TAZZA KITCHEN replaces Cafe Caturra in Cameron Village

TAZZA in Cameron Village

After five days being stuck inside because of the snow and ice, I was able to take Dan out on Sunday afternoon for an early dinner.  Cafe Caturra in Cameron Village was one of our favorite places to eat in the Village, but it has been replaced by TAZZA.  We read some reviews of this new restaurant online and decided to give it a try.  We had no regrets.  The ambiance, the staff, and most of all the food were superb.

A list of some of their farms on the menu.

They specialize in fresh, know your farmers food and use only antibiotic-free, hormone-free, humanely-raised pork, poultry, lamb and beef, and sustainably-harvested, chemical-free seafood. There menu offers Mexican cuisine and Italian cuisine, an unusual combination of choices. And of course pizza.  Our waiter suggested that the name TAZZA is a combination of Tacos and Pizza, but I think he may have been joking.

Dan is perusing the menu.

We shared a starter of Cast Iron Goat Cheese.  The cheese was melted in a marinara sauce and parsley and served with brick oven bread. The texture and flavor were perfect.

Cast Iron Goat Cheese with Brick Oven Bread.

Dan's entree choice was the Brick Oven Crab Cakes served with pequin chili slaw, micro greens and lemon dressing.  The slaw was a bit on the hot spicy side, but the crab cakes were quite good with lots of crab meat. The spicy slaw was because of pequin peppers, so now we know what that is.

Crab Cakes. 

I chose the Scallops with sweet potato risotto, fried sage, and brown butter.  The scallops were large, fresh and perfectly cooked and I would love to have the recipe of the sweet potato risotto.  The risotto was rich and creamy.  Yum!!!!

Scallops with sweet potato risotto. 

I had been avoiding sugar all week, so I thought I deserved a bit of something sweet.    We shared the Gelato & Cake. Two scoops of salted caramel gelato with a slice of almond and orange flourless cake, garnished with a basil leaf provided a perfect ending for a delicious dinner.

Salted caramel gelato with almond-orange flourless cake.  

We've decided we like TAZZA even better than Cafe Caturra, and I am ready to go again as soon as the now snowy weather permits.

Check out their link here.
The gelato came from gelati celesti in Richmond.  It rivals the gelato we've had in Italy.