Fired Up About Tazza Kitchen

    After reading a review of Tazza Kitchen in a recent edition of the Indy, I was psyched to give it a try.  The new restaurant centers around the beautiful mosaic tile covered wood fire oven brought in direct from Naples, Italy.  The restaurant claims their concept is a mix of Mediterranean and Baja inspirations, certainly a strange combination.  Both inspirations are reflected on the menu in pizzas to tacos, however I feel the true concept they should cling to is the wood fire oven.  Tazza seeks to utilize local ingredients, something I always appreciate in a restaurant.

   Tazza Kitchen is situated in Raleigh's Cameron Village and the trendy atmosphere inside and out is fantastic.  I immediately felt like a classy member of the in-crowd sitting out on the Tazza patio with my cocktail, but that did come with a hefty price tag.  I've been to Tazza twice in the last week, so you can infer that I liked it quite a bit.

  On my first visit to Tazza I went with three friends and was able to try out lots of things on the menu by sharing apps, entrees, and desserts around the table.  We started out with the highly recommended cast iron skillet of wood fire roasted brusselsprouts with maple vinaigrette, bacon and hard boiled egg, apparently a little play on breakfast.  I found the addition of hard boiled egg a little superfluous, but overall it was very tasty.  My pick was the cast iron skillet of bubbly hot goat cheese and marinara sauce served with olive oil and sea salt bedecked bread slices to dip.  This would be hard NOT to like. On my second visit with my friend (and gradual foodie convert) we ordered the spicy crispy potatoes, little baby potatoes with jalapeno puree and lemon zest, which were a very flavorful and unique take on potatoes and a great step up the culinary ladder for someone who would typically order french fries. I ordered the guacamole adorned with a little pico and served up with some freshly fried corn tostadas.  I liked the guacamole just fine, but would probably have preferred some lighter tortilla chips to the tostadas.

    For entrees the first time I went the inexpensive route and split a margherita pizza with a friend.  The wood fire oven gave a very identifiable smoky flavor to the pizza, which worked for me. Other friends ordered the shrimp and crispy polenta that was the creamier than I have ever known polenta to be.  My gluten-free gal pal was smitten with it!  Her fiance tried the baja inspired end of the menu and got the roasted pork taco with pickled onions and tomato jam, served up with black lentils. He's the quiet sort, so he didn't comment too much other than to say how much he like the pickled onions and tomato jam.  On my second visit I veered far away from the economical route and got the flounder special upon recommendation with no questions asked.  NOT SMART! The flounder, unsurprisingly, was not cheap and led to a hefty bill unbefitting the meager resources of an underfinanced foodie.  To make matters worse the delicate flounder was scorched by the high heat of the wood fire oven. They should have left it in there to cook for a MUCH shorter time. The farro with chorizo and pistachios it was served with wasn't my favorite either. If I was still hungry I would have eaten it, but after my appetizer I just left it on my plate...and that coming from a full fledged member of the clean plate club.  My potato loving friend was going to go the safe route and order the margherita pizza, but the waitress talked him into trying the Italian sausage and black pepper honey pizza. I tasted it and I've gotta say, it was pretty unique. I would never have thought about putting honey on a pizza, but the sweet, spicy, savory, combo actually worked.

    For dessert there were just two choices, both gluten free.  My friends and I ordered one of each, a flourless almond cake with a salted caramel gelato and a jar of chocolate budino, a rich chocolate custard with almonds olive oil and sea salt.  The flourless almond cake was a total let down, it was very mealy and didn't have the dense richness I would expect from a flourless cake. The gelato was delicious juxtaposition of salty and sweet. The dark chocolate budino bites highlighted with the crunch of roasted almonds created an ideal mixture of complementary flavors and textures. I skipped out on dessert on my second visit in favor of a second drink.

   

The cocktails are the true highlight of a visit to Tazza Kitchen.  They are artfully crafted drinks made with great fresh ingredients.  The blackberry mojito is a masterpiece of muddled and whole fresh blackberries, fresh mint, white rum, lime juice and sugar over crushed ice.  It looks as wonderful as it tastes, and isn't overly sweet.  After trying the margarita on my second visit, which was still quite good, I had to get another one of those blackberry mojitos!
     So overall it's definitely worth a trip to Tazza, but order carefully or you will empty out your wallet like I did.  Go with friends or a date and share an app. like the brusselsprouts or goat cheese, get (or share if you can agree on a topping!) a pizza.  The Italian sausage and black pepper honey is a great choice. Sharing will save you enough money to order a drink, and if you partake in the hard stuff, that is a must. The drinks are made strong, and they aren't cheap, so it may be wise to stick to just one.