The restaurant includes two dining rooms. The simply decorated areas feature softly polished hardwood floors, pastel tablecloths, and fresh flowers. All of this adds to an atmosphere of calm spaciousness that lets you concentrate on the delicious food. The walls are decorated with paintings by local artists. There’s also a high-ceilinged bar, paneled in dark wood. It’s our most frequent haunt, since we are smokers. (No smoking in the dining rooms, of course.)

On our last visit, we hit Tari’s for both lunch and dinner. We ordered our lunch in the bar from the appetizer menu: Miniature crab cakes with sauce for dipping. As citizens of Baltimore, we’re pretty fussy about crab cakes, and Tari’s crab croquettes were more than equal to our tastes. Lightly browned, they included large lumps of that crabmeat we crave. The light seasoning complemented the delicate seafood without overpowering it. And there wasn’t a bit of shell in the whole plateful. (At home or in a restaurant, well-cleaned crabmeat is the hallmark of a good cook.) We added a local beer from the large selection and went away satisfied. The crab cakes are also available as a full meal.

For dinner (yes, that same day!) we pulled out all the stops and went with the Filet Merlot. Tari’s version is capped with large portobello mushroom caps and served in a light red wine sauce that doesn’t overpower the beef. Our two friends, who don’t eat beef, enjoyed their plain salmon as much as we enjoyed our beef. All of us started with salads of fresh field greens. I’m told that the veggies are grown by Tari’s father, and I believe it.

As for desserts, I can’t comment on them because I’ve never found room to eat one. But they do make a fine cup of Irish coffee.

If you visit Tari’s, which you should, don’t leave without looking at the local artwork on the walls. Visit the small gallery attached to the restaurant for a very good selection of work by local artisans and craftspeople. And be sure to take home a jar or two of Tari’s Wild Woman Salsa.