Cafe Luna Open at New Location

And what a gorgeous place it is! The former Tracks space has been remade into an intimate, comfortable, and chic bistro that serves fabulous food and drink. Take your date here; you'll earn his or her undying love. As in the cafe's former location, you don't need to dress up, but if you do, you'll feel entirely comfortable.

My friend Angie and I went last Saturday evening. And we went early (5:45). The photo above was taken at that time, when there was just one other table in the place. But soon enough, and throughout the rather long evening we spent there, it was packed. Without any advertising other than the words "Now Open" spray painted on the Coming Soon sign facing University Avenue.If you've been to Luna's previous incarnation on Fourth and Green, you may be relieved to hear that the menu is very similar to what it was there: many tapas (around 40 options), a handful of entrees (six; one vegetarian), and divine desserts (7 types). Here's a sampling of some of the offerings (I'm not running down the entire menu, just trying to give you a taste, heh heh):

Tapas
Vegetable
Roasted garlic
Orange-marinated olives
Parmesan fries with truffle oil
Mushroom crostini with Gruyere and truffle oil
Whole artichoke with grainy mustard sauce

Seafood
Spring crab cakes with asparagus
Coconut shrimp with curry aioli (be sure to get this one!)
Mussels in white wine, garlic, and herbs
Seared sea scallops over sweet peas in pancetta
Shrimp scampi with artichoke hearts, olives, and goat cheese

Meat
Flank steak crostini with fig jam, arugula, and Stilton (blue) cheese
Strawberry-rhubarb pork ribs
Pesto burgers with cilantro aioli and crispy onion
Charcuterie board

Cheese
Goat cheese balls with caramelized onions and honey
Warm brie with caramelized walnuts and berries
Cheese board with domestic and imported cheeses

Salads
Arugula and tarragon with grapes, walnuts, and aged Spanish goat cheese
Beet carpaccio with minted greens, goat cheese, and herb vinaigrette

Entrees
Goat cheese and asparagus ravioli with sauteed shiitake and a sun-dried tomato and chive butter
Pancetta-wrapped filet mignon with mushroom skewers, an apple potato cake, and Morel mushroom port glaze
New England clam bake with assorted fresh seafood, local produce, and a white-wine–butter broth (I'm getting this one next time.)

Desserts
Warm flourless Ghirardelli chocolate cake with berry sauce
Gingered rose mascarpone cheesecake souffle
Lemon mousse

I know.

We sipped sangria while we perused the menu. Large glass, garnished with strawberries and oranges; lip-smacking good.My friend and I dove off the deep end and ordered the Chef's Choice dinner, and it was thusly described by our server: "Basically, tapas keep flowing out from the kitchen to your table until you are completely satiated." Yikes! Who could resist an offer like that?! (The tapas are chosen by the chef, and the cost is $35/person.)I'm ashamed to tell you how many tapas we consumed. I wanted to stop, but Angie was harder to satisfy, and so we had (ahem!) 14 courses, not counting dessert. They were tiny courses, but still.

It couldn't be helped.

The first dish brought to us was ceviche scallops over creamed celeriac root with orange sections and avocado: thin slices of marinated scallop were the jewels atop this crown.Next up was a charmingly shaped dish holding two varieties of tuna tartare (spicy and herb) with a few chips. The spicy one was my favorite; it wasn't so spicy as to overpower the tuna but was deliciously zingy. Hey! It's Luna tuna!Then the server brought the arugula and tarragon salad, which included a couple of the mushroom crostini with aged goat cheese and truffle oil (they combined two tapas here). That's what I'm talking about!Next was roasted garlic. I'm not sure what the delightful substance on the side was, but something sweet-ish. A balsamic something, perhaps.Then we were made to consume the spring crab cakes with asparagus. Still with me?After that, it was two hot and crispy coconut shrimp with curry aioli.Quickly followed by the seared scallops over the sweet peas, with pancetta.Perhaps fearing that we were meat deprived, the chef then sent out the strawberry-rhubarb ribs.And the duck ravioli.And the skewered beef with potato gratin. And the sauteed asparagus with sun-dried tomato and chive butter (do not pass this one up). It's now getting later and darker, so photos of these two are unavailable.

Hold on—we're not giving up yet!

Apparently the light got better, or I revived myself momentarily, because I do have photos of the next courses.

