Tazza Kitchen recently opened its doors in Cameron Village, and it’s perfect for a date. It’s quiet, close and fancy enough for a night out.

The restaurant seems to be set up to give a modernized rustic impression. There are wood-paneled walls and wooden beams across the ceiling, but everything is minimalistic, colorful and clean. For example, the napkins seem to be hand-woven and are a pure, unstained, perfect white, and the silverware is arranged in patterns across the tables instead of laid out straight.

Wine bottles are arranged artistically on the wall, and there are tall windows to let in natural light. Alternative hits play softly in the background, a calm enough genre not to be too distracting but still contemporary.

The dining area is nicely separated from the bar by a median topped with plants, partitioning the space and making it warm, inviting and easy to converse. There is also an outside dining area, and a larger space in the back for groups, which is complete with bright blue seating. 

However, the best part of the atmosphere was the wood-burning, brick oven in the back, which is also used in the preparation of all the dishes. The smell is divine — the scent from the wood fire and the dishes that are currently being cooked permeates the whole restaurant.  Moreover, it was pleasant to be able to watch the goings-on behind the scenes. 

The service is fantastic. The waiter or waitress leaves a glass bottle of water at the table for when it’s needed, but still comes by to pour drinks quite often. My waitress was also quite happy to recommend her favorites from the menu and talk about how the dishes are made.

The restaurant uses seasonal ingredients and has a small but rotating menu. About half of the menu was taken up by the day’s brick-oven pizza choices, which Tazza Kitchen is extremely well known for. It also offers a variety of other entrees, including salads and mostly seafood. The restaurant has an interesting blend of Mediterranean and Baja styles and is willing to mix, match and experiment with most orders. 

I decided to try the waitress’ recommendation, which was pan-roasted cod with black lentils, and tried quite a bit of my dining partner’s steak with peppercorn potatoes.

Both were not quite as good as they could have been, but they were not bad by a long shot. They both could have been more flavorful, and the steak could have been a bit moister, which was strange as it was beautiful at a perfect pink medium-rare. However, the ingredients were fresh, the presentation was elegant and the portions were larger than expected for a sophisticated meal.  

The restaurant is pricey on a student budget, especially when the food was not fantastic, and is probably not suited for casual dining with friends. But, considering the energy of the place, the evening I spent there was decidedly pleasant. Although it’s not necessarily everyday dining, I would definitely recommend Tazza Kitchen to couples looking for a more upscale meal that won’t completely break the bank.