BONUS: Pizza Prep at La Tagliatella Emory Point

First of all, my med school friend has been raving about La Tagliatella for months now and I’ve never had the chance to make it over there. So I was finally glad that Ben opened up extra spaces for the Elite event so that I could make it!
Second of all, this event was the bomb dot com. It was an intimate group of around 20 Elite Unilocalers or so lined up in 3 rows of tables. The staff at La Tagliatella gave us some history about the restaurant: they started in Spain and now have a few locations in the US including Atlanta. They also demonstrated how to build your own pizza by 1) brushing the sauce on our rolled out pizza dough 2) sprinkling some cheese 3) topped with your desired combo of meat and veggies. Voila!
Since they have super thin crust pizzas (like cracker thin), they cook within a minute or two.
There was a competition for best looking pizza and also for best named pizza. Since my pizza was three pizzas in one (one with a pesto base, one with marinara, and another with mushroom cream sauce), I named it the Joyful Threesome teehee. Unfortunately, what I thought was a clever name didn’t win.
Overall, it was a great event that Ben hosted and I can’t wait to come and try their other food!

5 stars for this event, and not because I won best looking pizza either.
See how I just kinda dropped that in?!
But seriously, I loved this event because it was intimate and interactive. I enjoyed the small number of people allowed to attend this event because it provided me an opportunity to sit and get to know more about my fellow Unilocalers without the hecticness that can occur with plus one events, and elite events in general.
I also loved we were able to cook our own meals. That was awesome sauce. Pun intended!
I hope we get to do more of these type of interactive cooking events, because besides eating I know there are plenty of us that love to cook too.
Great job, Ben!

«My theory on Feds is that they’re like mushrooms, feed ‘em sh*t and keep ‘em in the dark» — The Departed (2006)
What a fun event — and that’s saying a lot considering we had to do ALL the work!
I’m a fan of Emory Point as it has lots of great little shops and restaurants and it really gave this area something it needed — and La Tagliatella is no different. What a beautiful restaurant with a great concept. And we got to learn all about the pizza and even make our own creations.
First up — heaping bowls of salad and baskets of focaccia (3 different kinds) and when the salad happened to be Caesar, which I cannot eat, our fabulous leader, Ben, made sure to get me a house salad that was fishy free. Unfortunately, the vinaigrette they brought was a honey pistachio — but luckily the server said that aloud and I quickly spoke up and she took that away and brought me a balsamic vinaigrette instead — crisis averted times TWO. Very glad to know they can deal with allergies.
On to learning about the establishment — we had a speech from the manager, learning about their humble beginnings and how many stores they have all over the world and how they came to the US. Then Taylor took over and walked us thru the pizza and how we would be making them, and naming them. Let the games begin.
Strategy was simple — use as many of the ingredients as possible without making an inedible mess. Thus my Triple Threat was born. 3 sections on 1, 14-​inch pizza. I had to use all 3 sauces, and I wanted to use ALL the cheeses (okay, well I skipped the Taleggio as typically I don’t want a sticky cheese on my pizza. But I went for all my faves on 1 — but without overloading as this was world’s thinest crust ever.
So I ended up with a pesto (only pine nuts — thanks for looking out for me again, Ben!), mushroom and spinach section, a mushroom sauce, artichoke heart and bacon section and a red sauce, prosciutto and arugula section. Once my pizza was delivered to me, I topped that sucker with the reduced balsamic and went to town! Phenomenal!
I tried to convince Taylor that My pizza was never delivered, but the smear of balsamic on my peel was evidence to the contrary.
So thanks to La Tagliatella, a great staff and Ben G for one of the best events so far this year — let’s do it again!

Super amazing fun times! That is the only way to describe this event — it had it all: an awesome hands-​on activity, great food — grrreat drinks, and of course wonderful company!
I had yet been to either of the La Tagliatella locations but after getting a taste, I know I will be back soon. Prior to the pizza making, we were given some background information on La Tagliatella’s history; It’s a European restaurant chain — originating in Spain, and their first North American venture is actually the midtown location (and I believe this location is the second)! The space is absolutely gorgeous — wooden floors and fancy chandeliers– very, very nice.
In addition, to making our own pizzas (more on that later) we were able to sample their house Caesar Salad — delicious — their breadsticks (best breadstick-​rolls ever!), and we were given two drink tickets good for a glass of wine, beer, or any mixed drink — I had their vodka cranberry and a screwdriver, which I really, really enjoyed — most places either make their drinks too strong or too weak — ‘La Tag’ does it just right.
Overall, I was most impressed by the BYO pizza station, the staff had set up — they put out some superb quality ingredients for us: shredded gruyère, prosciutto, shrimp, etc. I was also introduced to ingredients that will forever change the way I eat pizza from now on, such as their ‘Mushroom Tartufo’ sauce, reduced balsamic vinegar (thanks Lindy!), and especially the blue cheese and honey combo — don’t knock it until you try it. There was also a friendly competition set-​up for best-​looking and best named pizza with a gift certificate grand prize — it was hilarious hearing some of the names — Unilocalers are certainly very creative!
Thank you much to Ben, Keaton, and JJ for putting together yet another amazing event, I’ll never how you guys do it; and of course a huge thanks to the staff at La Tagliatella — particularly Mario and Taylor — they were fantastic and super sweet!

My first time making pizza was a success! No pizza dough on the floor, burnt crusts or limit to the wonderful toppings. And I owe it to Ben and the great folks at La Tagliatella for taking good care of us at this relaxing interactive event. Eddie with La Tagliatella did a nice job sharing the history of the European-​based restaurant’s roots beginning in 1991. The first location is in Barcelona, and Atlanta’s Emory Point and Midtown locations are their first US-​based locations. They also have a presence in Arlington, Charlotte, Germantown and Miami. Taylor charmingly demonstrated the art of making a pizza and helped bring our individual pizzas from prep table to oven to our table for the best part — the taste test. We enjoyed a delicious Caesar salad and tiny rolls as we waited for our pizzas to cook. The friendly staff made sure we made good use of our two drink tickets and we even had a deck of cards on the table in case we wanted to fit in a game of Go Fish in between bites.
This was only my third Unilocal event but definitely a favorite — I made new friends and walked away with a happy tummy, restaurant coupons and my new pizza takeaway — DRIZZLE HONEY over your pizza before you bake it. Worth EVERY drop!
Thanks again to La Taglietella for graciously hosting us. I will return with friends.
Great way to wind down on Sunday. THANKS a lot, Ben!