Chef Beau Owens puts his Southern spin on Italian cuisine at Tavola
From “turning and burning” chicken wings and the like as a teenage fry cook at his friend’s parents’ restaurant in his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina, to opening a new restaurant at the luxe resort Montage Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, Beau Owens boasts a wide-ranging culinary résumé.
In May 2019, he moved from Bluffton to Greenville to run the kitchen at The Lazy Goat. He remembers the date well, he says, as he landed behind the stoves the same weekend as Artisphere, local college graduations, and Mother’s Day.
He survived that trial by fire, and five years later, Carl Sobocinski, president of Table 301 Hospitality (which operates The Lazy Goat) asked Owens if he was interested in the executive chef position at Tavola, the group’s new Italian restaurant at BridgeWay Station in Simpsonville—and its first venture outside downtown Greenville. “I told him I’d love to have the opportunity to open something new with the company, and I was ready for a new adventure as well,” Owens recalls.
Although he’s yet to visit Italy, the chef has a good grounding in Italian cuisine both from his education at Johnson & Wales and his years of restaurant experience. Making pasta from scratch at Tavola didn’t daunt him, but Owens found he needed to learn more about the chemistry of pasta dough. “I really nerded out on it and started figuring out how many grams of egg yolks were needed for how many grams of flour, so you really dial in your hydration percentages,” says Owens.
At Tavola, the chef hones in on great local (and imported) ingredients and prepares them simply to highlight their flavors. The team not only makes pasta in-house, but also crafts sauces and breads. Star among the latter is the house focaccia—a dish, like the meatballs and the chicken parmesan, that the chef insists will never go off the frequently changing menu.
In the process of creating new dishes, Owens infuses his Southern background into Tavola’s menu. Case in point is the Pane de Mais Fritto (fried corn bread), which, he points out, is essentially a hushpuppy. “We took something we grew up eating that we really enjoy and gave it an Italian twist. We fill it with salami and mozzarella and fry it golden brown like a hushpuppy and serve it with basil aioli.”
For Owens, the most exciting aspect of his job at Tavola is building a team and placing the right people in the right positions to ensure the restaurant’s continued success. “The food is always fun,” he says, “but your food’s only going to be as good as the person making it.”
A Taste of Tavola
House Confit Garlic Focaccia – Served with three different spreads (tomato gremolata, truffle honey butter, and confit garlic), fluffy focaccia is made in-house daily and is “the perfect comfort food,” according to Chef Beau Owens.
Lady Edison Cured Ham – Owens loves this dry-cured, unsmoked country ham from Raleigh, North Carolina. He serves it shaved, akin to prosciutto, accompanied by a dollop of ricotta with a tiny pool of hot honey in the center.
Pappardelle – This dish marries the flavors of pungent Gorgonzola and zesty Calabrian chile in a satisfyingly creamy sauce that blankets broad, flat pasta noodles.
Tiramisu – In Tavola’s untraditional take on the classic Italian dessert, sponge cake is dipped in espresso and put in a mold with pastry cream. The mixture is frozen, then unmolded and sprayed with chocolate.
620 Bridgeway Blvd., Simpsonville, tavolaitalian.com
Check out our coverage of another Bridgway Station eatery, Rotie.
