A theme arises when talking to chefs about how they originally felt drawn to cooking. Many credit their love of food and craft not to a favorite restaurant experience or a celebrity chef but instead to good ol’ mom. Namely, warm memories of sitting, playing, and helping in the kitchen while their mothers prepared the family meals — idyllic moments that left lasting impressions in their hearts like perfectly placed sear marks on a fine fillet.

Tacoma chef Jeff Bishop shares the same story. He recalls hiding under a table in the kitchen while his mom shuffled about — reaching up with his tiny hand to blindly grab at the ingredients when the coast appeared clear.

“I remember playing with my GI Joes under the table while my mother was making cookies,” Bishop says. “I reached up, grabbed something big and put it in my mouth — it was a stick of butter. It’s not what I expected.”

Bishop’s next move may be considered unexpected too — even to him. Bishop has traveled the globe preparing food in a number of settings. Now, based on an unforeseen call he received late last year from former cooking mate and now restaurant partner Ian Lombardi, Bishop returns to Tacoma to open his own place, Il Trattoria di Merende, next month at Ninth and Pacific Avenue.

A well-known chef in these parts, Bishop oversaw food operations at the original Il Fiasco and Brix 25 before leaving town the last time. But, as the co-captain of his own ship ready to launch in a matter of days, what has driven him since leaving his mother’s kitchen, and what will that mean for the rest of us who have waited for his return?

Build it — they will eat

Designing your own place from the ground up sends some chefs to the crazy house and others frothing (in a different way) with excitement over the details. Not Bishop. He appears almost nonchalant by the decisions he’s faced getting his place ready — work that’s included remodeling the old Vin Grotto Café and  Wine Bar space to accommodate 90 seats and a 15-seat bar.

Age does that to a person. Aesthetic details that may consume a younger cook suddenly pale in comparison in the eyes of a seasoned chef. For Bishop, the quality of ingredients trumps all considerations. And those discussions keep him chatting excitedly.

“I think about food constantly,” Bishop said recently over coffee on Sixth Avenue. “When I am sleeping I’ll wake up suddenly, turn on the light and write something down — it drives my wife crazy.”

The apparent downside, I suppose, of being married to a chef.

What drives Bishop crazy? Bread may literally send him over the edge.

“The bread is a key decision,” he says. And, as of our last conversation, Bishop still lacked a supplier he trusted.

He knows that bread means more to diners than perfectly appointed bathroom fixtures (my apologies to Toilet Tales on our blog Spew). A nice space is, well, nice, but finding the perfect heel to dip in a soup represents everything Bishop believes about food.

“Respect for ingredients, that is what is important,” he smiles.

The style of food, however, also falls on Bishop’s less important list.

Bishop’s partner, Lombardi, is Italian, hence the theme of Merende.

“I love cooking anything — Italian is great,” Bishop says as if Polish, sushi or African would have been fine as well. “I am happy to cook anything as long as I am cooking with good ingredients.”

Bishop says Merende will feature small bites — meals to be shared. Relying on local, organic farmers when possible, he said Merende will be from his heart.

A traveler’s kitchen

The journey to Bishop’s heart took awhile. A Navy brat, Bishop left his mom’s kitchen after high school and received his formal training in Santa Barbara decades ago. He honed those skills traveling the world cooking in Baltimore, Guam, Australia, Seattle, and even Tacoma at Stanley & Seaforts and the Fircrest Golf and Country Club before taking the helm at Il Fiasco and Brix 25. He later left those for Vashon Island.

He met Lombardi at Il Fiasco when the two cooked together, so when Lombardi decided to open his own place, Bishop, who almost serendipitously had just finished up a job, seemed a likely choice as both a business partner and the captain of the kitchen.

Merende, in many ways, likely represents a culmination of Bishop’s travels — a little bit of each job, which he carries with him into his new kitchen.

The elephant in the room

Bishop appears open and ready to discuss all aspects of his venture — even the scary ones — so I ask the next obvious question: Do you feel a little crazy opening a new restaurant in the throws of an economic downturn?

He laughs. “Yes, I’m a little nervous,” he admits. “But I can’t be distracted by that — I have to think positive. We need to stay true to our vision and give the people a good meal.”

Not a bad answer. I bet Bishop makes a mother proud.

[Il Trattoria di Merende, Restaurant, 813 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, merenderestaurant.com]