Dinner at Tavolo was delicious as always, even though service was unusually (but unavoidably) slow because it turned out to be much busier than usual for a Thursday evening.

Barbara started with the steamed mussels, which came with fennel, garlic, tomatoes, and grilled bread. As she requested, they omitted the promised Pernod. It was excellent, as well as being a work of art:

I started with a wonderful “spring salad,” consisting of fava beans, radish, mixed greens, cucumber, pickled red onion, croutons, and green goddess dressing. Yummy!

Instead of a main dish, Barbara ordered a combination of polenta à la Icarus (polenta with Madeira-braised mushrooms and parmesan cheese) and zucchini with pine nuts:

Finally, I had grilled salmon over pea risotto, grilled asparagus, and Calabrian chili oil:

As you can see, everything came with appropriate garnishes. One would expect no less, as I learn from watching America’s Test Kitchen The Next Generation.

No room for dessert.

Categories: Dorchester/Boston, Food & Restaurants