Style finds home at Tastebuds

Style Weekly’s Patrick Getlein settles down for a few meals at Tastebuds on MacArthur Avenue and finds the mood to his liking. An excerpt:

Running late from work on a recent Friday, I called up Tastebuds and ordered a pizza marguerite — a midsized pie of handmade dough, fresh tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and fontina cheese — and an appetizer of goat cheese whipped with chives and served over greens with slivers of mango and thinly sliced country ham.

The proportions of this meal — not just its modest size, but also its even and fresh flavors — may make this my regular takeout jones. And I won’t be alone. Considering it has only four tables and 12 seats inside its warmly painted dining room, Tastebuds is a neighborhood café where almost everyone gets takeout.

Tastebuds, in the Bellevue neighborhood, has been known for about five years as one of the top caterers in Richmond, handling events large and small. Two years ago, it got into the takeout business, offering fresh meals for folks on the fly. Last year it began offering table service, but as recent visits attest, it’s clear that next to catering, takeout is the heartbeat of this micro-restaurant…

…For Tastebuds, the progression into the restaurant business seems like an afterthought — only last month, a year into it, its owners obtained an ABC license, and they have yet to adjust their credit-card machine to include a line for the tip.

But in the cozy, right-sized scale of Bellevue’s modest, well-tended bungalows, Tastebuds’ self-effacing approach to well-prepared meals made with fresh ingredients seems right at home.