I got half of my wish on Friday.  It did involve calamari, but no Greek food or wine.  I ended up being at work later than I’d hoped and DH wanted to go out when I got home.  So, we figured we’d try something on my list.

We decided upon La Tavola on Mt. Washington.

We arrived at around 7 p.m. and the rather cavernous restaurant was less than 1/2 full.  But there were several large parties and people seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The restaurant had a half formal decor — proper linens, candles and low lighting, but banquet-style chairs.

La Tavola is BYO, so we brought along a bottle:

A safe pick — a red blend that’s not expense, not overly dry and a bit fruity.

DH started off with wedding soup.

He said it was exactly what you expect from wedding soup.

I had three courses — all starters (and wayy more food than necessary).  First up:

Sicilian artichokes.  Artichoke hearts in a drizzle of good olive oil, lemon juice, parm and chiffonades of basil.  A perfect summer course.  Delicious.

Next up was a house salad with blue cheese and balsamic.  The tomatoes were meh, but the mountain of blue more than made up for it!

DH went with one of his standards –

Linguine Alfredo with chicken.  Not so photogenic, but the Alfredo was homemade and quite divine.

I finished up with the calamari diavolo.  When we first arrived, we were told by the hostess that we had to order it.  And it did not disappoint.  Crisp and perfectly fried, though lightly sauced with a slightly spicy tomato cream sauce.   Seriously the best calamari I’ve EVER had.  And I’ve had some calamari….

We found the service to be amusing.  He was full of suggestions and opinions, which was helpful in a place where I wanted to order half of the menu.  As for the mechanics, plates were quickly cleared, water glasses refilled.  I was also provided with a clean fork for every course.  So, two thumbs up there.  (DH didn’t order a soda, so no comments on that front.)

The verdict:  We really liked it and would take people there.  The restaurant seemed to be mostly populated by wine-drinking regulars and it wasn’t hard to see why!

Filed under Drinks, Food by megan13