Thyme Table's House Black Pasta Is Otherworldly
The dish at the Bay Village restaurant uses activated charcoal for a spellbinding effect.
Made with activated charcoal, the entree at the Bay Village restaurant is spellbinding but still approachable. For chef and owner Mike Smith, who opened his 38-seat spot in April, it’s an example of how his menu is fun, familiar and pushes the envelope just a little.
“We’re trying to keep it comfortable,” he says. “There’s nothing that’s going to scare anybody away.”
While the charcoal doesn’t add much flavor to the hand-cut pasta, the accompanying shrimp, fresh peas and a garlic-Parmesan cream sauce do. The striking dish sits atop a house-made pistou — a sauce similar to pesto without the pine nuts — and is finished with fresh pea shoots.
“Everybody who’s had it just kind of loses their mind,” Smith says of the popular dish. “I think we’d have a revolt on our hands if we took it off the menu.”
583 Dover Center Road, Bay Village, 440-617-6964, thymextable.com
