And if you find a wine or cheese on the menu that you decide you must have for home, walk next door to the Tasting House’s well-stocked market.ĭetails: Opens at 4 p.m. Weekend brunch features Croque Monsieur ($14) and Fried Chicken and Belgian Waffles ($18). The dish: Besides a contemporary French menu, executive chef/sommelier Ryan Fillhardt’s kitchen turns out Roman-style pinsas like the Brie & Sun-Dried Cherry one ($22) and Asian-inspired plates such as Yellowfin Tuna Poke ($22). Trust the inhouse experts to make another suggestion from the impressive list of 65 wines by the glass. What if you are craving the brie-topped Beef Wellington ($32) but don’t want to shell out $30 for the recommended Bordeaux blend? No problem. That’s because the sommeliers here - yes, there’s more than one somm - have recommended pairings for every single dish listed on the extensive menu, from the Crispy Brussels Sprouts (a French sauvignon blanc, the 2019 Domaine Hippolyte Reverdy, $28) to the Chocolate-Chocolate Cheesecake (the 2016 Tommaso Bussola Recioto della Valpolicella from Vento, Italy, $18).Īlways baffled by what to order with a salad? The Bacon, Tomato & Roquefort Salad ($20) with bacon batons meets its match in a 2020 German riesling, the Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken Butterfly ($14). And they are again, since new owners Denise and Mike Thornberry remodeled and reopened the space long associated with Cin-Cin as the Tasting House, a chic restaurant and wine bar with a look straight out of the 6th arrondissement, from the honeycomb floor tile to the bistro tables.Īnd while the Tasting House is a fine name for this French-centric bistro, an appropriate tagline might be an American-inspired one, Pairings R Us. (Photo courtesy of the Tasting House)įor years, Silicon Valley oenophiles flocked to 368 Village Lane for sophisticated sips. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland The Tasting House, Los Gatos The Tasting House sommeliers make pairing recommendations for every dish listed on the menu, from appetizers to desserts.
Monday, Thursday and Friday and noon on weekends at 102 Frank H. But for a decadent treat try the filet o’ fish that improves the fast-food classic with buttery buns and sauce gribiche.ĭetails: Opens at 5 p.m. The dish: Upscaled European plates make for fine wine pairings, including a rustic boudin or a fluffy burrata with curls of ham, brown butter and sherry. If in doubt, it never hurts to order a wine that sounds like a DJ named it, like the “Lounge Lizard” or Willamette Valley’s “Disco Made Me Do It,” a pinot noir/apple blend that’ll have you wondering why more winemakers don’t do fruit hybrids. The Old World is touted in extra-brut Champagnes and fascinating picks from Italy – a sparkling Sicilian rosato, for example, with a plum pinkness and minerality from Mount Etna’s volcanic vineyards. One dry rosé recently on offer from California’s Shasta Cascade region “rode bareback on a wild mare through an alpine valley in bloom,” according to the manufacturer’s description, then “crawled on its hands and knees into a cozy rabbit den to wind away the night to the hoots and plucking of a better-than-average woodland-critter jug band.” Rest assured it all comes through in the nose. The wines at Slug (available by glass or bottle) are, let’s say, eclectic. With its DJ booth, disco ball and frequent Champagne-cork pops, it mostly succeeds - to the slight chagrin of some Yelpers who seem surprised by the late-night mood lights and pulsing music. Riding high on the buzz of Snail Bar – and natural wines in general – Slug opened this year in downtown Oakland, promising to be its sibling’s party-time equivalent. Also in the wine pipeline: Canteen, the all-day wine bar set for Menlo Park’s Springline development. Walnut Creek is expecting Fizz, a Champagne bar, to open by year’s end, and Goodtime, a natural wine bar, is headed for downtown San Jose around the same time. Joining the ranks of classics like Residual Sugar and Va De Vi in Walnut Creek, The Punchdown and Perle Wine Bar in Oakland and Velvet 48 in Burlingame are spots including Locanda Wine Bar in Livermore and The Tasting House in Los Gatos.Īnd stay tuned, because there are many more to come. The disruptions of the pandemic didn’t keep these businesses from pushing forward, as a flurry of natural, Italian, bubbly - you name it - vino-centric bars have flourished in the past few years. A tasting in Napa Valley may run you $50 these days, but you can get a glass or flight of something sensational for far less at one of Northern California’s many neighborhood wine bars.
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