Toscana, Tallinn, Estonia

Vene 6, Tallinn
Phone: +372 6 450 045
www.toscana.ee

Last time we were visiting Tallinn, we tried out another Italian in the old town, Toscana. The logo and design of the menu is somewhat similar to Da Vinci’s (see below), but their webpages are different and do not link to each other. So, it’s hard to say whether the same guys are behind both restaurants, but the type of food and the truffophile menu might be a sign that they are. Compared to Da Vinci, the interior in Toscana is a bit more fine-diningish, and the menu is also a bit more exciting. As a starter I went for the veal carpaccio (150 EEK / 10€), which was good upper standard, with fresh rocket salad and a nice olive oil. My main course was tagliatelle with artichokes, smoked raw ham and Grana Padano (140EEK / 9.30€) - fresh ingredients and yummy. My companion started with a bruschetta which was OK, and then went for a nice Tagliolini with porcini mushrooms and spinach (140EEK / 9.30€). There was still a little hole for dessert, which I filled with an average+ mousse di cioccolato. While this time we went for rather classic choices, the menu does offer some innovative dishes such as Tagliolini with king prawns and orange, Gnocchi with capsicum and wild boar ham, and Salmon with pistachio and rucola sauce.
Altogether, a nice dining experience, and we felt the food was slightly better and the menu a bit more exciting than that of Da Vinci. Special thanks to our waiter Martin, who was patient enough to stick to Estonian despite our fairly limited language skills.

Visited: May 2008

Da Vinci, Tallinn, Estonia

Aia 7
Phone: +372 641 6177
www.davincifood.ee/aia/

e-mail: davinci [at] davincifood.ee

Tallinn is full of new and exciting restaurants, and today I’d like to present my own favourite amongst them. Davinci is – as you might guess – an Italian restaurant, and is located just 300m away from the main shopping street in Tallinn’s old town, right next to the Kalev Spa. The trendy, lounge-type ambience is neat, the service friendly & english-speaking, and the pasta list is outright impressive. Take very traditional Italian ingredients and dishes, add a modern, even experimental touch to them, and you have what makes the extensive menu so enjoyable to try out.

Next to the normal categories, the menu has two pasta parts: Fresh Pasta and Pasta & Risotti. During our last visit, I tried Gnocchi al pistacchio e bresaola (~8€), which sounds exotic and was excellent. Both pasta sections include two dishes with truffle, and even though the truffle shaves themselves are more for decoration than for taste, the sauces have a nice strong aroma. While we never actually got to the main courses and ended up filling our stomachs with different kinds of pasta, the menu continues with the fresh attitude: Goose filet in cherry and almond sauce (~13,50 €), Beef filet with grated Robiola cheese and red chicory (radicchio), salmon with beet carpaccio and asparagus. The desserts (there’s always space for one dessert) are slightly more traditional, but nevertheless very good and of a stunnig visual appearance (see picture, I just love the heartbeat idea). If you’d like to go for a nice drink before or after, the simpler sister-restaurant Leonardo is just on the other side of the entrance and is nice for cocktails and other drinks.

Although a bit high priced in relation to the general price level, Da Vinci seems to have taken its well-earned spot in the increasingly competitive Tallinn restaurant scene, celebrating their second birthday in spring 2007. We have visited Da Vinci for several times now, have never been disappointed, and every time were tempted to order more dishes than we could actually manage to eat.

PS. The full menu can be found at their webpage, which even has three different background music tracks to choose from :)

PPS. I just learned today (Aug 2008) that there's a shady pizzeria on the same street, a few houses further down the road - if you're looking for DaVinci, make sure you're not walking past.

Visited: July 2006, July 2007, May 2008