Cafe Galicia offers a taste of northern Spain

The real Galicia is a northwest region in Spain which enjoys a rather nice ocean coastline and simple, fresh seafood cuisine. Transitioning this concept to Wheaton takes a bit of imagination, since our only local "coastline" is miles from our view. Anything's possible, however, if you are in good hands, and at Café Galicia we learned that a little imagination goes a long way.

The scene

Cafe Galicia occupies a comfortably large space with white stucco walls hung with blue and yellow asymmetrical mosaics. The wooden tables aren't dressed in tablecloths, but other little details that hint that this place aims for above-average service and tapas: crisp white shirts on the servers; attentive and knowledgeable staff; a large bottle of Vichy Catalan - a mineral water straight from the Spanish land - waiting at the table.

The food

In typical Spanish fashion, the menu is divided into hot and cold tapas, with a couple of paellas thrown in and a handful of deserts. A competent wine list was presented to us, but we opted for the sangria, which was curiously tingly because, we were told, the bartender mixed in a splash of tonic. On the cold tapas side, we chose the alcachofas a la Galicia - grilled artichokes marinated with shallots and red, green and yellow roasted peppers and drizzled with a playful sherry vinaigrette. Café Galicia's interpretation of the obligatory queso de cabra vino tinto - thick and creamy tomato basil sauce with soft rosemary goat cheese - was above average, though the sauce was too heavy, not leaving enough space for the goat cheese to truly shine.

A glance over the lunch specials revealed a surprising collection of sandwiches instead of tapas which, understandable as it may be, was a slight deviation from a typical Spanish lunch.

On to the other hot tapas, we ordered the cazuela de pollo - which was, like its name so helpfully explains, a casserole consisting of small pieces of dark and white chicken with spicy smoked chorizo and mushrooms, garnished with saffron rice and sherry wine. Since we were in Galician territory, we couldn't pass up the vieras con tocino - large scallops wrapped in (almost) crispy bacon, and served with a sweet potato purée and balsamic and brown butter sauce. Although perfectly seared, the scallops were almost too big and were accordingly wrapped with bacon slices that were too large (it took two to properly wrap around each scallop). This made us think that the bacon was maybe better off with some eggs. The ginger-colored potato purée was deliciously sweet.

Some of the more Galicia-centered plates on the menu included a country and duck pate, an ensalada de Galicia, and dates and figs wrapped in bacon with dried fruit and piquillo butter sauce.

A few cappuccinos and the platano de Galicia, a sweet caramelized whole banana served with pistachio and chocolate ice cream, capped off the meal rather nicely.

The experience

Depending on what time of the day you go, it can be fairly low key or quite a lively experience. Either way, Café Galicia has quality food and service helped by three key persons who worked at the sites's previous incarnation, Emilio's - the GM, the chef and the sous chef. So while it doesn't quite beat ocean waves crashing at your feet as you're diving into some freshly caught seafood, Café Galicia comes up with the goods via some skilled professionals working to keep that illusion alive.

Café Galicia

230 W. Front St., Wheaton

(630) 682-0664

Cuisine: Spanish

Setting: Comfortable and stylish open space with large storefront windows

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday

Price range: Tapas: $5-$13; paellas: $14.95-$6.95; dessert: $4.25