When owner Omar Mediouni opened La Casa three years ago, it was the fulfillment of a longtime ambition.
Mediouni had worked in the kitchen of several area restaurants before opening his own establishment, Casablanca, across from Heinz Hall.
But his dream was to open an intimate restaurant that served tapas, and Casablanca was a big, formal restaurant with dining on two levels.
"The place Downtown was so big it would never have worked," he says. The restaurant since has closed.
He had long had his eye on a small red brick building on a long block of Ellsworth Avenue that's filled with antique shops and clothing boutiques. The space had been home to a succession of restaurants.
Three years ago, it became available and La Casa became a reality.
"It's the perfect place for me," Mediouni explains. "It's a house. It's not too big."
The dining room is narrow and dramatic with color-saturated walls.
The covered outdoor dining area is bright but shady with a small fish pond and greenery and the perfect place for relaxing on a summer evening.
Relaxing is what tapas dining is all about.
Popular in Spain and South American countries, tapas are small appetizer-size servings meant to be enjoyed with convivial companions and a glass of wine or sherry.
The idea, says Mediouni, is you eat when you drink and drink when you eat.
Tapas can be something small and nibbly, such as a plate of olives ($4) or a couple of bite-size tarts filled with roasted red peppers and an eggy custard ($5), or something more substantial -- Albondigas con Salsa de Tomate ($8), lots of tiny meatballs in tomato sauce, or Mejillones al Vino Blanco ($9), mussels in white wine sauce.
Tapas are best enjoyed with a group of five or so friends who get together for an evening of socializing. By ordering a variety and a succession of small plates, everyone gets to sample lots of dishes.
To encourage mixing, matching and experimenting, La Casa offers a huge menu with literally dozens of choices both hot and cold. There's an equally large and diverse menu of white and red wines that can be ordered in 3- or 6-ounce portions should you wish to extend the mix-and-match concept. Wine also can be ordered by the bottle, as can lots of specialty drinks.
The friendly, welcoming staff doesn't rush you but does check back at regular intervals to refill glasses or see if you're ready to order something else.
We began with a Plato de Charcuteria ($11) that provided lots of tasty meaty treats -- thin slices of Serrano ham, cold pates, a pile of tiny cornichon pickles, and planks and rounds of dry-cured Spanish sausages. We particularly liked the salami-like rounds that were encrusted with cracked pepper.
Another satisfying meat choice is Carpacho de Buey ($10), paper-thin sheets of raw, tender beef marinated with capers and oil and served atop a pile of tender greens. Our waitress recommended the Chicken Empanadillas ($8), two warm, flaky pastry crescents filled with a mildly spicy chicken filling.
From the menu of specials, we selected the Baked Portabella Mushroom ($10), a more Italian option. The huge mushroom cap arrived warm and savory with a generous coating of melted mozzarella cheese, bathed in a balsamic vinegar sauce with slivers of fresh basil.
We also enjoyed the Tortilla de Patates ($6), an ample room-temperature wedge cut from a wheel made by stacking layers of thinly sliced potatoes then baking them and allowing them to cool. Think potatoes au gratin at room temperature without the cheese but drizzled with saffron-flavored butter sauce.
If going the tapas route sounds too edgy for your tastes, it's possible to compose a more traditional meal from the extensive menu.
Start with the house salad -- Ensalada de la Casa ($5) -- composed of warm spinach decorated with pine nuts and currants, or Ensalada de Queso de Cabra y Avellanas ($7), which features goat cheese and roasted hazelnuts.
If you've had a couple of tapas as appetizers, the Paella Valenciana ($23) is big enough for two to share -- a big sizzling platter of saffron rice studded with fresh peas and other vegetable bits plus a generous selection of mussels, tiny shrimp and scallops, chunks of chicken and chorizo.
Meat lovers might prefer the Solomillo al Queso Cabralles con Patatas Bravas ($19), which sounds exotic but translates loosely as steak -- a 7-ounce filet mignon -- and sauteed potatoes.
But if you are looking for something a little more adventurous, you couldn't go wrong with the Costillitas con Arroz ($11), three moist, meaty and very tender goat chops, nicely grilled and served with saffron rice and a brown sauce flavored with thyme. It's listed as a tapas but hearty enough for an entree.
However you've eaten at La Casa, top off your meal with dessert. We tried three.
Apple Tart ($7) was pleasant but undistinguished. The layers of sliced apples were properly crisp-tender, and the caramel sauce was subtly sweet. But the pastry was gluey and cold, as though it had come straight from the refrigerator.
Instead, we'd recommend the Mixed Berries in Port Wine ($8), which featured fresh strawberries, blueberries and raspberries that paired nicely with the gently sweet port sauce and was capped with a dollop of whipped topping. Our favorite, though, was the Chocolate Fondant ($9), La Casa's well-done variation on the chocolate volcano cake. Nicely chocolatey throughout, it not only had a warm, molten center but some pleasantly crunchy bits on the cake's exterior. Served with a small ball of vanilla ice cream, it made a satisfying conclusion to a pleasant evening.
Ticket restaurant reviewers visit restaurants anonymously. They pay in full for all food, wines and services. Interviews are done only after meals and services have been appraised.
Additional Information:
La Casa
Cuisine: Spanish with an emphasis on tapas
Hours: 4:30-10:30 p.m. Mondays-Wednesdays, 4:30-11 p.m. Thursdays, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 4:30-10 p.m. Sundays
Entree price range: Tapas, $4-$12; entrees, $18-$23
Notes: Smoking at the bar if restaurant is not busy. Accepts major credit cards. Reservations accepted.
Location: 5884 Ellsworth Ave., Shadyside
Details: 412-441-3090
