In a planned community like Columbia, it's tough to have a distinctive identity.
Mega Bytes Gourmet Cafe has established one, however. The new cafe relies on warm yellow faux-finished walls, decorated with Van Gogh posters, and dishes such as flounder Provencal to conjure up images of the Mediterranean instead of the innocuous strip mall that could be anywhere in the country.
The owners of Mega Bytes are Michael Strati and Bradley Callahan, who also own Hunters' Lodge in Ellicott City. They opened the cafe Jan. 22 in hopes of reaching the people who work in the surrounding office parks during the week and have little more than chain restaurants to frequent.
Breakfast here brings in a rush of folks wanting bagels -- made fresh daily by a bakery nearby -- and coffee and cappuccino. And lunch, of course, brings in the next wave. Offerings include salads, wraps, individual pizzas, even peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
A vegetarian friend, Cathy, and I went for an early dinner, about 90 minutes before the 7 p.m. closing time. A small number of diners were in having dinner or picking up carryout. Service at Mega Bytes is minimal; you order food at the glass cases and someone brings it to your table. But the staff is congenial and informed.
The dishes are attractively arrayed in the cases, making it easy -- or hard -- to choose. I ordered flounder Provencal based on its looks alone. It was a fist-sized roll of tender white fish topped with tomatoes, eggplant chunks, red peppers and small black olives. It came with thin slices of new potatoes, sauteed with rosemary, rock salt and cracked pepper, and sauteed strips of zucchini, red pepper and yellow squash. It did not disappoint, except for a slight crispness around the edges of the fish that was probably a result of the fish's sitting out for most of the day.
Crisp was a good thing for Cathy, who, when eating out, often gets stuck with a pile of limp, overcooked vegetables. The grilled eggplant and peppers in her sandwich had the proper amount of bite, and the triangular slices of freshly baked focaccia alternated a crunchy crust with a tender interior. The right amount of small chunks of feta ensured flavor without overpowering the taste of the vegetables.
Mega Bytes cooks with vegetarians like Cathy in mind, says Strati, because there are a lot of them in the Columbia area. For that reason, one or two of the four soups du jour will be strictly vegetarian; the others will be one hearty, one creamy and one "chef's whim."
Small meatballs, pasta and carrots filled my cup of Italian wedding soup, leaving little room for the chicken broth, laced with basil. Cathy's broccoli and cheese soup was equally thick. Only drawback here was the tepid temperature, which again was probably more a function of our ordering close to closing time than anything else.
One of the stars of the seven salads offered was the Sequoia, a sensible portion of fresh romaine sprinkled with walnut pieces, slices of mandarin oranges, Gorgonzola cheese and a fat-free raspberry vinaigrette. At first glance, the mandarins looked to be in short supply. But they showed up faithfully until the last bite.
Most of Mega Bytes' desserts come from an outside baker. Cathy's raspberry-almond layer cake was better than good, a rare example of an almond cake that actually tasted like almonds. In contrast, the frosting on my Black Forest cake was grainy and the chocolate not terribly chocolaty.
One of the staff members advised us to try the gooey nut roll filled with plump raisins; he'd been eating one all day. It was an excellent call. (For those who'd feel at all guilty about the calories, there's a Weight Watchers a few doors down.)
Strati has big plans for Mega Bytes, the least of which is to bake all desserts on site. In the spring, he'll aim for the happy-hour crowd when he opens e-Bar next door. During the next five years, he plans to open eight to 10 more Mega Bytes in Maryland and Northern Virginia.
"We've got the energy," he said. "We've been drinking all these cappuccinos."
Mega Bytes Gourmet Cafe
7185A Gateway Drive, Columbia
410-953-0500
Hours: Open for breakfast, lunch and early dinner Mondays to Saturdays
Prices: Appetizers 99 cents-$2.38; entrees $1.95 to $6.46
Credit cards: None accepted
Food: ***
Service: ***
Atmosphere: ***
Ratings system: Outstanding ****; Good ***; Fair/uneven **; Poor *
