One of my favorite restaurants is Tazzina Bistro, on Main Street in downtown Woodland. Tazzina Bistro serves up a wide variety of food, ranging from fish stew, to meatloaf, to risotto. The one commonality to their food is that it is all excellent- prepared by a trained chef with an attention to detail. Their quiche is light and fluffy, their cauliflower soup is creamy with a bit of spice and the desserts are delicate and delicious. Tazzina Bistro is the type of place that is usually an event destination; young people on a date, older couples celebrating an anniversary, or a group meal of old friends. Dinner for two people, including appetizers, will usually cost between sixty and ninety dollars.

A few weeks ago my wife and I made one of our many visits to Tazzina Bistro, and their place at the top of my 'favorite restaurant' list was solidified. When my wife and I walked in to Tazzina’s, the first person we met was the fashionably dressed hostess. She verified our reservations and led us to our table. One of the wait staff immediately brought out water, a good salty baguette, and butter. Our waiter came over and asked if we would like wine, and then proceeded to artfully describe the specials for the evening. My wife asked about a few of the menu items before deciding on the chestnut risotto and a salad. I ordered the burger, and a side of cauliflower soup.

Our soup and salad were brought first. The waiter delivered these items to our table, placing the salad fork and soup spoon in front of us, and giving quick descriptions of what we would be eating. He then disappeared to leave us to our private conversation. Throughout the evening, the service was excellent, the waiter was on hand to make wine and food recommendations, and he responded quickly and graciously to all of our requests. The décor is subdued, mimicking an Italian bistro. Our table had fresh flowers in a crystal vase of a modern design. The hamburger and risotto were both fantastic (in fact, the hamburger won a taste test in a previous story). At the end of the meal two small meringue mints were served to us on a decorative plate. When we left, the waiter gave us a small bow and thanked us for eating at Tazzina. I always think I should thank them for having such a great restaurant in Woodland.

The scooter out in front is actually transportation for the owner, Rebecca. While talking to some of the employees I found out that a lot of them have motorcycles (including Rebecca..she doesn't just ride the scooter) and every once in a while they go out for group rides.

Tazzina Bistro dining room, it's nice, but it's not private.

This is Don. I don't know what his job is exactly, but he was the guy who seemed to be running things. He is also the one who arranged for me to have the tour. I asked him a few questions about the restaurant:

What is your most popular item? The Kobe Beef Hamburger.

What do you have to say about the restaurant? Well, I think it is a great restaurant - well worth the drive from Sacramento for the people out there. Also, Rebecca (chef/owner) is a driven person, who strives for perfection. She makes sure everything is perfect, which is reflected in the restaurant and the food.

Meet the Baristas: Rachel and Katie. Tazzina doesn't open up until 11:00 am, but they still get their share of coffee drinkers throughout the day. These girls said that the most popular brew is just the 'house' coffee. A latte is the most popular 'specialty' coffee. No chocolate? What about mocha? I need my Milky Way Freeze! (I don't think they wanted to be called 'baristas', but it just makes me feel part of the coffee culture to say it.)

Industrial stoves are so nice. I wanted to break out and saute something just being near this. People came by occasionally to stir that pan of onions. It almost seemed random, but it was getting done. I assume that they were caramelizing them.

I kept asking what type of soup this was. Every person I asked (at least 4) went over to the pot and stared at it while stirring, then they thought about it for 20 seconds or so before saying "hmmm...looks like some sort of soup.."

I wasn't able to interview the head chef, because she was at the gym while I was there, but I talked to the two sous chefs, Justin and Hapana. They were able to give me a lot of information about the food at Tazzina, and cooking in general.

Justin and Hapana taking a Slurpee break

Do you guys cook everything to order? Every dish (except lasagna) is cooked and put together one plate at a time. We do the lasagna in a bigger pan. Tazzina doesn't have steam trays, heat lamps, or microwaves.

MEDIUM RARE Internal Temperature: 145° How looks: Almost uniformly pink, beads of juice on cut surface.

