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Cafe offers comfort
Restaurant's relaxed atmosphere and mostly successful dishes entice Houstonians downtown

By J.A. CHAPMAN

The minute I opened the door to the Dharma Café, I felt right at home. The inviting loft-like space, the warm wooden tables, the eclectic selection of art on the walls and the pleasing row of full fruit bowls in the cooler all blended together to create an atmosphere of comfortable tranquility. Settling into my table, I could feel myself starting to relax.

Tucked into the end of the old Erie Iron Works building in the arty Warehouse District, just north of downtown, the Dharma Café is a small place. There's seating for just 28 inside and three additional tables outside on the porch. The small size lends an air of familiarity and friendliness to the whole place. And indeed, the waiters are helpful and chatty and the white-haired owner and chef, John Gurney, frequently comes out to greet his guests.

My first visit was at lunch, which according to my waiter, tends to be the Dharma Café's busiest time. Given its proximity to downtown, that's no surprise. On this pleasant post-holiday afternoon, the restaurant was nearly full with a mixture of downtown workers, artsy types from the neighborhood and those enjoying the last bit of their vacation time.

They start you off with a plate of delightfully herby focaccia, topped with grated Parmesan and chopped parsley, with a few red grapes on the side. The focaccia is good, but unfortunately it's served in a pool of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, which makes the bottom layer of bread soggy.

The menu is familiar, with salads, sandwiches, wraps, and a smattering of entrees. The soup of the day (cup $2/bowl $4) is Southwest chicken noodle and black bean, which the waiter warns is spicy. He's right, but it's also delicious. Loaded with chunks of chicken, tomatoes, corn, black beans and substantial homemade pasta, in a rich, slightly sweet, cumin-flavored broth with little bursts of fresh cilantro, the generous cup is almost a meal in itself.

I follow the soup with the Thai chicken wrap ($6). Chunks of chicken breast, red cabbage, rice, and fresh coconut with a Thai peanut sauce are wrapped in a huge, soft sun-dried tomato tortilla. It's an excellent combination of flavors and I polish off the whole thing.

I hardly have room left, but when the waiter offers homemade peppermint gelato with chocolate chips ($2) for dessert, I can't resist. I love peppermint ice cream, and this version with its smooth peppermint cream punctuated with crisp bits of candy cane and chocolate chips is excellent. The waiter informs me that the gelato flavors rotate, depending on what they have on hand.

At dinner, the lights are dimmed, but the relaxed aura remains. After a comedy of errors with the wine (our first two selections were no longer available), my friend and I split the Crab Rangoon appetizer ($7) – crab and cream cheese in a deep-fried wonton. It's simple but delicious and the accompanying sweet ginger dipping sauce adds zip.

My friend chooses the outstanding blueberry chicken breast ($15). A chicken breast filled with blueberries, almonds and ricotta cheese comes drizzled in a smoky-sweet blueberry brandy glaze and accompanied by deep fried crispy green beans and roasted new potatoes. I keep stealing bites and marveling at the complexity of flavors.

My entree from the specials board of coconut crusted salmon with bacon linguine finished with Sezchuan sauce ($16) unfortunately disappoints. The linguine is tough, as if it's been sitting under a heat lamp for far too long, and the salmon is barely seared. I can see how the dish was supposed to work, however. The light sweetness of the crunchy coconut complements the salmon and the smokiness of the Sezchuan sauce sets off the whole dish nicely. If the pasta was fresh, this dish would be excellent. I have to think that this particular serving is an aberration, since everything else has been superb, and it's obvious that a large party that arrived rather suddenly has swamped the tiny kitchen.

We finish with cheesecake with fresh blueberries and a slice of carrot cake ($3 each). Both are good, and the cheesecake passes my test of being rich and creamy without being too heavy or dense.

So how did the Dharma Café get is name? Gurney defines dharma as the spiritual work that you do in your life to return to yourself, your center. His dharma is to be of service to others by cooking for them. And the Dharma Café's mission is to create "food for life."

As you're sitting in the Dharma Café, you can almost imagine you're in Boulder or San Francisco. Soak up the hip atmosphere. Relax a little, and enjoy the good food. You're among friends. Namaste, Dharma Café.

Food: 4
Service: 3 1/2
Value: 4
Scene: 4

Dharma Café
1302 Nance
Houston, TX 77002
713-222-6996
www.dharmacafehouston.com