Restaurant review: Luna Red

Thanks to the heroic Auntie Burl and the adorable Cousin Fiend taking Fuss off our hands we were able to have a grownup dinner out the other night.

We opted for Luna Red- the notion of 'global tapas' was appealing, and also Malik told me to check it out a while back.

It's in the dead zone next to the Fremont Theater, where businesses go to die. Maybe the demise of the Coffee Merchant all those years ago haunts to to this day because nothing ever survives there.


Vestiges of the last contender, Chow, remain in the form of some chairs and a bit of decor, but the vibe is completely different- dark and cozy rather than open and breezy. I dug the ambiance of Chow but their fiddly Asian fusion that sounded better than it tasted didn't inspire me. I love the ambiance of Luna, it captures some of the spirit of the kind of dark, smoky joints my grandad took me to when I was little. It's mostly extinct in the modern age of BRIGHT LIGHTS, LOUD SETTING determined to keep diners uncomfortable and turnover high. This was the opposite, which I deeply appreciate. But it's dark in a modern way, all paint and lighting- the furnishings were all fresh and contemporary without clashing with the mood, a neat trick.

Happily, the food measured up to the ambiance. We opted for the Wine Country Picnic sampler of cheese and salumi and it was spectacular, with several offerings from Baxblog favorite Cowgirl Creamery. The only gripe was not enough bread to slather the bounty of delights on. We bit on the wine special suggested by our personable server (he worked at Tsurugi a few years back so I figured we could trust him) and both glasses were excellent. We split a pair of tapas plates for our main course, the standout being the fingerling potatoes with sriracha dipping sauce- spectacular!

So, delightful food, superb ambiance, personable service. It's the sort of place that makes me want to earn more lucre so we can eat there whenever we like.
A clean sweep.

Here's hoping it survives the curse of its fated location long enough to host our next no expense spared celebration!