Renowned Chef Opens Italian restaurant in Boise, Pledges to Give Back to the Community

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — An accomplished Chef is excited to put down roots in Boise and open a new restaurant. Tavolàta will open in Boise later this month.

Young adults at Life's Kitchen, a nonprofit that helps provide resources, opportunities and experiences to young adults, recently got the chance to learn from Chef Ethan Stowell.

"Working with kids and doing cooking classes has always been a hobby of mine," says Stowell, owner of Ethan Stowell Restaurants. "It's always been fun to do, and I just think if you're in the hospitality business, you have to be hospitable to everybody."

Stowell says his restaurant, Tavolàta, is expected to open in The Lucy in downtown Boise by Halloween. Stowell, based in Seattle, says he looks forward to becoming part of the Boise community.

"Restaurants are busy, and there's a lot of great ones here. We're just happy to be a part of it," says Stowell.

Stowell started his career as a prep cook and worked his way up. He says he feels fortunate to have made a living out of doing what he loves and wants to inspire others to do the same.

"I started in the back of the house, and my heart is still in the back of the house, but now, you know, I've got to run a business," says Stowell. "You have employees. You want to do right by them."

Stowell says Tavolàta is a neighborhood, family-style Italian restaurant with pasta made from scratch.

"When people come in, they'll see them making raviolis and gnocchi by hand. It's really meant to be a casual family dining experience where you have great food, and it's really more of a modern take on Italian," says Stowell.

Stowell says he has been cooking for 28 years. Boise's Tavolàta will be the sixth location he has opened, with four in Seattle and one in Spokane.

"I feel very fortunate. Not a lot of people can say that they've made their hobby their career and their career their hobby," says Stowell.

Stowell says he is excited for Tavolàta to be part of the Boise community. He says future customers can expect great food and a happy hour with heavily discounted pasta bowls.

"We want people to feel like the restaurant is approachable and for people to come in early," says Stowell. "You know, big bowls of pasta with solid discount cocktails."

Tammy Johnson, Executive Director at Life's Kitchen, says she enjoyed how Stowell interacted with the youth in her program. She says the goal of Life's Kitchen is to help at-risk youth, ages 16 to 24, find success.

"They've been in foster care, they've been in juvenile detention, they're just struggling in everyday life," says Johnson. "We kind of try to take them in and provide workforce development and life skills and a full GED program and try to move them forward."

When asked why she does this, her response was simple.

"Because I love them," replies Johnson. "Why wouldn't you do something like this?"

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