THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Luna Blue Cafe

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Luna Blue Cafe Restaurant Review:

With two owners that are refugees from a defunct, checkered-tablecloth steakhouse, you’d expect Luna Blue to lack a certain polish---but you’d be mistaken. It’s got style that could hardly be farther from strip steak with creamed spinach on the side. The Outer-Loopland set has found the place already, and though they may move on as fickle crowds are wont to do, we hope it isn’t before the kitchen really hits its stride. Promising-sounding appetizers such as pan-steamed mussels with chorizo and red jalapeños can be mystifyingly bland, and crab cakes don’t exactly speak of the sea, but salads are spectacular (try the watercress with a honey-chipotle dressing), and a pignoli-crusted lamb T-bone was totally on target. It was also good with a selected side dish of braised baby artichokes and oven-roasted tomatoes. Grilled yellow fin tuna, on the other hand, has proven a little lackluster; the sides of braised fennel and creamy garlic risotto outshone the main event---and were even good with red wine, the list’s most developed category. Unfortunately, the steakhouse experience must have been traumatic, for the menu hardly has enough red-friendly entries to support the wines: there are only two steaks. A well-outfitted cheese plate is a post-prandial possibility, but be prepared to let it warm up a bit---the excuse to order more red wine, of course.