Discover ‘craveable’ food and cocktails at new Tacoma restaurant, already serving brunch

Finally, the restaurant space at 203 Tacoma Ave. S. feels like it has perhaps met its match: a concept that takes advantage of its big open kitchen and built-in stone pizza oven, its long bar and industrial, turn-of-the-century warehouse construction.

Manuscript opened here Jan. 31, the food-and-drink side of a business that will soon include Dialogue, an EDM and house-centric nightclub that co-owner Eda Johnson hopes can nurture artists who otherwise might struggle to break through.

Chef Brandon Barrios, who perfected Neapolitan pizza as the head chef at Bar Rosa and recently returned from a jaunt through Italy where, among other highlights, he perfected pasta recipes with a nonna named Paola, has pulled together what he hopes creates “a craveable experience.”

We’ll have to wait a few more weeks for his Manuscript pizza, though, which, when it hits the menu, will be the city’s only Roman-style pie. Baked in a sheet pan, the high-hydration dough is, in its simplest sense, “foccacia with toppings on it,” he said. His will be “super crispy on the bottom, so you can hold it on the dance floor” at Dialogue.

The rest of the menu evades exact definition, but some of it is inspired by traditional Italian flavors and techniques. A silky pomodoro envelopes al dente bucatini, while that Pasta di Paola features housemade tagliatelle with shiitake mushrooms, lots of garlic, sage and butter.

Other entrees include roasted salmon and a slab of pork belly — dry-rubbed in a custom blend from sous chef Ruben Melendez, braised in Tieton Cider Works’ bourbon-barrel cherry cider and finished with a bourbon-brown sugar glaze — served with mashed potatoes and broccolini.

Equal thought was put into the sandwiches, each between Macrina Bakery breads or buns and accompanied by house kettle chips. In addition to a smashburger with sauteed onions, cheddar and tomato, it features a bimbimbap-inspired number as well as a vegetarian option (roasted golden beets, arugula, chive whipped goat cheese, pickled carrots) that Barrios and Johnson promise will change beet-haters’ minds.

For roughage, there’s a classic Caesar and, for the winter season, a citrus salad with shaved fennel. Shareable small plates round out the meal, from a creamy burrata toast to two types of squash cooked in brown butter and sage.

(Handhelds, small plates and, eventually, the pizza are all part of a late-night menu available until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.)

The menus, both in what they offer and how they physically look, riff on the “manuscript” theme of creating. Note the hand-drawn typewriter logo by local tattoo artist Ashlyn Grantham on the outside of the petite booklet bound with brass fasteners. Inside, Amy Lewis, a Tacoma artist known for her glamorized depictions of everyday life, painted most of the images of food and drink.

“We wanted the menu to look like a chef and a bartender sat down to sketch out their ideas, like they wanted to sketch out a script,” said Johnson, who also spearheaded the cocktail program. She previously managed the midcentury-style cocktail bar The Boom Boom Room on Sixth Avenue, where she met Manuscript & Dialogue co-owner Robert Stocker.

DRINKS & DIALOGUE

Largely on draft, the beverage menu offers refreshers like the Botanical Tiempo, a hibiscus-laced tequila with elderflower, lime and raspberry, and Smoking Sound, a mezcal mule with passionfruit and a candied ginger snack. Sippers range from a Rob Roy with amaro to the requisite espresso martini, here forged with spiced rum, coconut, cold-brew and a salted sugar rim.

Beer focuses on regional names and styles. Draft wine includes an Italian pinot grigio, California bubbles and a Washington red blend.

Settle into it at one of two bars: the main area — now accented by purple, pink and orange-tinged lights that bounce off the white-brick walls — or the chef’s counter that you’ll see as you enter, with a view of the pizza oven and the open kitchen. Kick things off with raw local oysters sourced from Tacoma’s own Neptune Seafood Co.

The dining room feels more purposeful than it had in previous tries, thanks to black tufted booths that wrap around and run down the middle. The tabletops have typeset-style letters embedded in the resin. (Fun fact: Each represents an opening staffer’s initials.)

Thanks to the plentiful natural light even on cloudy Northwest days, it feels primed for brunch — which, in a rare feat, started last weekend.

Jeneva Sanchez is Manuscript’s “brunch queen,” where she will be baking off Dutch babies with huckleberry jam and lemon curd, squash hash, latkes and banana bread pudding.

“We do deep fry it,” she told me matter of factly of the banana bread. Those latkes, I might add, are also deep-fried.

Dialogue, the club in the back, should start hosting shows later this month, from DJs to art classes.

“The city took a huge hit when ALMA closed,” said Johnson, who goes by Eda Lovelace in her musical pursuits. In the near future up front, too, expect DJs to curate the music, giving “those smaller artists the opportunity to play in a live room.”

MANUSCRIPT TACOMA

▪ 203 Tacoma Ave. S., manuscripttacoma.com

▪ Wednesday-Thursday 4-10 p.m., Friday 4 p.m.-2 a.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-2 a.m., Sunday 9 a.m.-10 p.m.

▪ Details: fresh pasta, sandwiches and small plates served Wednesday-Sunday plus weekend brunch with frequent DJs; nightclub anticipated in late February (follow instagram.com/dialoguetacoma for updates)

This story was originally published February 5, 2024 at 1:00 PM.