Former Savona owner Keith Taylor to serve as chef at new Italian restaurant

Experienced local chef will join new Tavolo Modern Italian in the works in Sidney

Keith Taylor, the local chef who honed his craft under legendary chef Dieter Krug at the highly credentialed former l’Auberge restaurant in Kettering and went on to launch Savona Restaurant and Wine Bar in Centerville, will serve as executive chef for a new Italian eatery coming to the north Miami Valley.

Tavolo Modern Italian is under construction at 101 S. Ohio Ave. in downtown Sidney and is projected to open next spring.

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The new restaurant is the brainchild of Rocco Catanzarite, who also owns Murphy’s Craftbar + Kitchen in downtown Sidney.

“Keith and I are good friends,” Catanzarite told this news outlet Monday night. “We worked together on the menu for Murphy’s. I believe he is the best chef in this part of Ohio.”

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Taylor, a Dayton native and Northridge High School graduate, worked at l’Auberge under Krug until the former co-owner retired in 1999, then served under Krug’s successor as l’Auberge executive chef, Dominique Fortin, who would go on to found C’est Tout (later Dominique’s) in Oakwood.

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Taylor would go on to serve as executive chef at what was then Pacchia in the Oregon District, and at Country Club of the North in Beavercreek.

In 2007, he founded Savona Restaurant and Wine Bar in Centerville, which later morphed into Twisted Root and Root 48 before shutting down in 2014.

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The new venture, Tavolo Modern Italian, will seat about 150, including 32 on a patio, and will employ about 40, Catanzarite said.

The new restaurant’s menu will include pasta dishes prepared from “all-fresh pasta that we will make in-house,” Tavolo’s founder said. Craft cocktails, a large wine menu and a selection of craft beers also will be available.

To keep up with the new restaurant's progress toward opening, check out the Tavolo Modern Italian Facebook page.

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