Exciting flavors in small bites at new Tacoma wine bar and restaurant, now open downtown

The flavors pulsing through downtown Tacoma’s newest restaurant are as unexpected as the floor-to-ceiling image of a red rose that covers the wall of the dining room, which you enter through an equally tall velvet curtain.

Owner Chris Dasef had promised a “sultry” experience at Amor Wine and Tapas, which opened the first week of June in a historic building at 705 Pacific Ave. After gutting the former insurance office, the resulting space is both striking and understated, with white-washed walls and the ceiling painted black, trimmed in just a touch of shimmery gold. Thanks also to canvas paintings in museum-caliber frames, it evokes an art gallery — and in a sense, that’s the idea.

The modestly sized kitchen, led by Enrique Vargas, is striving to create food that is “really good and beautiful,” as the chef said earlier this year. Born in Mexico City but with family in the Puget Sound, he worked in kitchens throughout Seattle before joining the Amor team. If seated in the dining room, you can catch a glimpse of the action — including breadmaking to accompany charcuterie boards — in the pass-through window.

Though the opening menu features four mains, including braised short rib, multi-mushroom risotto and a vegan eggplant dish, the initial attraction — for me anyway — was the tapas.

I implore you to not go into your first Amor encounter with whatever image you have of tapas in your mind (especially if you’re picturing patatas bravas or a little bowl of green olives). These plates are assuredly not that, but they do take cues from the Spanish snacks that inspired the concept.

Across the Atlantic, the idea originated as just that — a light bite to whet your appetite ahead of your presumably later-in-the-evening supper. As the craze spread to the United States, we decided we could make a meal out of them. Por qué no? Then came what restaurants these days refer to as “small plates,” more composed dishes that shirk the protein-starch-vegetable convention.

At Amor, Vargas and his team have developed a concept that falls somewhere amid all of the above, but not squarely in one camp or the other.

Some plates I would place in the small-plate category, like the warm duck confit salad, listed on the menu as a “starter,” the bird laced between strands of crunchy braised cabbage, dotted with a beautifully soft-boiled egg. We didn’t try a board on this initial visit (one with three cheeses and the other with Iberico ham, prosciutto di parma and house pâté), but a glimpse of one tells me they would also be easily shareable.

The tapas, priced in three main tiers of $6, $9 and $12, are truly snack-sized. Combine them and they have the makings of an eclectic, fascinating meal; drop in to the bar for a glass of wine and a soft arancini or rich polpetti (here a beef and pork meatball with a dash of parmesan cream and pleasantly acidic pomodoro sauce) for a cool pre-dinner bite. I anticipate Amor satisfying both sides of that coin as it evolves.

I especially loved the supple scallop, served over soubise sprinkled with a surprising savory caramel sauce and crackle of almond “streusel,” and the boquerones, a quintessential Spanish tapas, here stacked with finely chopped tomatoes, olives and preserved lemon. These flourishes show a kitchen willing to experiment with textures and flavors that we don’t yet see much of in the city.

I started the evening with a Belvedere Gibson from a list that leans classic (most $12-$15), including a French 75 and pisco sour. Wine director Randall Reader noted that the sangria ($9/glass) has been a hit so far. Both use high-quality table wine — “juicy, no tannins,” he said — and are laced with brandy in the red and gin in the white.

The wine program is definitely a focal point at Amor, heavy on reds segmented into light, medium and bold. You can also take some time with the bottles as you enter the restaurant, where, to your right is a display that doubles as a retail section. Many of the more than 40 choices are priced around $50. Glass pours are also reasonable, between $12 and $15, and Reader anticipates rotating them frequently. The opening list starts with a trio of bubbles from Spain and Italy, six whites including a rare sight of a Finger Lakes riesling, and seven reds, from Willamette Valley pinot noir to Barbera d’Asti and a funky French tannat-cabernet. Each entree has a specific pairing, and even glass pours receive tableside service: Staff will show you the bottle and offer a taste.

In the future, they plan to offer pours of “rarely available” selections, said Reader. Dasef also hopes to bring flamenco to the back courtyard patio, which should open by next month along with front sidewalk seating. The first event is scheduled for Saturday, July 29.

One particular note about the tapas ordering system: The vision is for a packed restaurant with a dozen or so varieties of tapas regularly whirring around the dining room. You see it and tell the server, “I’ll take that arancini, please!” It was quiet the Thursday we visited, but we were told there was a charcuterie board in waiting. We declined, and ordered as one normally would but were informed that in the future they would be shuffling tapas around. I don’t quite understand how this continuous flow would function in practice — even the staff seemed to struggle to explain it — but I still look forward to my next visit.

AMOR WINE & TAPAS

▪ 705 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253-302-3706, amorwineandtapas.gosite.com

▪ Wednesday-Sunday 6-10 p.m.

▪ Details: wine and cocktail bar with European-influenced tapas

▪ Reservations: recommended for weekends in main dining room via Resy or OpenTable; front bar/lounge also offers table seating

This story was originally published June 19, 2023 at 5:30 AM.