S IMP LY D EL I C IOUS TAST E MA KER
Alli Royce Soble (left) and Kris Zimmerman are the popular barkeeps at La Tavola, a neighborhood trattoria in Virginia-Highland. The exterior of the restaurant (top right) and a classic martini as stirred up by the bartenders (bottom right). Photos by Alli Royce Soble
Behind the bar
These La Tavola bartenders keep it lively with drinks and banter By Wendell Brock
S
idle up to the tiny, seven-chair bar at Virginia Highland’s La Tavola, and you’ll likely get your pour from Alli Royce Soble or Kris Zimmermann. The two tight friends have been alternating bartending shifts at the neighborhood trattoria for nine years now, and they’ve built a faithful clientele by virtue of their good drinks, lively banter and serious embrace of Italian food and wine. Regulars ask for them, pout if they aren’t there and follow Soble’s moves on Twitter (twitter. com/roycetakespics), where she posts updates on her restaurant schedule. “We have set schedules, so people pretty much know when we are going to be here,” Soble says. “If one of us happens to be off, sometimes it’s like, ‘Whoa, the world has shifted.’” Sipping coffee on a chilly afternoon, this pert and articulate pair shared observations on life, finishing one another’s sentences and buzzing with the kind of energy that makes them so popular with patrons.
How did you become friends? KZ: We sort of knew each other socially, and we went to the 1993 March on Washington [for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation] and just palled around all weekend. That was the beginning of a real friendship. (Soble joined La Tavola in 2000, Zimmermann in early 2002.) What’s the secret behind your hospitality? ARS: I love working in a restaurant bar … talking about wine is definitely something I’m into. I don’t think I could be a bartender at a fast-paced, Jager Bombs kind of restaurant. It’s about the culture behind food and wine. KZ: We are all in it together to make the customer happy, to satisfy the bottom line and sort of educate our guests because people are intimidated by Italian wine … It used to be that dinner was part of your night. Dinner was just what you did on your way to do something else. But dinner has become your evening. It’s not just food, and it’s not just a glass of wine. It’s your event. It may be the only stop you make on a
LA TAVOLA 992 Virginia Avenue NE Atlanta 30306 404.873.5430 www.latavolatrattoria.com
Saturday night. And if it’s with us, we are going to do our damnedest to make it the best time. What makes La Tavola’s wine program distinctive? KZ: I think La Tavola has always done a really great job of taking varietals from Italy that are lesser known—or even popular—and trying to find the best representation of that varietal in a variety of price points. Italian wine has always been overwhelming and mysterious. It’s intimidating for a lot of people. ARS: If we don’t like it, we are not going to sell it. But if we like something, it will fly off the shelves. We know where it’s from, the flavor profile. But then we might also know a little sizzle about it, like the family who made it. Or that this particular producer is
some guru. KZ: People will sit at the bar and say, “Well, I don’t know very much about wine.” And I’ve always sort of joked with them: “Well, the best way to learn is by drinking it.” We drink it, we talk about it and we learn about it. What are your passions and interests outside the restaurant? ARS: I have been a professional photographer for 15 years, and I’ve been in the service industry for 15 years. I keep my cards behind the bar. Kris is nice enough to hand them out. KZ: She’s quite accomplished and well-collected in Atlanta. I’m sort of her agent … I have a lot of passions. Most of them have to do with food, fitness and health, which ties in really nicely with La Tavola. Italian food has always been a passion. I grew up in an Italian-American household in New York. Both my maternal grandmother and grandfather came from Italy. It wasn’t “Italian food”—it’s what I grew up with.
Jan/Feb 2011 | Simply Buckhead
37