How many meals get sent back? Oh, not very many. It happens rarely. Like once a day? No, not that often, maybe once a week at most. Usually it is because someone asked for their steak medium-rare, and then wanted it cooked a little bit more. Sometimes a customer won't be familiar with all of the ingredients in a dish, and then they realize they really didn't mean to order it.

How often does the menu change? We change the menu every season. It's good because there is always something new to cook, some new dish to work on. We don't get bored.

Do you get to choose any of the menu items? We each got to create one dish for this last menu. I (Justin) did the lasagna, and Hapana did the hanger steak. Next menu I'll do a lamb dish with fava beans.

What is the toughest dish to make? Risotto- it's got a lot of ingredients. Last time we had a beef risotto, but this time it is creamy, it just has a lot of things to add.

What's the deal with the 'Chefs Special'? A lot of times Rebecca will be out shopping, and she'll come across a great fish, or some excellent cut of meat. She will come back at about 4:00, and give each one of us one of the ingredients, and we need to come up with a dish.

So it really is a Chef's Special, kind of like 'Iron Chef'? Yep...basically that's it.

What time do you guys get busy? How many hours do you work? In the evening we get busy at about 6:00, and then we stay busy for the rest of the night. But we have to come in earlier to prepare everything. I work about 10-12 hours each day, sometimes longer on the weekends for Sunday Brunch.

Do you like working here? Oh yeah, this place is good and Rebecca is great. There's no anger in kitchen, not like some places where the chef is yelling and screaming. We're pretty laid back and we just get the job done.

Umm...didn't you just say you work 12 hour days? Yeah...but I still like it.

Justin has been at Tazzina since it opened.

Iron Chef is their favorite cooking show. I asked them which Iron Chef they were most like, and they just started laughing. Obviously Justin does have an Iron Chef alter-ego, but he wouldn't tell me what it was. Looking at the picture below, I think he looks a lot like the guy in the red hat.

Click on the cards to get more information about your favorite chef!

I snuck around in the kitchen for a while, just opening doors and taking pictures. This is one of their freezers, full of all kinds of good stuff. You can barely see a can of 'Rockstar' energy drink on the bottom right.

My German up-bringing led me to believe the things on the left are potatoes. Unfortunately, we didn't eat green vegetables** in my house. So I have no idea what the stuff on the right is. **But my grandfather could cook up some MEAN creamed carrots with those little pearl onions. He would add enough salt to cure a ham, and some sort of white goo (frothy Crisco? I wouldn't be surprised) as the 'cream'. That set me down a long road of enjoying vegetables that were over-cooked, and completely devoid of any beneficial nutrients, yet with enough heart stopping additives to shorten the lifespan of anyone who dared to get near them. But at least my mom could tell people that "oh, he eats plenty of vegetables."

I don't know who Vickie is, but she didn't invite me to her party. Vickie, if you want my number, just e-mail me.

Some sort of chocolate containers. Maybe it is for Vicki's party. (She still hasn't called..)

Rolando whisks up a batch of Aioli

Aioli is a rich sauce of crushed garlic, egg yolks, lemon juice, and olive oil.
Or in plain English - it is mayonnaise with a few extra things.

Juan getting everything ready for the night of cooking.

Dishwashing...

A perfect table.
Click the picture for a bonus.

Tazzina Bistro really is a great restaurant. Some people just can't believe it is actually in Woodland- and they are very happily surprised when they eat there. Personally, I think we need more good restaurants in town, so the fine people of Woodland don't have to leave the city to go out for a nice meal. I'm all for converting downtown Main street into a real 'destination' area. Maybe some new movie theatres, some more nice restaurants, some live music...what do you think?

