Indigenous and utterly delicious food grounds one of Tacoma’s best new restaurants

Thick-sliced sourdough layered with a soft cloud of ricotta, a mound of mushrooms snipped from the floors of nearby forests, hidden lemon zest amid a stripe of tactile chimichurri — this is the toast of today.

It’s also the toast of yesterday, and of tomorrow.

The menu at ALMA Lounge, the newest culinary destination at the multifaceted arts-and-culture venue near downtown Tacoma, reads like many of its peers. Behind the scenes, though, the kitchen is guided by a firm dedication to local, seasonal food.

A nice catchphrase, but in practice the notion is far-fetched, cumbersome to achieve and rife with barriers. It takes devotion, incredible willpower and, yes, money. It also takes memory.

The team at ALMA has harnessed all those complicated energies into its recalibrated mission, one focused on indigenous foodways and inclusion for all. I can’t describe it any better than they do: “ALMA, a place for music, food, art and culture in Tacoma — a safe and welcoming gathering spot that is a conduit to the land itself, the people on it, the people from it, and those just passing through.”

At the Lounge, a charcuterie plate reaches far beyond salami and into foods integral to the original inhabitants around the Salish Sea: smoked salmon, seared venison, smoked duck breast with an array of pickled vegetables. There is a burger, but instead of beef it stars bison, a sacred animal for indigenous tribes across the continent. The meat also stars in steak form, dry-rubbed with porcini powder, and in stew with yams and hominy.

The duck leg pasta is not pasta at all but supple spaghetti squash in Mornay, dotted with pickled mustard seeds and fresh orange flesh. Atop it all, the bird deserves to eventually be picked up with your hands, tearing every last bit of precious meat from its delicate bones with your teeth.

“I was taught as a chef: If you’re gonna have something on the menu, you have to use every part of it,” said executive sous chef Kevin Michalk.

The duck skin is rendered for a bordelaise in that bison steak, plated with Adam’s Mushrooms from the Kitsap Peninsula and charred broccolini from Zestful Gardens in Puyallup. The carcasses are roasted and reduced into a stock, the livers folded into mousse for Forager’s Gathering, the charcuterie board.

Formerly the head catering chef at Pacific Lutheran University, Michalk also spent time in the kitchens of Derek Bray at The Table, a hyper-seasonal restaurant on Tacoma’s Sixth Avenue. He has been working closely with executive chef Ramon Shiloh, who joined ALMA as a consultant last year.

Shiloh moved here from Portland. Of African American, Filipino and Creek heritage, he has worked since 1992 to build connections between urban life and indigenous foodways. At ALMA, that outlook targets the colonialism that disrupted native people’s “ability to sustainably cultivate, grow and harvest from what had been naturally abundant,” said executive director Lisa Fruichantie.

A member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, she was raised in Alaska, where her family relied on the land and sea around them — until commercial fishing deflated their way of life.

Committing to local and sustainable food sources, she explained, directly challenges the industrial food model that has divorced us from understanding where our food comes from, why and how it’s grown. When you eat at ALMA, the hope is that you, too, start asking these questions.

A NEW PATH FOR ALMA TACOMA

Instead of, as marketing director Rose Peterson said, “shouting from the rooftops,” the organization formerly known as Alma Mater stayed grounded through the pandemic, while allowing this historic moment to be a catalyst for rebirth.

“We tried to be a lot of things to a lot of people,” said Fruichantie. “There was a disjointedness.”

Explaining everything that ALMA is might sound convoluted, but that’s partly the fault of its own beauty.

Today, every aspect of the venue falls under the ALMA umbrella. What was Matriarch is now ALMA Lounge; what was Honey Kitchen will open this summer as ALMA Cafe. Fawcett Hall, the concert stage, is now ALMA Venue, and floors above, ALMA Rooftop will re-emerge as temperatures rise.

ALMA Patio, an outdoor-only restaurant, launched in Summer 2020 in the spacious courtyard. As the city’s only dedicated outdoor dining experience — in a time when indoor activities were deemed risky — it garnered a reputation for safety, attracting families, brunch dates and work lunches. January 2021 was the organization’s busiest month ever, according to Fruichantie.

“It just exceeded our expectations,” she said.

Meanwhile, the interior restaurant space remained quiet. They promised some sort of rebirth.

During their rebranding, indigenous-led Idea2Form, an Oakland-based creative agency that works with many social enterprise organizations, asked about their demographic. “Well … everyone,” said Fruichantie.

“Whether they’re coming in for a show or a meal, there’s an opportunity to connect in a single capacity,” she continued. There are native plants on the property, for instance. “You might not notice them or recognize what they are around you, but then they might be directly on your plate.”

The renewed mission aims “to be a conduit for arts, culture, food and exchange in the Tacoma community,” said general manager Alex Henderson. “We can facilitate that with this 22,000-square-foot behemoth of a building. We tried to recalibrate and focus on a more specific set of ideals — or mission, vision and values — and a lot of what we see as value relates to indigenous principles.”

Last October, a land acknowledgment was installed on the grounds, designed by Salish artist Paige Pettibon.

The Patio introduced a few native-inspired dishes last summer, including a savory fry bread topped with beans, greens and edible flowers, but the Lounge is the first full expression of one of the most fascinating food concepts in the region. Finish with a sweet fry bread, a beignet-like dessert rooted in the painful history of colonialism, when the U.S. government sent indigenous families, forced from their land, boxes of lard, flour and salt.

I was eager to return to the Lounge to experience this “urban native” cuisine but also to sip food and beverage director Megan Henson’s pristine cocktails. In the Leather & Lace, mezcal washed in browned butter is shaken with salt, sugar and black walnut bitters; it’s a rare spell of creativity in the sphere of mezcal old-fashioneds. Over ice, tequila and oloroso sherry join lime and Lake Chelan green apple juice.

There are a few galvanizing examples of local, seasonal cooking around town, but no one is approaching the theme quite like ALMA.

ALMA TACOMA

▪ 1322 Fawcett Ave., Tacoma, 253-368-6509, almatacoma.com

▪ ALMA Lounge: Wednesday-Saturday 4-9 p.m.; seasonal small and large plates suitable for sharing or a traditional appetizer-entree meal, plus thoughtful cocktails

▪ Atmosphere: quiet and elegant, with marble bar, well-spaced tables and velvet chairs

▪ Price: salads, appetizers and boards $8-$18; sandwiches and entrees $13-$32

▪ ALMA Patio: Wednesday-Sunday 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; brunch with cocktails, beer and wine in outdoor courtyard; counter-service ordering

This story was originally published March 24, 2022 at 10:00 AM.