Openings: ‘Grandma’s table’ inspires new Italian restaurant in Jupiter, celebrity diners

The new year has dawned with fresh and noteworthy dining options in Palm Beach County. The eclectic range of new restaurants includes a swanky, Miami-inspired steakhouse in West Palm Beach, a comfort-food pub that’s attached to a Lake Worth Beach brewery and a Cali-Mex taco spot in Boynton Beach.

One new Jupiter restaurant, Tavolena, takes inspiration from a vintage table that once graced the chef’s grandmother’s kitchen.

The table belonged to chef/owner Michael Rolchigo’s late grandmother Lena Bello. It now adds an endearing element to Tavolena, which takes its name from the Italian word for table (tavola) and Lena.

Rolchigo opened the 38-seat Italian restaurant in late October after several years away from restaurant life. He gave the small, strip-plaza space a dramatic overhaul, turning it into a buzzy, fine-dining restaurant that counts celebrities among its customers.

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The place

Artistic touches fill the main dining room at Tavolena restaurant in Jupiter.

Sleek black-and-gold decor gives the main dining room a museum-at-night feel. Grandma’s heirloom adds warmth to Tavolena’s private dining room.

The restaurant offers six seats at the bar, five granite-top tables in the main dining room and two “chef’s table” seats with kitchen views. Rolchigo’s wife, interior designer Lisa Rolchigo, gave the space its artistic look. Grandma’s table brought its own share of inspiration. It was at that table that he learned to cook with Grandma at his side, he says.

“Grandma’s table was always special to me. She lived upstairs from us, and all the grandkids would gather around,” says Rolchigo, recalling his childhood years in Utica, NY. “When she passed away, I sat at that table and just cried. I told my mom I only wanted one thing. I told her, ‘I want this table.’”

The chef

The vintage table in the private dining room at Tavolena Italian restaurant in Jupiter once belonged to chef/owner Michael Rolchigo's late grandmother Lena.

Even before Tavolena’s debut, Rolchigo was a respected executive chef in the Jupiter area. He demonstrated a command of classics as well as inventive dishes at the now-closed Jupiter Island Grill and later at his own, more intimate contemporary American restaurant, Krave.

But after a successful run at Krave, he sold the Tequesta restaurant, took a long break from restaurant kitchens and created a line of hot sauces called Chef Iron Mike.

After a few years, he was ready to return to a restaurant kitchen, he says.

Tavolena chef/owner Michael Rolchigo (center) shares a portrait with his mother Juliet, his late father Phil. Rolchigo's wife Lisa stands at his side.

He found a fitting space that had been home to a bakery café (Poshy Noshy) in an Indiantown Road plaza. The extensive build-out work took six months to complete, says Rolchigo, who counts former Krave regulars and local country-club community residents among his customers at Tavolena.

“Some nights, everyone knows everyone in the building. It’s like they’re at the club,” says Rolchigo.

Stars in the house

At Tavolena restaurant in Jupiter, chef/owner Michael Rolchigo shares a snapshot with a famous patron: veteran sports commentator Bryant Gumbel.

Already, Rolchigo’s restaurant has brought in some big names in the sports and TV world.

In recent days, the chef has cooked for TV sports commentator Bryant Gumbel, Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti and major league baseball Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt.

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The food

Homemade crab and spinach filled ravioli are made rich with mascarpone and ricotta cheeses and served in an asiago amaretto cream sauce as a special at Tavolena Italian restaurant in Jupiter.

Tavolena’s scratch kitchen is where the chef’s past and present come together. Rolchigo’s menu features childhood dishes learned at his Italian grandmother’s table as well as his own modernized dishes.

“I based the cuisine around some of the things she taught me. It’s her cuisine and my cuisine, intertwined,” he says.

Grandma’s featured original recipes include Lena’s Meatballs, which are made with ground pork and sirloin, garlic, parsley and Italian cheeses and simmered for hours in Parma-style tomato sauce ($23). Lena’s chopped salad combines romaine, onion, tomato, cucumber, fried chickpeas and Gorgonzola ($14).

Grandmother Lena also inspired Tavolena’s Sunday Italian Feast, which includes pork, sweet sausage and meatballs cooked in fresh tomato sauce and served with ziti ($38), and the Gnocchi Laviano, named for Lena’s Italian hometown. The gnocchi are sauced with Parmesan cream, accented with prosciutto and topped with Umbrian truffles ($38).

On the menu at Tavolena restaurant in Jupiter: Gnocchi Laviano in Parmesan cream sauce, topped with prosciutto and Umbrian truffles.

Other shareables include a truffle pizza that’s topped with Umbrian black truffles, mozzarella, fontina and Parmigiano Reggiano ($32) and a yellowfin tuna crudo with semi-dried tomato, Sicilian lemon, Calabrian pepper and Italian herbed wonton chips ($23).

The heart of the menu features Tavolena’s scratch pasta and classic meat dishes, such as the veal chop Parmigiana with Sunday sauce ($65), the Francese, Marsala and Florentine sauce dishes ($38 for chicken, $44 for veal), the fennel-scented seafood cioppino finished with a mist of Pernod ($62).

For the pairing, wine and beer are offered.

Tavolena

Location: 185 E. Indiantown Rd., Jupiter, 561-972-7228, Tavolena.com

Hours: Open Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m.

Reservations are strongly encouraged and can be made by calling the restaurant.

Liz Balmaseda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network. She covers the local food and dining beat. Follow her on Instagram and Post on Food Facebook. She can be reached by email at lbalmaseda@pbpost.com.