Talk about a hidden gem.
Just steps back from the five corners that link several Tucson arteries is a restaurant so charming it’s like discovering a secret bistro in Venice.
Casa Madre, the brainchild of chef Dominique “Doma” Stoller, is for fine dining and intimate conversations. It’s for special occasions and occasions where the only desire is to savor delicious food. It’s a place to be treated like an old friend and with the best service.
“I knew I wanted (Casa Madre) to be just something that is the full experience,” she said. “I feel like when you go to eat in other cities or back east or even in Los Angeles, you get a whole experience. I wanted it to be like that.”
Stoller, along with her husband Morgan, own Casa Madre but it is Stoller herself who does most of the cooking. She learned on the job at the original Tavolino’s, working under Massimo Tenino. She has served as executive pastry chef at the Hub Ice Cream Factory and also the catering and event chef at Playground.
In March 2019 she decided to break away to do what she wanted to do. Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit and put the brakes on doing anything. During that downtime she began to seriously think about opening her own place.
“I had always wanted to open my own restaurant,” Stoller said. “My husband and I had always talked about it and then we were like, ‘Maybe this is an opportunity to take the time to do what we have in mind and do it exactly the way we want.’”
What was that exactly?
“I knew I wanted to this to be something over the top, a celebration, … a combination of flavors, not any kind of genre that would hold me down,” she said.
Casa Madre is the result.
Seating only about 15 diners at the inside tables and four at the bar, Casa Madre satisfies all the senses, beginning at the front door. The interior is moody but stealing all the attention is a block wall made of Himalayan rock salt that’s lit from within. In fact, Morgan built the restaurant from the ground up.
No detail at this restaurant is overlooked. Sip a drink from a cut crystal glass. Eat your dinner on fine China. But what good is ambience if the food is no good?
Start any good meal with a cocktail; Case Madre has both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. When you are a non-partaker, it is sometimes hard to feel like an adult with a soda can in your hand. None of that here where there are three choices but here’s a recommendation: a tart cherry and Jamaica agua fresca which is neither too sour nor too sweet and looks like a cocktail. For those who prefer something stronger, try an espresso martini or one of the more unusual drinks, a dirty turnip-tini (yep, it has some iteration of turnip in it). There are other mixed drinks, of course, and a wine list. Ask Rose DeSantis, the knowledgeable bartender/server, she is happy to recommend something.
Stoller does not specialize in any particular genre of food; she just likes fresh, locally sourced ingredients as a glance at the menu will confirm. The menu is small; choose from between four appetizers, three salads, four entrees, one soup and a number of desserts. There are also specials.
On this particular night several menu items stood out.
The chef’s board is like none other. First, it comes on a two-tiered platter and features a dill pasta salad, stuffed medjool dates, assorted berries, sliced apples, soft goat cheese topped with something sweet, herby mild Boursin cheese, grilled and chilled asparagus, bread and a few other finger foods. The menu says for two but four could get a nice pre-dinner snack from this.
Follow the board with the Manchego date and orange salad, which was a special that night. It included fresh greens, medjool dates stuffed with Manchego cheese and orange slices and was topped by pomegranate seeds. The dressing was a fresh citrus concoction.
Then there was a Szechuan style pork albondigas soup featuring a delicate bone broth with a lump of steamed rice and two large meatballs. It’s worth mentioning that this was no ordinary meatball. The pork was Duroc and aged 21 days.
Other dinner items that night were the gambas al ajio, a kind of elevated shrimp scampi, and another special: rosemary grilled lamb chops with gruyere and leek scalloped potatoes.
Save room for dessert because there are a few to choose from, including freshly made ice cream, which Stoller makes herself. However, for an out-of-this-world dessert experience if it’s offered try the key lime pie topped with chantilly cream. There really is nothing else like it.
All this goodness does not come cheap. Expect to pay at least $16 for a salad and about $35 for the chef’s board. The most expensive item on the menu: a ribeye with roasted poblano chili scalloped potatoes and sauteed seasonal vegetables, which comes in at about $75.
The portions are not tiny, in fact they are quite large so expect to take home a doggie bag (except for the dessert, which will be devoured right there).
It is fine dining at its best, but “really, what I’m most excited about is Domo’s food,” Morgan said. “I feel like it’s the best in town and some of the best I’ve ever had,” he said. “That’s always been the focus, and it still is.”
Make reservations early as they fill up quickly or you can take your chances with the four bar seats. There is also a patio in the back.
The restaurant has been open about a year and a half now. Three months after opening the doors, Stoller was diagnosed with breast cancer. She worked all the way through surgeries and chemo and is two months on the other side of that. She talked about Casa Madre as if it were just opening.
“I’m so excited to have this be the beginning of the first season where I’m feeling amazing and I get to really put my head into the food,” she said.”