There’s something humming in Claremont, Cape Town.
Oven baked fresh cob.
It’s the low gentle sound of something being done properly.
That something is a good restaurant, with well priced, consistently delicious food being served up expertly to an appreciative and increasingly loyal following, in the southern suburbs.
A Tavola is on the ground floor of a modern building, and is an airy and large glass and tiled room, with an open kitchen and deep red walls, displaying some memorabilia of “ye olde” Italy.
It’s heartwarming to see a place like this doing well.
Chef David Haupt runs the open kitchen while Kurt Henderson manages the slickly run front of house.
This is traditional Italian cooking done properly. Fresh seasonal food, their own pasta, sharp service and a snappy wine list combine to deliver a deeply satisfiying experience.
Oven roasted rosemary and garlic baby chicken with crispy potato wedges, the best lasagne in town, rolled stuffed veal, fresh pasta with rabbit braised with Italian sausage, casserole of lamb knuckle with celery, carrots, onion and red wine are a few of the mouth watering dishes.
Bruschetta mista.
The consistency of the food and service is remarkable, and might have something to do with the fact that David (or Candice Gower or both) and Kurt always seems to be there.
It took a few months for the car guards to cop on to the multitude of guests arriving on Wilderness Road, but since then they have descended like locusts. They heard the hum too, and are there for their cut.
A Tavola, Library Square, Wilderness Road, Claremont. 021 671 1763. www.atavola.co.za.
Starters R42-R76. Mains R58-R115. Desserts R38-R40. Corkage R30.
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