In the heart of Baltimore’s Little Italy lies a fantastic contemporary Italian restaurant called La Tavola, which means “the dining table” in Italian. It is unique and stands out because it is the only Farm-to-Fork restaurant in Little Italy. The owner and main chef, Chef Carlo Vignette fishes two to three times a week to catch the freshest fish and he also shops at local markets to ensure he cooks with the best ingredients. Although La Tavola is more on the expensive side, with most entrées range from $16-24, the food is definitely worth it! Especially since celebrations are coming up as the semester comes to an end, it’s a great place for special occasions or even just a nice dinner.
I went to La Tavola with a few friends this past week and we got their Spaghetti Neri al Granchi, which is their house made “squid-ink infused spaghetti mixed with fresh crab meat, spinach, cherry tomatoes, and finished with a garlic white wine sauce”. This dish is truly to die for! I was kind of freaked out when the waiter brought out black pasta, but it was cooked perfectly and had a really fresh seafood taste! This dish has also been voted number one pasta dish in Maryland by MSN! The other dish we got was Gnocchi Fatti in Casi which is “house-made potato dumplings with a pinch of nutmeg” and pomodoro sauce. This dish tasted like Italian comfort food and was very delicious mainly because you could taste how fresh the tomato sauce was. You can definitely tell that each dish has a lot of thought, expertise, and creativity that goes into it, which I believe is something that is greatly appreciated by their customers. La Tavola is not your typical Olive Garden type Italian restaurant, but an upscale dining experience with fantastic and unique Italian cuisine. I urge you to visit because you’ll truly have an amazing meal!