For most restaurateurs, opening two new establishments in a year would be a job well done, but Ben Berg isn’t most restaurateurs. Fresh off the debuts of Chinese restaurant Benny Chows in June and French-inspired Annabelle Brasserie in October, the owner of Berg Hospitality — the group behind B&B Butchers, The Annie Cafe, Turner’s, and others — will open his third restaurant of 2023 with the debut of Tavola, which will begin lunch and dinner service on Wednesday, December 13.
Announced last year, Tavola is a new Italian restaurant created by renovations to the first floor of the space that had been French fine dining restaurant La Table. It’s operated in partnership with The Bastion Collection, the New York-based hospitality group behind French restaurants La Table and Le Jardinier at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Berg tells CultureMap that it’s a more upscale, European-style concept compared to his other Italian restaurants — Italian-American restaurant B.B. Italia in Sugar Land and rustic Italian restaurant Trattoria Sofia in the Heights.
“The menu is classic Italian that you’d have in Italy, but with classic European technique to it,” Berg says. “More upscale, like you’d find at a restaurant in New York City.”
Formerly a more casual bar and bakery area, the new downstairs space now offers seating for just over 100 diners. Enclosing the patio with glass walls allowed Berg and designer Gail McCleese of Sensitori to expand the bar to three sides, making it a focal point of the room. A “party booth” will be a popular table for group dining.
“I would say it’s a mix between two great Italian fashion houses,” Berg says about the room’s design. “Vintage Gucci from the ‘60s and Loro Piana with a subtle elegance to it. We like the rose hues. We have rose glass in there, light greens. It’s a pretty sophisticated small dining room.”
“Sophisticated” could also be applied to Tavola’s chef. The Bastion Collection recruited executive chef Luca Di Benedetto to lead the kitchen for both Tavola and a still-unnamed new restaurant that will open upstairs in the former La Table space. A protege of Gualtiero Marchesi, considered the father of modern Italian cooking and the first Italian chef to earn three Michelin stars, Di Benedetto brings a resume of working at Michelin-starred restaurants in Houston and most recently served as the corporate head chef for the Giorgio Armani Group.
“His food brings another level of flavor and technique,” Berg says about Di Benedetto. “His knowledge of Italian products and sourcing has been a real pleasure.”
“I hold a deep connection to my culture, and I consider it a great privilege to share the rich flavors of Italy with the people of Houston," Di Benedetto added in a statement. "My culinary vision for the menu is to present authentic Italian cuisine through my perspective. Central to my cooking philosophy is simplicity and quality of ingredients. Before crafting any dish, I ensure that I have access to the best, highest quality, and most consistent ingredients.”
Using both his knowledge of Italian products and incorporating ingredients from American farms with sustainable practices, Di Benedetto has created a menu of upscale Italian fare. Highlights include cacio e pepe made with agnolotti and topped with crispy artichokes, pappardelle with Texas boar ragu, linguine with lobster, and a decadent, seven-layer lasagna made with spinach pasta, brisket, pancetta, and pork butt.
“The agnolotti, the cacio e pepe. Everything pops with flavor, but that dish, I love,” Berg says. “His lasagna is the most bursting with flavor I’ve ever had. Very simple, very Italian definitely a step away from what you’re used to with American lasagna.”
Salvatore Martone, the Bastion Collection’s corporate pastry chef, contributed to the restaurant’s dessert menu, including a tiramisu that’s prepared tableside with espresso dripped on top. He’s also created a cannoli for two.
Berg has at least six other projects in the works. They include Turner’s Cut, a sophisticated steakhouse that will join Annabelle Brasserie in the Autry Park mixed-use development; Buttermilk Baby, a burger and biscuit concept in the Heights; and Dune Road, a New England-inspired seafood restaurant downtown. Next up will be Prime 131, a live fire restaurant in Timbergrove.
“That’s the one I’m getting the most excited about,” Berg says. “What we’re trying to pull off with these grills in the middle and all the live fire cooking. It’s a really cool warehouse space. Think it’s going to be something really different, and it’s a complete show.”
Photo by Brian Kennedy
Steak Fiorentina.
