Tempting Tastes at 19 Bella Tapas Restaurant in Skippack Village, PA

Readers, get thee to Cedars, Pa.

“Go out and see your friends and eat tapas and drink red wine and be in a beautiful place.” – Anthony Bourdain

Story, photos by Sharon Kozden

One doesn’t have to head to Spain for a first-rate, authentic tapas experience. Cedars, PA – just outside quaint Skippack Village – will do just fine. Grant Langdon Brown, owner and head chef at 19 Bella, has a top tapas spot worth the travel involved to enjoy extraordinary meals. I envy the locals’ proximity.

I arrived one chilly evening to discover an understated, functional exterior with patio I imagine bustles with activity during more temperate climes. The contrast between outward appearance and color-blazing interior was a fun surprise. Cross the threshold and be visually transported to Spain and all along the Mediterranean. A cozy barrage of warmth, color-bounty and cocoon-like tables combine in multiple adjoining rooms, all different in style and design. Que bella!

Not a fan of single-room cavernous seating, nosing about the rooms and finding unexpected treasures at every turn was a treat, my version of restaurant spelunking. The red (with its high-energy connotation) painted walls spurred my appetite. I chose a corner table with fort-like privacy. The cornucopia of artful and inventively original items arranged by Brown’s wife (what an eye!) fully captured my attention.

Opened in 2010, 19 Bella’s “passion and purpose is to provide our customers with exceptional food, surrounded by beautiful art and gracious hospitality, in a warm, inviting and unique atmosphere. And, as an added element of creativity, your food and drink are served on elegant mismatched china and glassware, some over a 100 years old!”

Okay: I can hear a collective sigh wondering where’s the food talk in a restaurant review… the mouth-watering details and tantalizing descriptors? Patience, people and paciencia. The place is a veritable happening, something not found in every eating establishment. Attention must be paid.

Can’t wait to return when the temps climb to enjoy eating, drinking and merrily people-watching from the patio.

Note contrast between grey exterior and beyond colorful interior. From Cedars, PA to Spain in a single door entry.

Eclectic display slash décor for your tapas pleasure, designed the owner’s wife. That’s one happy population of sparkle and color. Totes visual feast!

Beautiful paintings line walls throughout, adding even more fabulous color. The original artwork is for sale, to boot.

I was so taken by this statuette that I named her the Spanish-influenced Esmerelda.

My dining table. Nothing like a cozy corner nook and being watched over by artwork.

The variety of seating arrangements is as whimsical and charming as mismatched table plates. Harmony, not dissonance.

No intentionally distressed shabby chic (not that there’s anything wrong with it)–just a wooden door perfect in its imperfection.

The single room dining area situated on the second floor.

Before being seated, I observed immediately a fresh batch of complimentary sangria (the restaurant is BYOB) in a large dispenser. It was delicious, not overwhelming sweet. Boasting red wine and chunky bits of fruit along with a deep ruby hue, I alternately sipped it while roaming, then gazing on the for-purchase items. A charming shelving unit held delicate sets of vintage china, bottles of high-quality honey and more.

What’s a tapas restaurant sans Sangria? Of Spanish and Portuguese origin, traditional Sangria includes red wine, fruit and several other ingredients that constitute a signature taste and flavor.

Glorious in both hue and taste and punch pairing-perfect with tapas.

Beautiful china and all manner of unique items for purchase.

My breakfast oatmeal and this honey need to meet cute and seriously bond. Makes a great gift.

The menu at 19 Bella features Mediterranean-based cuisine with seasonal offerings and a rotating menu with nothing but the freshest, primo ingredients from local purveyors and around the world. That applies to the homemade stock as well. Grant doesn’t do cheap even with liquor. “You have to buy good alcohol to makes a great sauce,” I’m told he’s fond of stating.

I adore Brussels sprouts, so my initial menu-item choice was the charred version with bacon, Morello cherry balsamic glaze, Marcona almonds, macerated strawberries and provolone cheese. Aside from being done to tender perfection, the eclectic combo of ingredients bested any sprouts that ever touched my lips before these. Braised short ribs were next. Blended with cider, brandy, root veggies and horseradish created mouth-watering pleasure.

Mushrooms. I can’t get enough of ’em. When I spied wild mushroom risotto on the menu, I knew ‘shroom divinity awaited. Sherry and three cheeses–a total palette-pleaser. By this time, it was obvious anything I ordered would be profoundly original and prepared to perfection. Lastly, the lobster mac and cheese was savory with tender and copious bites of fresh lobster meat. Despite traditional tapas being Lilliputian-sized, 19 Bella does not skimp on portion sizes. Easily, this could have been an entrée; most of it was doggie-bagged.

Rarely do I ask to speak to the chef, but from one who can typically find at least a single complaint and because I could not, executive chef Noah Garner was gracious enough sit for a spell and regale me with his personal culinary journey. He proudly admitted the repeat-return of loyal regulars from both near and far. Even the staff admitted to rare employee turnover.

I won’t let you down without a sweet-treat exploration. Let’s just say there’s a sweet-tooth satisfying array of desserts that would test even the most pierce of just-say-no resolve. Check out my photographs below, and see why I cannot subscribe to Kate Moss’s infamous quote about nothing tasting as good as skinny feels. Trust me: Kate would’ve caved beneath the brilliance of pastry chef Jamie Riker’s creations.

Tapas this! For more information, visit 19bella.com.

A trifecta of ingredients for bread bathing: olive oil, rosemary and garlic. Note the matching colors of china to ingredients.

For tapas, the servings were sized larger than I’d expected, and mind you very much, I wasn’t in the least bit disappointed. Far from it, actually. Charred Brussel sprouts.