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Picture an Italian café where you can enjoy coffee and pastries in the morning, sandwiches, salads and charcuterie in the afternoon, and wine and tapas in the evening.
That is the description of CasaDamí, a European-style eatery tucked within the luxury waterfront villas at Peninsula Village on the Balboa Peninsula.
The restaurant, helmed by partners Camilla Caremoli and Dave Shah, is intimate, with eight seats at the bar, seating for another 20 or so in the adjacent dining room, plus another three dozen seats on the patio.
“Our vision was to create a space that feels like an extension of the European lifestyle—where friends gather over exceptional food, thoughtfully chosen wines and a perfectly crafted coffee, from morning until night,” Caremoli told the Business Journal. “We want every guest to feel as though they are dining in their favorite corner of Italy, Spain, or France, while still embracing the charm of Newport Beach.”
Caremoli and Shah tapped into their design skills to create their dream restaurant, inspired by their travels in Europe, within a tight 950-square foot space.
“We had to get creative,” said Caremoli. “We had to make use of every square inch of space. We wanted to have different levels of experience. The chef’s table is one experience, the dining room is another experience, and the bar seating, and the patio.”
“We wanted something intimate, something comforting,” added Shah. “An experience that is unique on the peninsula and Newport in general. There is no better place in Newport for this concept.”
Caremoli and Shah wanted to open a café that reminded them of all the things they missed about the restaurants they visited in Europe, particularly Italy, since Caremoli is from Milan.
According to Shah, the journey of opening the restaurant started with wine.
“I fell in love with wine in Italy,” recalled Shah. “Wine is a big part of European and Italian culture, so I had the chance to travel around Italy and experience different styles of wine and winemaking. What also captured my attention was the history of the wine.”
With that in mind, Shah has amassed an impressive collection of Old-World wines available to CasaDamí diners by the glass (including Gaja Nebbiolo) and by the bottle.
The wines are a perfect match for the dinner menu, which features charcuterie boards, salads, and a long list of tapas plus desserts.
CasaDamí, 2210 Newport Blvd., Newport Beach, (949) 781-4644, casadami.com.
Trela’s Hot Take
Fellow food writer Malena Gordon and I visited CasaDamí on a busy Wednesday evening. We were seated at a small table next to the bar and perused the menu, noting the interesting mix of tapas. Our server went over the menu and described some of the noteworthy dishes.
Malena had recently returned from a trip to Spain and Portugal, where she spent time at local restaurants sampling cuisines, so I let her take the lead on our order. We settled on a small charcuterie board, patatas bravas with garlic aioli, croquetas with ham and Manchego, beef empanadas and truffle bikini with ham, Manchego and truffle crema. Oh—and the olive oil cake with Meyer lemon, mascarpone crème and blackberry coulis for dessert.
We also paired the dishes with several wines recommended by the sommelier.
This was a dining experience to remember. The food was fabulous and fun. The ambiance could not have been more European. We oohed and awed over every dish. The atmosphere was energetic, the staff jovial and attentive.
CasaDamí is a hidden gem that won’t stay hidden for long.