Mediterranean Food, Wine and a New Way to Order Comes to Wayne

Carmel Café, which serves Mediterranean cuisine and wines, will open in Wayne this summer.

It will be the restaurant’s fifth location and first one outside of Florida, where it was established.

John Ross, who is a market partner with Carmel Cafe & Wine Bar, told Radnor Patch that they will offer a variety of sizes for their offerings, including small plates and wine by the taste (3 oz.), glass (6 oz. and 9 oz.) and bottle.

“We bring new technology to the table to allow our customers to order what they want, when they want in sizes they want,” Ross said.

Carmel Café will be located at 372 West Lancaster Avenue; it replaces Hog Fish Grill and Osaka/Flavor before that. The restaurant is scheduled to open in late August or early September, Ross said.

The building is being renovated for a more modern look (see photo sketch). Ross said there are no current plans for outdoor dining, which would be restricted to the street side of the building under Radnor’s new outdoor dining code.

Every table gets an iPad (with the option of a “traditional” menu), and they can look at menu options with photos on the iPad. They can also place orders on it that go right into the kitchen and can pay on the iPad.

Ross, who lives in Pennsylvania and has been in the restaurant business for many years, likes to start his meals with the Muhammarra, a roasted red pepper spread with walnuts and pomegranate.

He also recommends the Rustic Grilled Chicken Skewers (warm roasted eggplant, red pepper medley) and the Moroccan Lemon Chicken (all natural chicken breast, pine nuts, saffron, olives, lemon, vegetable cous cous).

You can read the menu in the pdf section of this article, but note that pricing will be different in the Pennsylvania menu. Also, Ross said, because of Pennsylvania’s liquor law the wine menu will be different.