	From:  Trish - Date: 12-Mar-05
	Yum, I'm hungry for the lasanga just reading about it!
	From:  Mary - Date: 09-May-05
	Mother's Day brunch was superb. At last, a real resturant in Woodland.
	From:  The Luckner family - Date: 26-May-05
	We recently went to The Tazzini Bistro. It was fantastic. Try the Ricotta Gnocci. It is delicious!
	From:  john - Date: 16-Jun-05
	thanx for the work on your site this is great! i would like to know what type of camera you use. the shots of Tazzini are so clear. i am looking around for a good digital camera. Ed. Note: Previously I used an Olympus D-550 Zoom...but from the 'Walk around Woodland' story forward, I have used a Panasonic FZ20.
	From:  Liz - Date: 18-Jun-05
	Morrison's Upstairs is still a great Restaurant with long-time local residents, the Morrison Brothers: Jim & Steve, along with their respective wives, Sal & Liz, doing their best in providing great food & great atmosphere. Married Co-Chefs Michael & Stephanie Doyle have been with Morrisons for over 10 years! Come to Morrisons for a real treat!!
	From:  Candi from Down Under - Date: 24-Jun-05
	The potatoes and onions shot...the green vegetable on the right of the picture are leeks, they are part of the onion family...ever hear of potato and leek soup?? I hope this place is still open the next time we come home for a visit..would love to check it out.
	From:  Melissa - Date: 29-Jun-05
	Morrison's is a nice restaurant with good food, but they could work on the decor a bit. I don't think they've painted or put in new carpet since it opened. I would much rather go to Tazzina any day of the week. My food has always been to die for and the atmosphere can't be beat! It is by far my favorite place to go and get a great meal at a reasonable price.
	From:  Dolly - Date: 25-Aug-05
	Henry and I ate lunch here a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon. Food was good, service POOR. Two gals at the front were too busy looking at paperwork on the podium to acknowledge our presence (they looked up, and then looked back at their papers!) Menus were placed on a table with a sign "ORDER AT THE COUNTER" (now, that's a welcome if I ever saw one...) the woman at the register was very nice, but of course she was taking our money. Once our food was brought out to us, no one came back to see if it was okay. I had to go to the counter to get our refills (as directed by yet ANOTHER sign). I gave the girl our glasses indicating THIS one is tea, and THAT one is coca-cola. I tell ya, nothing ends a meal like a nice glass of coked-up tea. Or tea-ed up cola. We were enjoying a nice conversation when the register woman came up to us and said, "Are you planning to order dessert?" (Read: I want to take more money from you if you're going to hang out here any longer than you have to!) I can understand the service - lack of service - if the place is packed with people. But, when you're one of eight with at least eight staff working, there's no excuse. And those signs! Pity.
	From:  Wanda - Date:
	Please tell me the 'Liz' making promotional comments about Morrisons is not Steve Morrison's wife. How tacky would that be! Use your own website to promote your restaurant. And as for Henry's companion, I think you are overly critical. I've been to Tazzina for lunch on several occasions and I assure you, without signs some people can't seem to get the very simple concept of ordering at the counter and then going to sit down. I've also worked retail before. You have to hire a lot of young people and its pretty much impossible to babysit them all the time. I think if you truly have such a problem, then you should be courteous enough to let the owner/manager know. It's not easy to open a business, especially if you're serving people who look for reasons to be annoyed. Good Luck Tazzina crew. I think you're great!
	From:  JODI - Date: 23-Oct-05
	I REALLY ENJOYED TAZZINA'S LAST DECEMBER WHEN WE HAD OUR WORK CHRISTMAS PARTY THERE. THE FOOD WAS A REAL TREAT,AS WAS THE SERVICE. I WOULD RECOMEND IT TO ANYONE. I HOPE WE CAN ARRANGE TO HAVE OUR CHRISTMAS PARTY THERE AGAIN THIS YEAR.
	From:  Yum - Date: 14-Nov-05
	I wish you would have gotten some pics of Danny the pastry chef. He makes some awesome and fancy desserts there. He also works part time at Morrison's as their pastry chef. Check his desserts out. You won't be dissappointed!!!
	From:  Lorraine - Date: 01-Dec-05
