Was it a reason for tavola regulars to celebrate or cry in their Montepulciano?
Sure, they were gathered for a night at one of their favorite restaurants in town. Definitely a plus. But the reason for the occasion was the introduction of an all-new kitchen staff at the Belmont eatery. Would the new kids be as good as the old guard? Would they live up to the high expectations set in tavola’s first five years in business?
It’s too early to tell, but the prix fixe dinner on October 18 that doubled as the restaurant’s five-year anniversary and new staff roll-out was a solid start. Michael Keaveny’s focus on thoughtful plays on classic Italian dishes was still very much evident, and the execution in the restaurant’s small kitchen was on point.
“The new team has been great,” Keaveny said. “For the first month, I was in the kitchen pretty much every night, and now I don’t need to be. I think the food is going out amazingly fast and consistent. I am very big on consistency.”
The transition in the tavola kitchen has been some time coming. Keaveny (husband of C-VILLE Arts Editor Tami Keaveny) long knew his team of Loren Mendosa, Mitchell Beerens, Ian Redshaw, and Andrew Cole was looking to step out and open a new restaurant. They wanted to do something a bit more down-market, and there was even talk of Keaveny joining them.
In the end, Keaveny decided he had all he wanted in tavola, and the four mainstays of his kitchen settled on opening a Neapolitan-style pizzeria in the former Farm space next to the Belmont bridge.
Mendosa and his team plan to open this fall, and anticipation for the concept, which has been extremely popular in larger markets, is strong. But lost in the excitement has been the fallout for tavola. How would the restaurant replace what has come to be known as one of the most consistent kitchen staffs in town?
Keaveny was up to the task. He posted his openings to websites. He pored over resumés. He invited chefs in to offer tastings.
“The first thing I look for is integrity and character,” Keaveny said. “It has to be someone who doesn’t have a huge ego, because they are going to be producing a lot of my food.”
At the same time, Keaveny wanted someone who’s motivated to help improve existing dishes and can be creative enough to enjoy the “chef’s playground” that is the tavola specials board. It was a tough balance to strike, but Keaveny believes he’s found it in chef Aris Cuadra, former sous chef at Pasture, and sous chef Caleb Warr, who was working across the street at Mas when he answered tavola’s ad.
Neither chef had significant experience cooking Italian food, but that didn’t matter much to Keaveny. Both were fans of tavola before joining the team and seemed to intuitively understand what the restaurant wants to do. Both shared many of Keaveny’s philosophies about food, and both delivered spot-on tastings.
“To me, it is not about the chefs, it is about the restaurant,” Keaveny said. “The chef needs to work within the framework of what tavola does. That being said, chef Aris has come up with some amazing specials, and some of the dishes we have done in the past have been brought to a new level in his hands.”
One of those dishes, a duck confit with polenta, cherries, and peppercorns, was on display at the anniversary meal. Mendosa, invited by Keaveny to sit at table one for the dinner, said the plating on the dishes was “wildly different” from the way the restaurant had done it in the past and called it “impactful.”
The highlights of the meal, though, were no doubt the Maine lobster “open ravioli”—chunks of steamed lobster and slow roasted parsnips loosely ensconced in a toothsome house made pasta—and the Timbercreek beef tenderloin served with mushrooms, radicchio, fonduta, and truffles. While the intense smell of truffles dominated the dining room as that dish was unveiled, Mendosa later said the key was the “proper char on that radicchio.”
It’ll take more than one great dinner to prove the new kitchen is equal to a staff that turned in years of consistent performances, but Mendosa, at least, isn’t worried about tavola’s future.
“Obviously the new staff is going to bring a new approach, but with Mike there at the helm, I don’t think it will be too radically different,” he said. “It’s still Mike’s vision, it’s still his restaurant.”
With a new kitchen staff in place, Keaveny is eying another change—adding a back bar where those waiting for a table can sit down to cocktails and snacks. “That will be the final piece of the puzzle,” he said.
Clarification: The original version of this story said the former staff had been there for five years. They had been there for varying amounts of time and the story has been adjusted to reflect this.