business

COMMUNITY BUSINESS

Tavolino: a restaurant that brings the community together

By Jeff Theodore Contributing Writer WESTBOROUGH - Abby Winant wants diners to feel at home when they enter Tavolino, a popular restaurant in Westborough in operation since 2009.

“We want to be the place where people gather for bar mitzvahs, wedding parties and bereavements — a space for people when they need that special event in their lives catered to,” Winant said in a recent interview.

She started working at the restaurant in 2011 as a part-time bartender and rose through the ranks to become general manager.

Winant now additionally foresees the restaurant becoming a hub for private events.

“We want to expand our patio and add a deck,” she said.

The patio has about 20 tables that can accommodate 60 guests. Occupancy for the restaurant itself is about 150 guests.

Emphasizing the need for more private spaces, the restaurant shuttered its pizza bar and transformed it into a private room in 2020 after a $1 million renovation. Remodeling work at the restaurant had taken place after a faulty water heater erupted and caused severe water damage in 2019.

“We’re encouraging people who haven’t been here in a while to try us again,” Winant says. “We have a new HVAC system and our air circulation is on point. We have new management, new chef and a whole new staff. We’ve freshened up the place quite a bit.”

Tavolino may have relatively new digs, but its menu still retains a tried and true Italian flavor with entrée favorites such as spicy seafood Cioppino, a stew that consists of clams, cod, mussels, shrimp, scallops with a side of grilled crostini. There’s also piccata, a dish that features sauteed chicken or veal with garlic, capers, lemon and white wine.

Don’t forget the restaurant’s hand-made Bolognese sauce, a well-known creation from Bologna, Italy which is served with pappardelle ribbon pasta.

Winant says the restaurant has quite a few vegetarian dishes. It is also exploring the possibility of more vegan food options.

“We’re getting many more requests for vegan,” she said.

The restaurant can fulfill just about any requests for wine, with an extensive listing that can be served by the glass or by the bottle.

“We hand pick every single wine on our list,” Winant said, citing that some of Tavolino’s 100-plus wines hail from places as far away as Sicily and Argentina and as close as Napa and Sonoma Valley in California.

For those who aren’t ardent drinkers, Tavolino has an ample supply of non-alcoholic beverages and fun “mocktails.” Those include a cranberry and honey zinger, which consists of a housemade rosemary fig honey reduction, cranberry juice and a splash of ginger beer.

Whether it’s to enjoy a meal or a drink, Winant is anxious to keep connecting with regulars and new customers.

“I live in the town of Westborough, so I’ve come to know many of the people who come in,” she said.

Tavolino is closed on Mondays but it is open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and from 1 to 8 p.m. on Sundays.

Tavolino is located at 33 East Main Street in Westborough.

Corridor 9/495 Regional Chamber of Commerce honors 2021 award winners Metrowest Oral Associates

By Dakota Antelman Managing Editor REGION - The Corridor 9/495 Regional Chamber of Commerce announced the winners of its year-end awards earlier this month recognizing businesses and individual contributors to the area business community.

The list of winners included everyone from UMass Memorial - Marlborough Hospital to Community Advocate Publisher Dave Bagdon.

Marlborough Hospital, indeed, won the Chamber’s Community Service Award alongside Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital.

Ben Colonero won the Chamber’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He’s the former Executive Director and Community Liaison for the Willows at Westborough and has remained closely involved with the Chamber itself, serving on its board while also contributing to the Applefest 5k race in Northborough and the Chamber’s golf tournament fundraiser.

Vincent Servello III won the honor of Outstanding Young Professional of the Year roughly seven years after he opened his business, Servello CPA, in Westborough. A Westborough High School graduate, he’s supported the community in Westborough, working with the Chamber and sponsoring various community events and programs.

Martha Bernard Welsh won the Chamber’s Business Forward Females Leadership Award.

Welsh is the Board President of Dress for Success Worcester, which helps women learn job skills for job readiness. She’s also been involved with the Chamber’s Business Forward Females steering committee, helping run programming associated with that committee’s mission.

Bagdon was recognized as this year’s Chamber Champion. The longtime publisher of the Community Advocate, Bagdon has also been involved with the Chamber for 35 years, aiding in various initiatives and promoting local businesses through efforts like the Community Advocate’s “Buy, Believe Local” campaign.

Meagan Jackson’s M. Jackson Accounting and Bookkeeping, meanwhile, was noted as the 2021 Small Business of the Year.

“What has been truly remarkable is the personal growth and success story of this selfproclaimed reluctant networker,” Chamber President and CEO Karen Chapman wrote in a statement announcing Jackson’s award.

John P. Ouano, D.M.D. Wael Youseff, D.M.D. Jennifer Frangos, D.D.S. Mitchell Loo, D.M.D. Monika Patel, D.D.S.

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