A Tavola

I recall what a watershed moment it was in the #CincyPizza community when A Tavola opened in 2011 - Vine Street had to be shut down to bring in the authentic Neapolitan wood fired oven (carved out of Mount Vesuvius, I believe). Riding the Neapolitan pizza wave of that era, A Tavola brought top tier wood fired pizzeria to the Queen City. So it’s nice to see that after a decade, the Madeira continuance is still firing on all cylinders.

The crust is key to Neapolitan (or really any) pizza. Here it is beautifully leopard spotted (i.e. artfully charred). If anything I’d prefer it be cooked very slightly longer (maybe 15 seconds more). But I get it, maybe Madeira is full of people from Nebraska who complain that Neapolitan pizza is “burnt”? Philistines! …The middle of the pizza was a bit soggy - always a factor (feature?) with well-topped Neapolitan pizzas. Pictured here is the Artichoke pizza: red sauce, artichoke, goat cheese, pesto, garlic, and fresh (cow’s milk) mozzarella. It was a highly flavorful combination of flavors that also made for top-tier leftovers (I may have been hitting the arancini a little hard during happy hour). Overall it was a quite excellent pizza experience as A Tavola has always been through my many many visits over the years.

Also, as a bonus I got to meet @dogsofatavola this visit 🐶