Description and review of La Trattoria Bohemia, a Czech-Italian restaurant located on J Street in East Sacramento.
A friend and I recently enjoyed dinner at La Trattoria Bohemia prior to a performance of An American in Paris at the Sacramento Community Center Theatre.
Parking can be an issue in the immediate area, but we easily found a spot on 36th Street right around the corner from La Trattoria Bohemia.
I did not expect La Trattoria Bohemia to be busy at 6:00 p.m. on a Tuesday, but I made a reservation anyway – just in case. Although there were only a few people seated inside when we entered I observed that the restaurant was set up to serve two larger parties – so I was glad I did. La Trattoria Bohemia also has a small outside patio so that is always an option.
Our table was waiting and we were greeted and seated immediately.
Chef Mark Lastuvka opened La Trattoria Bohemia in 2000. The restaurant is an intimate and casual neighborhood restaurant that is both inviting and comfortable. Then there is the food! Chef Lastuvka makes all the pasta and bread from scratch.
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To start, we each ordered a glass of the House Red Wine – Blaufrankisch, Frankovka, Czech Republic ($5). It had a very unusual taste and aftertaste so later in the meal we switched to a glass of Monte Antico Rosso Sangiovese ($7.50), an Italian wine, which was more to our liking. I guess it all comes down to what your taste buds are used to.
The La Trattoria Bohemia menu offers both Czech and Italian dishes – but we decided to stick with the Czech theme.
To start we decided to share the Bohemian Potato Pancakes or Bohemsky bramborak (two crispy discs lightly seasoned potato pancake stacked napoleon-style with smoked salmon, capers, scallions and sour cream) ($10.50).
We also decided to split the La Trattoria Salad (baby spinach, apples, pears, dried cranberries and gorgonzola with housemade raspberry vinaigrette) ($12.50) and the Chicken Paprikash or Kure na paprice (slowly cooked chicken thighs in cream sauce with onions and sweet Hungarian paprika, served over homemade spazle) ($19.75).
Note: Both the salad and the chicken paprikash were subject to a $2 split order charge.
The Bohemian Potato Pancakes were very tasty. They were much more substantial than the thin and crispy Polish Potato Pancakes I am accustomed to. We both also liked the addition of the smoked salmon, capers, and scallions.
I enjoyed the salad, containing as it did many of my favorite salad ingredients, and the chicken paprikash was a taste treat.
We were both happy that we had shared the three dishes as we were comfortably full – unfortunately no room for dessert. My friend hit the nail on the head when she afterwards described our meal as “Czech comfort food”.
Next time I dine at La Trattoria Bohemia I plan to sample the Italian half of the menu – pasta and/or pizza.
See related blog post: Sacramento Ethnic Restaurants
Comments on La Trattoria Bohemia?
What has been your experience at La Trattoria Bohemia? Do you have a favorite Czech dish? A favorite Italian dish?
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