By “She see money all around me, I look like I’m da man….”.. I literally, had no other opening thought, and I was listening to that song, so.. “But, I was down in and out like last week, tell me where have you beeennnn…” Now, I’m trying to correlate that song with this restaurant, but sadly, I can’t. So, maybe I should just discuss my experience at this restaurant? Wait, before I do that, congrats to GoldLink on their Grammy nomination. I know they’ll never see this, but I like to give credit when it’s due, no matter who you are or what you do. Everyone has a unique story, and sometimes your best supporters are those you may never meet in life.
Even if you and I meet or not, the fact that you’re reading this, shows me that you support me so I thank you. Tagliata was recommended to me by a couple of Baltimore foodies, so I decided to go up north for a change to see what the hype was all about. Well, to my surprise this restaurant surpassed the hype. Tagliata is located off of Fleet St. in downtown Baltimore, and specializes in Contemporary Italian foods.
The restaurant looks amazing on the exterior and the interior. Usually most restaurants I go to are either or, but this one has the best of both worlds. During the summer time, they have comfortable looking cushions with a full dining area outside, which will be awesome for late night dinners. The interior of this restaurant looks like the type of restaurant you take your significant other to when they’re mad at you. I’m sure it’ll help partially forget the reason they were mad at you, except if you leave time on the microwave. That shit can’t be forgiven.
I was able to order four dishes from this restaurant. I never thought I’d eat Beets at a restaurant, but a first time for everything, right? I also ordered Squid Ink Pasta, Lobster Fra Diavolo, and Glazed Duck. We can start with the Beets. (they’re natures candy ya kno?-Doug Funny) The Beets were roasted with stacciatella, hazelnut, watercress, and maple gastrique. For some odd reason, I thought about Doug and Skeeter Valentine every time I took a bite of the Beets. The Beets were sweet and worked well with the stacciatella, which has the taste and consistency of a ricotta cheese. The cheese along with the nuts worked well together with the watercress, which all ingredients complimented each other.
The second item that was ordered was the Lobster Fra Diavolo. If you like your pasta with a little kick to it, than this is the perfect dish for you. The dish was made with spaghetti, spicy tomato sauce, brandy, and basil. The good thing about this dish is you don’t taste the spiciness until the last bite right before you swallow. The lobster is perfectly cooked and they provide a generous portion of it. What I enjoy most about this pasta and the other pasta that I ordered were the fact that you can order “half portions” so you can get a taste of a different couple plates without being too full.
The third dish that was ordered was the Squid Ink Campanelle. It consisted of blue crab, sea urchin cream sauce, basil, and breadcrumbs. This dish was absolutely one of the best squid ink pasta dishes I’ve ever had. It comes a second close to the dish I had at Red Hen earlier this year in Washington, D.C. I opted to go without the breadcrumbs, because most restaurants just sprinkle breadcrumbs on top of the overall dish, and I’ll be damned if I have a soggy and/or crunchy taste to go on top of my al dente pasta. The bluecrab was sweet and the sea urchin cream sauce made my taste buds feel like I was on another planet. I ordered a half dish of this because I didn’t want to get too full, but now that I think about it, I should’ve ordered a full size.
The last dish that was ordered was the Honey Lavender-Glazed Duck. It consisted of Duck, cauliflower puree, pear, pickled cauliflower, hazlenuts, and earl grey. I usually like my meats to be medium, but on this occasion the waitress recommended medium rare, which was fine with me. The duck was so juicy and flavorful that I contemplated on ordering more of my red meats medium rare. The cauliflower puree stole the show of this dish though. If you would’ve tasted how smooth and sweet and savory it was you would’ve asked if they had this specific vegetable as a side dish. The pear worked well with the dish as well by adding a little acidity to the puree.
Overall, this restaurant is a drop everything you’re doing and get there TONIGHT. Don’t wait, seriously, make a reservation and go. You won’t be disappointed.
SavoryTravels 