At this Tacoma landmark cafe, a dessert that defies definition but is so, so tasty

Turtle pie. Bread pudding. Housemade bourbon vanilla ice cream. Then a paragraph.

The beguiling 87-word description of Over the Moon’s signature dessert, one that has graced the menu for several years now, raises a question. “Not quite a cheesecake and not quite a pie,” it reads, listing the ingredients: coconut butter, organic raw honey, berries in a date crust with coconut flour and flakes, topped with whipped coconut cream.

Sounds delightful, but I ask, “What is it exactly?”

The answer from your amicable server will either be satisfying enough that you order it, or unsatisfying enough that you order it.

I needed to know!

The first bite, and every bite that followed including those completed at home, straight from the takeout box, haunts my palate. It was tart, soft, fruity and barely sweet, airy but somehow also dense. The crust, reminiscent of the fig Newtons I have loved since I had teeth, should eliminate the need for graham cracker crusts everywhere.

I explained all of these feelings and memories to chef Deanna Harris Bender, who opened this intimate 34-seat restaurant in Opera Alley 21 years ago this June.

“Now you know why the description is so long!” she laughed, insisting, however, that it’s a simple little thing.

First, she pulverizes pitted dates in the food processor with a touch of coconut flour, coconut oil and toasted flakes, and salt.

“Just cream the heck out of it,” she explained.

Pressed into a springform pan, the crust bakes for 30 minutes and chills while she cooks the filling on the stovetop. Berries — frozen, “because they break down and get juicier, which you really need in this” — stirred with coconut oil, raw honey, a little salt and vanilla. The final whirl of tapioca starch thickens it to a consistency somewhere between béchamel and a milkshake.

She pours the berry blend over the crust and tosses it in the fridge for at least 24 hours before serving a slice with port berry drizzle, coconut cream, mint sprig.

So, it’s like a Jell-O no-bake cheesecake, but not?

Bender sort of agreed with this interpretation, referencing cheesecake recipes that use a similar technique.

“It just sets different,” she said. “I don’t even know what the terminology would be!”

TACOMA’S DESSERT OF NECESSITY

We had little room after the refreshingly retro wedge salad and a butternut squash lasagna, thin slices layered with pools of burrata béchamel, a trio of cheeses and a cherry pepper tomato sauce. A pair of duck breasts were perfectly cooked, likely by Bender herself.

The menu quietly speaks to her personal food journey, which took a hard turn in 2012 when she was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Thought to be genetic, this autoimmune disease primarily affects women, inflaming the thyroid glands that produce hormones essential to certain functions of the body. Surrounded by food in her professional life, she began cutting out any potential culprit: gluten, nuts, dairy, sugar.

“You name it,” she recalled. “I was eventually eating very little but protein.”

Conversations with doctors — specialists, she noted, were hard to find at that time — and her own research led her to the Autoimmune Paleo Diet. It’s restrictive by modern standards, excluding any processed food, artificial sweeteners, including naturally occurring ones like stevia, as well as beans, grains, eggs and even nuts. For Bender, oxalates — found in otherwise nutritious foods like collards, sweet potatoes, fruits and nuts — were an unlikely enemy.

“I just wanted to feel better,” she said. “It was a real tough time. It took me about three years to come out of that, and a lot of trial and error.”

Only within the past year did she re-introduce bread: sourdough, baked at home with her own starter.

As it goes, Bender longed for dessert.

“I’m a sweets person — you can ask anybody!” she laughed. But when she visited other restaurants, “Nobody would have any desserts I would eat. Well, to hell with that! I gotta figure something out.”

After discovering coconut manna, a creamy “coconut butter” made from the pureed flesh of the fruit, water removed, she would have a spoonful with berries. This ingredient is essential to this berry situation.

Back in the restaurant, the chef wanted to ensure that anyone suffering from Celiac disease, Crohn’s, Hashimoto’s or any food allergy could eat a starter, an entree and dessert.

“I just feel for anyone who has these issues and is trying to manage them, but still wants to eat good food and celebrate with some sweetness occasionally,” she said.

The whatchamacallit dessert may begin with the words AIP and paleo-friendly. It may be digestible for anyone with allergies to gluten, nuts, dairy or simply the desire to consume less processed sugar — and it has attracted a modest cult following for all of those reasons. Bottom line, though: It’s good, and I hope we can find it in Opera Alley for at least another 21 years.

OVER THE MOON CAFE

▪ 709 Opera Alley, Tacoma, 253-284-3722, overthemooncafe.net

▪ Tuesday-Thursday 4:30-8:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday 4:30-9:30 p.m.

▪ Details: intimate bistro with European-inspired fare, friendly to all diets; reservations highly recommended