Tavolo
1918 Dorchester Avenue
Boston, MA 02124
617-822-1918
The third restaurant from chef-owner Chris Douglass, Tavolo (accented on the first syllable), takes the neighborhood pizza joint to new heights with an Italianate menu of pizza, pastas, paninis and salads. A create your own antipasti, a full bar (with sassy cocktails) and a great list of Italian and New World wines and beers draw both Dorchester residents and diners from further afield.
The casual, high ceilinged eatery makes its home on Dorchester Avenue in Douglass' own neighborhood. The dining room, a pleasing riot of colors - aqua, red, yellow and chartreuse - has accents of blonde wood and blackboard walls covered in whimsical, pizza-themed cartoons drawn by artist Kiki Ikura. Also contributing to its neighborhood favorite status - a dedicated takeout area and a private dining room that can accommodate groups as large as thirty.
Tavolo's Pasta Tour Continues Its Travels
Take a tour through Italy without ever having to set foot on a plane - Tavolo, the Dorchester-based, Italian eatery from ...
Tavolo Turns Two
On Sunday, September 12th, Tavolo celebrates its second birthday with an early evening soirée.
Tavolo's Pasta Tour Continues Its Travels
Take a tour through Italy without ever having to set foot on a plane - Tavolo, the Dorchester-based, Italian eatery from ...
Maxwell Thompson
Chef at Tavolo
Max Thompson, a Minnesota native, recalls growing up eating meat, potatoes and pickled herring, but a family trip to France turned him on to really great food. After graduating from University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in Geological Sciences, Thompson studied to become a geo-technical engineer, but found he was far more excited by his part time job in a local pub, and studying cookbooks, than he was in his declared major, so he began saving to attend culinary school.
Thompson chose the French Culinary Institute in New York, and worked at RM, one of Rick Moonen's restaurants, while still a student there. His next job was at Café Boulud under Daniel Boulud, followed by stints with several other well-known chefs in New York. A subsequent job at The Laundry in the Hamptons gave Thompson exposure to high volume cooking - and top compensation - in one summer season he earned enough to take time off and travel, covering seven Southeast Asian countries in six months. In Malaysia, he volunteered in a vegetarian, Buddhist soup kitchen, serving three meals a day with donated vegetables from local purveyors.
After returning home to America and regrouping briefly, Thompson landed a job at Craigie Street Bistro in Cambridge. After a few months, he realized that his skills and temperament were better suited to casual than fine dining, so he connected with chef-owner Chris Douglass at Ashmont Grill in Dorchester, and was later asked to open the kitchen at Tavolo, where a strong back, a good pair of clogs and a deep love of cooking helped him through the arduous task of opening a restaurant.
A certified sommelier, Thompson other interests include skiing, piano and film.
- Aïoli
- 1. noun A blend of ail (garlic) and oli (oil) in the parlance of the Provence region of southern France. Around here, we'd call it a garlic mayonnaise.
- Champ
- 1. noun An Irish favorite of mashed potatoes, green onions and butter.
- Chorizo
- 1. noun Crumbly, spiced pork sausage.
- Confit
- 1. noun Meat (usually goose, duck or pork) that is slowly cooked in its own fat and preserved with the fat packed around it as a seal.
- Emulsion
- 1. noun The mixture of two liquids that cannot normally combine smoothly (e.g., oil and water). Mayonnaise and hollandaise are two familiar emulsions.
- Fricassee
- 1. noun A thick, chunky stew of meat (often chicken or veal), vegetables and sometimes wine.
- Gazpacho
- 1. noun A Spanish soup served chilled, originally a puree of cucumber, tomato, onion, bell pepper, celery, vinegar, breadcrumbs, olive oil and garlic.
- Hollandaise
- 1. noun An emulsion of egg yolks, lemon juice and hot melted butter, the smooth, rich sauce is often an accompaniment to vegetable, fish and egg dishes.
- Jus
- 1. noun French for juice, jus also refers to the unthickened juices from a piece of roasted meat.
- Mascarpone
- 1. noun Ultra-rich, soft cheese known best for its role in tiramisu.
- Oxtail
- 1. noun A very flavorful cut of meat usually from beef or veal tail. Can be very tough so, often requires long, slow braising.
- Pancetta
- 1. noun Cured Italian bacon.
- Pesto
- 1. noun An Italian sauce traditionally made with basil, olive oil, garlic, pine nuts and Romano and Parmesan cheeses.
- Polenta
- 1. noun A slow-cooked cornmeal porridge popular in northern Italy; can be served soupy or firm, sometimes fried.
- Porcini
- 1. noun Smoky, meaty wild mushrooms.
- Prix fixe
- 1. noun French for fixed price, a complete meal that features a limited number of selections at a preset price.
- Ragu
- 1. noun Tomato and meat sauce from Bologna.
- Salsify
- 1. noun A root vegetable with oyster-flavored flesh.
- Tapenade
- 1. noun Thick paste - made from olives, anchovies, capers, lemon juice, olive oil and seasonings - that can be a condiment or a spread.
- Verjus
- 1. noun Sour liquid made from unripe fruit; used to flavor sauces and condiments.
- Vitello tonnato
- 1. noun An Italian classic of cold, thinly sliced, roasted veal (vitello) with a sauce of pureed tuna (tonno), anchovy, capers, lemon and olive oil.
- Yuzu
- 1. noun A tangy citrus fruit with flavorful rind.
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