Tapa La Luna reopens under new ownership

DeKALB – When Tapa La Luna closed Jan. 1, Rob Deshazer hated to see it go.

"I worked here when it originally opened, and I fell in love with the place," he said. "I'm very happy to be part of the reopening."

The restaurant reopened on Valentine's Day under new owners Deshazer, Chad Warborg and Ron Proesel.

Warborg had worked as a chef at the restaurant, Deshazer was manager and Proesel was a patron of the restaurant. Tapa La Luna originally opened a little more than three years ago.

The three plan to implement changes to the menu and decor in the coming months. One of the changes includes the use of iPads as drink menus, which customers can use to pair drinks with dishes.

"Watching a pairing happen is unreal," Deshazer said. "The food opens your pallet. It's really fun."

Warborg said changes to the menu are coming soon, but the restaurant will keep its tapas fusion cuisine. He said the concept of tapas started in Spain, when people would use little bits of food to cover their glasses to keep flies out of their drinks. Patrons began eating the food used to cover their drinks, and a dining genre was born.

Deshazer said they want to dispel preconceived notions about traditional tapas dining with the small plate tapas fusion. Each table is set up with silverware and empty plates. Food ordered from the tapas fusion menu comes out as it's ready, rather than all orders arriving at the table together, and is served in sharable portions.

"It's really conducive to chatting, drinking and commiserating," Deshazer said. "It's great for a date. It really lets you focus on the person you're with."

The restaurant has traditional entrees, too. Warborg said the menu jumps all over the place, from American to Middle Eastern to Spanish. They also serve sushi.

"That's where the fusion comes in," he said. "We take a little bit from everywhere."

Warborg encourages people to try Tapa La Luna's bleu cheese tenderloin entree, which is a marinated beef tenderloin crusted with blue cheese and has a balsamic glaze and passion fruit sauce.

He also recommends the mango bourbon scallops, which are bacon-wrapped sea scallops with mango relish and onion straws topped with barbecue sauce.

"It's tough to beat," he said.

All of the food is made fresh, and Warborg makes more than 30 different sauces and salad dressings in-house.

In the next month or two, the new owners hope to have new artwork on display by both local and nonlocal artists, which they plan to rotate regularly. Deshazer said they're planning to change the interior decoration to a more contemporary feel.

"We want people to come in, especially folks who came in before, to feel familiar yet different," De-
shazer said.

They also plan to incorporate live music on the weekends that starts around 8 p.m.

Warborg said they also do catering and put a spin on special events such as bridal showers, where they can host sushi cooking classes instead of a traditional shower.

Deshazer said the restaurant fills its own niche, and the reopening of Tapa La Luna brings back another downtown destination for people to enjoy.

"We want to extend a welcoming hand to everyone here," he said.

Know more

What: Tapa la Luna

Where: 226 E. Lincoln Highway, DeKalb

Phone: 815-217-0990

Hours: 4-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 4-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Website: www.tapalaluna.com