Tavernetta

About Tavernetta

Tavernetta is the pasta specialist of central Odessa, open since 2012 on the corner of Yekaterininska and Yevreiska Streets. It made its name as the city's first Italian restaurant without pizza, putting handmade pasta at the centre of everything: there is a marble table in the open kitchen where the dough is rolled by hand, and the cooking follows the kind of dishes an Italian home cook would make for the family.

The kitchen leans on imported staples and good Ukrainian produce. For more of the city's tables, compare the grand Bernardazzi, the seafood-led Di Mare and the all-day Maman. For the wider category, see our Italian guide.

The Kitchen

Pasta is the whole point. The dough is made and rolled by hand at a marble table set into the open kitchen, and the menu runs through the kind of dishes a simple Italian housewife would cook for her family. The order to chase is the rabbit ravioli with truffle paste; around it sit pappardelle with lamb, wild-mushroom risotto and a much-praised lasagna, with the fillings and sauces changing through the year. The kitchen imports its olive oil, cheese, anchovies and durum-wheat flour from Italy and sources the rest from the best Ukrainian producers it can find. Prices are mid-range for central Odessa, and the cooking is honest and homestyle rather than fine-dining, sold on the quality of the pasta itself.

The Room

The room is warm and provincial in feel, a small, welcoming Italian trattoria built around the open kitchen and its marble pasta table, where you can watch the dough being worked. It sits on the corner of Yekaterininska and Yevreiska Streets, in the historic centre of Odessa within walking distance of the city's main sights, and is open from morning until late. The mood suits a relaxed lunch, a quiet dinner for two or a small group of pasta lovers, and the long hours make it easy to drop in. Booking ahead is sensible for a weekend evening table.