photo by Claudia Holwill
Walking into Lavagna for a sneak preview last night, I was impressed at first sight. The outside had a simple fresh paint job, a new sign and window, and a few small sidewalk tables. The inside, however, looked completely different from the old Starfish Cafe. The renovations were probably not all that substantial but the new decor looked great, and had me excited to try the new menu.
In tribute to its name — Lavagna is a city in Northern Italy where slate, or chalkboard, is from — the menus are small chalkboards in wooden frames. As soon as we sat down we were given a small drink menu along with the dinner menu, both on small boards written in colorful chalk, which I think provides a great unique twist to their presentation.
Starters, which are all $7, range from salads to steamed clams to calamari to classic tomato and mozzarella. I wanted to also try the mozzarella but figured there would be plenty more opportunities to return for those. Instead we decided to try the Parmesan calamari, which comes with a delicious Parmesan sauce, and the grilled artichoke, which was possibly my favorite dish of the night.
Main courses include a number of pasta dishes for $15 and meat or seafood entrees for $19. The pastas cover all of your basic Italian cravings from spaghetti with meatballs to rigatoni chicken and broccoli. The dinner entrees include grilled New York Steak, roasted chicken, scallops, shrimp, lobster or a fish of the day. My sister ordered the gnocchi mushroom sage, which was heavy for such a warm night but incredibly tasty, and I ordered the sauteed scallop, shrimp and lobster, which came with rotini pasta with a light cream sauce. The way the menu was written, I was not expecting pasta to come with the entree items, but I was certainly pleased to get such a delicious bowl of pasta with my seafood.
Photo by Claudia Holwill
While pretty much any of the pastas are kid-friendly enough for even the pickiest of eaters, Lavagna also has a small kids menu of smaller portions and simple dishes. A small salad is $5, spaghetti and meatballs and the buttered rigatoni are both $7, and grilled cheese is just $6. My sister, who has two small kids, noted that the noise level of the restaurant (the acoustics make it quite loud once its full), would actually make it a great place for dinner with the whole family. Kids often forget their inside voices, but in a noisy room like that, you’re not likely to be bothering people that much! At the same time, the soft lighting and intimate tables make me see this being a great neighborhood date spot for later dinners, so don’t be scared off if you’d rather not join in for family time. Just make your reservation for a little bit later.
After dinner, let the temptation for desert win you over — they have cannoli, tiramisu and gelato. We split the cannoli, which were good but I plan to try the gelato on my next visit. I’d also recommend trying “The Lavagna” from the cocktail menu. It’s a raspberry vodka martini that tastes just like fresh raspberries. Very tasty…maybe too tasty so careful ordering more than one or two!
Lavagna opens tonight for dinner and the owners seem excited to be part of the neighborhood. From what I was treated to last night, I think they will be a great addition to our restaurant mix and I’m definitely excited to go back for more. While they will only be open for dinner at first, their regular hours will be 4pm – 10pm Sunday through Thursday, and 4pm – 11 pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
Lavagna is located at 539 8th Street SE