The fried goat-cheese balls with caramelized onions and honey:And I have to mention the warm Brie with caramelized walnuts and berries.Alert! My presentation here is somewhat out of the order in which we received the tapas, because I know that both cheese dishes were not served back to back (and you can tell, by the light in the photo, that the Brie was served quite a bit earlier in the evening than the goat-cheese balls were)—but bear with me; the sangria was a fruity delight, it was served in a large glass (for 6 bucks—such a deal), and I had drunk two.

We were almost beaten, but we persevered! Allow me to present the seared salmon with asparagus and golden beets (the beet part is that ring of gold you may or may not be able to make out under the fish).Finally, we finished ourselves off with lemon mousse (Angie) and pineapple sorbet (me). I had thought I might burst, but the sorbet really set me right. Sadly, I captured no photos of these two sweet treats, but I strongly encourage you to try one or both.

Is that all there is? Yes, three and one-half hours later, we were satiated. Wowie.

About the service: Good. Friendly, and knowledgeable. A couple of times the tapas came out too quickly, but overall, and for the second night in operation? Very well done.

About the prices: You're not going to get out of here cheaply. Our bill, for the two chef's special dinners, two glasses of wine each, and two desserts, was right around $100, or about $120 after tipping. The prices of the tapas ranged from $3 to $16, with most hovering around the $7 mark. So if two of you have a couple of tapas, a couple glasses of wine, and dessert, it's going to set you back around $60 to $70+, before tip. I wish I could say I'll be popping in to eat at this lovely establishment with extreme frequency, but alas, I'm neither a personal-injury lawyer nor a software developer, so it's going to be more of a special-occasion, treat-myself kind of place.In his history of renowned restaurateur Alice Waters and her revolutionary (for the time) venue, Chez Panisse, Thomas McNamee writes that the restaurant had "many small sources of light, and gilt-framed mirrors to reflect it, so that there would be a warm, seemingly sourceless glow." The kind of glow that makes "women look good in the restaurant." This is just such a place. When I gazed into the several mirrors hung near the ceiling at opposite ends of the dining room and saw the servers, the customers, the food and drink, the candles, and the flowers reflected there, I felt as if I'd been transported into a Toulouse-Lautrec painting. A good feeling, indeed—and I'm certain I looked stunning. I'll always have Luna.

Cafe Luna
Off University Avenue, in the old train station
Champaign, IL
217-356-5862
Serving lunch 11:00 to 3:00 every day but Sunday, when there is brunch (starting at 10:00 a.m.), and dinner every day but Sunday from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

P.S. You really must take a look at my friend Lek's photos of his evening at Luna. They are truly beautiful! They really capture the atmosphere and food much better than my photos do. Thanks a million for sharing, Lek.

Update 6/11/08: I went for dinner again last night with a friend who hadn't been yet. We ordered sangria, and it took quite a while to get to us (maybe ten minutes), but not so long that it ruined the evening or anything. We both also ordered the whole artichoke; that came in a timely manner, but then our entrees came while we were still working on the artichokes. So, the entrees sat while we finished. By the time I started my clam bake, it had cooled off more than I would've liked. So, the timing is still off. In addition, the clam bake turned out to be a mussels bake—the clams hadn't come in. I'm not anywhere near as fond of mussels as I am of clams, so it was disappointing, and I wished that I'd heard about the lack of clams before the entree came to me so I could've considered whether I still wanted to order that dish or not. In any case, there was lots of other seafood and fish in there (shrimp, scallops, hunks of salmon) plus manageably sized pieces of corn on the cob, and potatoes.

When our server came to clear our plates, he saw that I had left quite a few mussels, and it was clear he felt badly about the situation. He came back and offered me a free or discounted dessert (depending on which one I ordered), which I cheerfully took him up on (the lemon mousse).

My friend thoroughly enjoyed her large, delicious filet mignon topped with mushrooms and served with a side of a potato-apple concoction (sort of a pancake-y thing, very good) and some asparagus. Overall, we had a great time, what with the atmosphere, the music, and so forth, and it was a gorgeous evening weather-wise. The side patio looked magical; tiny white lights in the bushes, candles on the tables—and all of the outside tables were full.

Some friends passed our table on their way out of the restaurant, as we were finishing up. They raved about their tapas and didn't say anything about problems with the service.

I'm hopeful that with a little more time, they'll work out the timing of the dishes coming out of the kitchen and they'll sharpen up the service in general. It will be a shame if they don't, because Luna has the potential to be a star-quality bistro.