Merende

This is a new restaurant in Tacoma that my husband heard about from one of his colleagues. It looked nice from the outside and we entered with enthusiasm. The restaurant has a long, narrow footprint that we generally find appealing. We were greeted at the door and picked a table in the back (away from possible door drafts?). Nice overall design of the space, but it seemed a bit cold, or austere. We decided the décor was good with the exception of the light-colored carpeting, and the Western-Steakhouse-style chairs. The lights needed to be dimmed a notch too. The tables were made of an attractive wood (species?) and when we asked our waiter about them he said the owner’s son had crafted them. Nice.

Our waiter was a charming fellow who did a nice job describing the specials. We started with some of their, “Small Bites” (merende is Italian for the small meal/snack between lunch and dinner - sort of the Italian equivalent of the British High Tea.)
First up was, Herbed Farro with roasted root vegetables, fresh oregano, and basil oil. We thought it was good, not great. Next was Sautéed Calamari Calabrase with hot peppers, garlic, and oregano. We enjoyed this dish. Finally, we had the Oven-Roasted Clams with white beans, tomatoes, lemon, red onions, dry cinzano, and butter. All but two of the clams had grit in them and the sauce just didn’t work. We gave the thumbs down to this dish.

For our main course we the ordered Tagliatelle with Ragu Alla Bolognese. Theirs was good and classic. Next we had their Papardelli with Lamb special. This dish was excellent. The sauce was complex and wipe-up-with-the-bread tasty! The final selection was their Hare and Mushroom Risotto with creamy goat cheese and carnaroli rice. This dish was completely overpowered by thyme, which was a shame since the mushrooms were excellent and the hare was delicately cooked.

We chose their Chianti Rufina Riserva and Primitivo Cantele Apulia to go with our dinner. They were both good choices.

For dessert we had the Orange Saffron Cake with
Franglico whipped crema and candied hazelnuts. It was a wonderful cake that needed some sort of sauce to keep it from tasting too dry. We also had their Caprese Torta - a chocolate, almond, flourless cake, with amaretto whipped cream and fresh berries. Another nice dessert (the berries were superb – but they came on the plate with the cake instead of the torta) that could have used something to add moisture – cinnamon gelato?

Overall this was a good, fun, dining experience. The restaurant has only been open for a few weeks and I think all of the dishes have great potential with minor adjustments. We plan to return to Merende.