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  Cafe Caturra in Cameron Village was one of our favorite places to eat in the Village, but it has been replaced by TAZZA.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.

Lunch with Helen at Cafe Caturra

Friend Helen came by today, and we finally got around to exchanging Christmas gifts---a little over a month after Christmas.  We hadn't seen each other in quite a while, and we managed to get caught up on things.  We went down to Cameron Village and had a nice leisurely lunch at Cafe Caturra.  Caturra advertizes itself as "a hip, casual burst of flavor and color."  And it is that--casual, colorful and flavorful.

You place your order at the counter and then find a comfy place and wait until they deliver your food.

Counter where one places order.

Helen, an avid Duke fan, in comfy chair waiting on lunch.

When it's warm, there is a nice sidewalk eating area out front, but today it was much too cold.  No one out there today.

Colorful outside dining area is nice in warmer weather.  Not today!!!

It was a good soup day and they had a marvelous rich tomato basil soup on the menu. We both chose that.  In addition Helen enjoyed a tomato/cheese panini, and I had a hamburger slider.  Actually somehow I ordered three sliders, but two of them went home with me and Dan enjoyed them for his late lunch.

Tomato basil soup and tomato/cheese panini.

Soup and hamburger sliders.

Caturra has a nice wine bar where you can sample one of their 20 or so wines they have on tap, and the interior is decorated quite nicely with lots of artwork.

The wine bar.

Artwork on the walls of Cafe Caturra.

If you find yourself in Cameron Village at lunch time or even tea time you might stop by Cafe Caturra for a nice leisurely bite or drink.