Tuong Vi P.
Yelp
After picking up some kids' birthday cards at the stationery store next door and realizing that it was around 1 pm, I dragged AT, our son, and my sister into Tuscany at Your Table. The window had "Italian Market" on it, which caught my eye immediately. I have never been to Italy but growing up in the Northeast, the Italian food was different (to me, better) from what I found in my early years in Atlanta. Since then, I have sort of given up on going to Italian places that Atlantans rave about. I'm glad I just stopped by on a whim this afternoon, because I happened upon a gem.
This place is sort of like a market/deli and I think the prepared food is really for taking out. We needed to park though, because we had some more Virginia-Highland exploration on our schedule. There was a lone table with a single chair and another occupied one with some people munching food. I wasn't sure we could eat here, especially since we have an 11-month-old, who would need to have lunch with us. My husband asked a man (who turned out to be the owner-chef Luigi D'Arienzo) if there was any more seating. He told us there was a table outside but asked us if we'd preferred to eat inside, to which we responded that we did. He quickly ran outside and grabbed the available table and opened a few more chairs for us. We were super thankful and headed to the register area to see what we could grub on. I noticed pastas of all sorts in the case, along with desserts. Hmmm, sweets are my weakness! I noticed a board with the names of the pasta dishes and sandwiches of the day. We originally planned on heading to Star Provisions and were unsure about how our lunch experience would be at a place we'd never heard of, but seeing the selections eased my worry.
My sister got pasta with meat sauce, AT got gnocchi with two meatballs, and I got vegetable cannelloni and a slice of pistachio ricotta pie-thingy. Because I cannot turn down pistachio anything. Ever. Anyway, we ordered and were told that we could pay at the end, since we'd be charged for the food by weight. Cool! We asked for tap water and after some time, we got the small cups. Definitely expect a European leisure pace if eating here. We were totally fine with that, as we were taking in the whole ambiance. I snapped some photos, to which Luigi sort of raised an eyebrow at me. Having only been to France, my European experience is narrow but this reminded me much of the unease that French people displayed when I'd snap a bunch of pictures. I realized that maybe it was rude to take the photos without asking, so I stopped, apologized, and asked if it would be fine for me to share my photos and take some more. He smiled and said, "Of course." So when dealing with Europeans, pull out those manners that you tuck away and just ask. They'll take you far and get you smiles and warm attitudes.
The food took some time to come out, but the counter was buzzing with customers. There was never a long line, maybe one- or two-customer deep, but the traffic was constant and most everyone took their goodies to go. Once the food came out, we were quite hungry and the first bite in delighted each one of us. Including our little guy, who got a bite of everything (so much fun having our son discover food with us).
Once I was done, I brought our plates to the counter and threw away our plastic, disposable utensils. I paid for our fare and gave a reasonable tip, considering there is partial table service (food is brought out to you) and picked up my cake/pie slice. My sister and I dug in and loved it. I cannot wait to come back to Tuscany at Your Table. We don't often hang out in VA-Hi but realized that maybe we should more often. Especially since street parking is made infinitely easier with the Parkmobile app.
Since I used the bathroom, I gots to share. It's TEENY TINY. Not a problem, as it is clean and functional. AT said, "Well, why do you need a ton of room to use the toilet?!" The bathroom reminded of the few public restrooms I used in France. This specialty food shop feels Italian from front to back, left to right. Your knees may be close to touching the wall but who cares? I had enough paper and there was a container of hand sanitizer, if you are freaked out about needing to wash your hands outside (you lock the door with a small hook).
Besides the prepared foods, there is an abundance of specialty Italian foodstuffs, like pastas, sauces, cookies, crackers, cheese, charcuterie, wine, and olives. If you need something to bring to a dinner host/ess, this place will help you to bring something impressive and delicious.
[#Yelp365: 58/365]