is not grammatically correct... I'm just trying to use something catchy to show that I'll be talking about Italian food today, haha. Atlanta is not New York when it comes to Italian cooking, but there are a few notable places. One of them is La Tavola, where Cashew and I had dinner recently.

Because it was our first time here, we wanted to try as many things as possible, but that's not too easy with filling pasta dishes :( Instead of filling ourselves to the point of being sick, we were smart and decided to just come back some other time. So, the items we settled on for this visit were the Black Linguine, Ricotta Gnocchi, and Zuppa di Pesce. First, the seafood soup was was what was expected of it: lots of seafood and a flavorful broth. Some of the sea creatures that were represented were clams, scallops, shrimp, calamari, and what looked like cod or haddock. One pleasant touch was the calamari tentacles and whole bodies!

The gnocchi were also delicious. I personally couldn't taste the ricotta in them, but it did give them a slightly cheesy texture. The surprise of this dish was the real poached egg on top. Granted I'm not an expert in Italian food, I can't say I've seen anyone combine pasta with eggs before.

Overall, both the soup and the gnocchi were solid, flavorful dishes, but they pale in comparison to the black linguine! The combination of squid ink pasta, calamari and Thai basil pesto made this one of those memorable dishes that stick with you. (Other such dishes for me were the chorizo chips at Pura Vida and the French toast at La Boulange.) While we were eating it, we kept exulting about how good it was. After we finished it, we felt sad. I've tried to think of something to explain what made the dish so good, but I don't think there's a single factor. Instead, it was probably the masterful combination of Italian flavors from the pasta with Thai-inspired flavors in the pesto.

I am a big fan of small portions in restaurants, but this was clearly one case where I regretted not having more food. I guess my only option is to make this planned second visit to La Tavola as soon as possible.