	I loved the atmosphere and the HUGE "cup" (bowl?) of coffeee!!!!! I'm still all caffeined up. I stop in from Winters from time to time. Keep up the good work!
	From:  Richards Family - Date: 30-Oct-06
	I am so glad that Woodland finally has a high class resturant. They Have some of the best food and great service. Brent was a awesome waiter.
	From:  Steve Engstrom - Date: 18-Nov-06
	We were recently in Woodland and went to your restaurant with my Aunt and Uncle. I would like to purchase a gift certificate for them. Please give me a call at 425 - 883 - 6724 to make arrangements. Thank you, Steve Engstrom 14235 209th Ave NE Woodinville, Wa 98077-5664
	From:  Jeremy - Date: 01-Dec-06
	In response to Wanda's comment: At that time, lunch was not full service. It was in fact counter service. The entree's were cheaper, you ordered at the counter, and the restaraunt was ran with fewer people. Lunch has now been changed to full waiter service. In Response to the Engstrom: You shouldnt post your information online, and you will need to call the restaraunt to make that arrangement because this site is not ran by Tazzina Bistro. The number to call is (530) 661-1700 or www.tazzinabistro.com Thanks
	From:  Michelle - Date: 13-Jun-07
	I have recently come into Tazzina's for dinner during the week and also for brunch on a Sunday. The food was amazing! I loved the eggs benedict! My server was very attentive, great service! All the food coming out of the kitchen looked great. Its also now full service, great improvement! If anyone is looking for a relaxing, elegant meal i suggest checking out Tazzinas.
	From:  Fred - Date: 16-Jul-07
	Love the Bistro. Go there more than I should. The food is always amazing and different seasonally. The service is superb. All for a good price. Morrisons, went there the other night for a change after 2 years because of a bad experience. I didn't get what I ordered, but I wasn't going to complain. The food was ok, nothing new on the menu except a few specials. Not many people eating dinner either. When I paid my bill, the little snobby bottled blond answered my "Thank you" with "No Problem". Learn to say YOU'RE WELCOME, did your parents teach you that? Jim and Steve need to wake up. I want to be taken care of, not get the wrong food and have little blondy say "no problem". Looks like another 2 years before I go back. Hello Bistro!
	From:  Alex - Date: 22-Sep-07
	every time i have gone there the food has been very good, as for the people talking about Morrison's they need to change there menu, i have been going there for probly 10years (not by my choice) i have had everything on the menu. noting is new, they dont even change there menu with the seasons so they can use season fruits and veggies. every time i go in there im the only person in there under 60 (im25) im not sure if they are trying for an older crowed but they need to redue a lot of stuff about that place.
	From:  Dick - Date: 29-Nov-07
	The Bistro rocks! We eat there at least once a week and we've never been disappointed in the food, the service or the atmosphere. We held a party for 24 people on the patio earlier this month and the food and service was perfect. Our guests all had a wonderful time. Tazzina has become our social hub, where we meet old friends and make new ones. I like to eat at the bar and be in the middle of the swirl of people and staff coming and going. I'll see something go by that looks interesting and try to order it next time, or share something new and delicious with a neighbor. Sitting beside my sweetie and toasting "to true love" while we wait for a delicious meal - yummmmm - it's the best part of my week.
	From:  Julie - Date: 05-Dec-07
	Your review was very helpful. However, being from out of town and looking for a restaurant for an upcoming trip through the area, I was disappointed that you didn't give their address.
	From:  Belinda - Date: 28-Apr-08
	We love the restaurant, the food and the setting. We HATE the service. Always slow, always lacking. Everything else makes up for it, but if you're a little short on time, or require drink refills--this isn't your gig. It is however, THE place for your best girlfriend's birthday or lunch out with mom.
Your Name
Your Comments
	to Stories to Main Page to InsideWoodland. Free and easy!   Story and pictures © InsideWoodland. Stories about Woodland California.