Finally got around to trying this place that had been all the buzz lately. From a mention in Jon Carroll's column, to a favorable review in the chron, to a recommendation from someone at work who I hadn't known had a palate. They serve cecchi, a Venetian form reminiscent of tapas or dim sum. I had never heard of this before Tavolino's came around and as far as I know, they're the only place around that serves it. Heck. As far as I know, they made the whole thing up. Anyway. Small plates. Variety of tastes. Light. Restaurant had a nice, casual feel to it. Open kitchen, which I like. Helpful and attentive waitstaff --- our waiter suggested both entrees for us to try and the wine from a winelist that contained nothing I knew and I was happy with all of her suggestions. The food all had a very simple, very Italian feel to it. We started off with 1/2 and 1/2 mussels and clams. I wanted it with the red sauce and Italian sausage; my dining companion has too much class for this so we got the offering with brown garlic and Italian parsley. (Remind me to go with someone else next time). Very tasty. Mussels were very meaty and flavorful. And the sauce was good for dunking the crusty and yeasty bread. Lamb osso buco was good and was complemented well with the white beans it was served with. We had the heirloom tomato salad with fresh mozzarella. Beautiful salad, wonderful red, yellow, and orange tomatoes of various shapes and sizes. Pretty ordinary mozzarella which really disappointed me. And we had the green beans braised in spicy olive oil. Very sweet with a hint of an edge, an edge that mellowed well with the wine. My dining companion thought the beans were way overcooked, and I guess they were, but I like my green beans cooked that way and I loved the dish. For wine, like I said I didn't know anything on the list. I ended up getting a glass of the Valpolicella, le Ragose. Veneto. 1991. Very smooth. Cost $6.25 for an average-sized glass. And we ended up passing on dessert, although this wasn't so easy with the fig ice cream on the menu. All in all, good restaurant. Not first-rate, but certainly worth another trip or two. Not way expensive. We were there in mid-afternoon and had to order off the lunch menu; there are several dishes on the dinner menu I still want to try. Tavolino's is on the corner of Columbus and Vallejo in North Beach and is open until 1:00 a.m.
San Francisco, CA