Buono Tavola in SLO

The gf and I were in San Luis Obispo this weekend for a mini-vacation and we ate at one of our favorite restaurants, Buono Tavola, and i fear Spago has ruined me. The meal started off well with their great olive puree stuff, quite delicious on their fresh focaccia and bread, but the trouble was with the appetizers.




To start things off, the bruschetta was COVERED in sub-par, winter tomatoes. And even if they were anywhere remotely close to the super-awesome tomatoes Brian has been bragging about from Italy, this isn't Friday's, you don't need to impress me with food that's overflowing with stuff. Plus, how do you eat tomato-covered bruschetta without making a mess? And did I mention the tomatoes were kinda tasteless and with a watery, almost crumbly texture? Yeah, winter may not be the best time to be loading food up with tomatoes. Maybe they were trying to unload them...
So after my glowing review of their tomatoes, you can guess where my comments on the caprese salad are going. But it may not be entirely their fault, because let me jump back to this whole "Spago has ruined me" thing. A few weeks back, the gf and I were wrangled into going to Spago, and i was worried it would be all hype, we'd show up, eat average food amidst all the beautiful people, and go home to resume making fun of Mr. Puck of FoodTV. But I was wrong, so very wrong. Not only was the hype very delicious, i had, without a doubt, and with great disappointment for future similar dishes, the absolute best caprese salad i've ever had in my life at Spago that night. It started with some amazing heirloom tomatoes, topped with the softest, most delicious, creamy mozzarella cheese i've ever tasted, then with a mixture of basil and baby arugula (I go silly for arugula) on top of that, seasoned perfectly with evo, sea salt, and i think there might have been some basil evoo as well. "Life changing" and "Can now die a happy man" are understatements. It's that good (even though I'm sure Brian will claim he had better in italy, and he might be right, but i haven't been to italy). So you can see how Buono Tavola is already starting out behind the count, but even so, the cheese was a little bland and firm, the aforementioned problem with the tomatoes, and this caprese had red onions on it, which pushed the dish a little too close to "salsa" territory for my tastes, but I thought the capers were a nice touch. I've had worse, but I've had better, even from places other than Spago.




For the main dishes, the gf and I both ordered from the daily specials, she ordered some tortellini with a mixture of veal, pork, and possibly beef, in a tasty veal-reduction sauce, which she thought was a bit too meaty, and I can see her point, but i thought it was still good. My pork chops though were very good, perfectly medium (if you're still eating your pork burnt to a crisp because that's what your mom told you, get over it, go to a nice restaurant and get a pork chop cooked medium, it's amazing) and the sauce was some kind of veal-reduction and tomato sauce which was very delicious, and perfect for dipping the bread in. I've had some pork loin chops from Buono Tavola on a previous visit, prepared differently, and they were just as good. This place knows their way around a hog.



We were too stuffed for desert and we left pretty satisfied. I think on a different day with better tomatoes, a line cook that understands that sometimes less is more, and me coming off fresh from a near-death head trauma that temporarily knocked the glorious memories of Spago's beautiful caprese from my noggin, this review might have been more glowing. In fact, I'm sure we will excitedly return on our next trip to California's central coast, and justifiably so. Buono Tavola is a very good place worth checking out, but you know where to go for a life-changing caprese.