La Buona Tavola

One of the places I first fell in love with when I moved to Seattle was this quaint little Italian truffle bar hidden in Pike's Place Market called La Buona Tavola. It's one of those places where they have samples of olive oil, vinegar, truffle cream and other various condiments out for you to try...which is always fun to me. :) They specialize in imported Italian gourmet foods and wines, and truffles too. One item I had never had until trying it there, has become one of my favorites, an aged basalmic vinegar that is almost a syrup consistency and tastes amazing on almost anything. I know this because of what I find to be one of their best offerings, their wine tasting. And one of the greatest things is that it only costs $5! This isn't just any wine tasting. One of the first things they tell you is that Italian wine is meant to be had and best appreciated with food.

So the tasting goes something like this: You are given a glass with a small amount of wine, told to swirl and taste. The wine staff is very knowledgeable and happy to teach as much as you care to learn. After the first taste, you're given a small piece of food which they have specially chosen to pair with the wine, which you are then told to taste by itself. Finally, you taste the food and sip the wine together, the result is amazing...you just have to try it to understand. And then occasionally they will put a few drops of that syrupy balsamic on the bite of food and combine all three, also amazing! What really is interesting is which foods and wines they combine. One that always sticks out in my mind is the combination of a sweeter white wine with a feta stuffed banana pepper, eventually drizzled with balsamic....it is incredible and so unexpected how the wine enhances it so well. It's a great and inexpensive way to spend an afternoon! Check it out!