Sunday, January 3, 2010

New Years at The Old Vine Cafe Costa Mesa

I had heard great things about The Old Vine Cafe.
2937 Bristol St. Suite A-102 Costa Mesa, CA 92626 (The Camp)

Ok mainly I had heard how amazing their burrata (locally sourced) is. We even attempted to procure said burrata (at 10PM) after a dissappointing dinner(more on that later) at the tapas restaurant, Boqueria.

The Old Vine was having two seatings for New Years, one at 5:30 and the other at 8:30. D and I are DEFinitely not early dinner people. I HATE Thanksgivings that start at like 1 PM. I eat, stuff myself, then I am hungry again and raid the fridge and feel like a heifer(cow). Hence the reason I chose the 8:30 seating. There were two prix fixe menus to choose from: The Original and the Vegetarian. Not wanting to miss out on any of the dishes and D being fine with either as long as she had burrata we ordered both of them. Here comes the amazing thing:

Each course of the 4 came with a paired glass of wine. 8 total courses 8 glasses of wine. D and I being who we are asked if we could order a glass BEFORE dinner since we were early. Our waiter, Mario, (every time I hear that name I can't get Nintendo's Mario voice out of my head) looked at us as if we were crazy and told D that if she could walk out upright after dinner he would buy our wine. Us, being the "professionals" ordered. She had the Cristalino Cava (super dry, a one note wonder, we stock a 4$ bottle that's better) Me? I was intrigued by the Chikurin "Hou Hou" Sparkling Sake (D's comment? Tastes like a soda) I'll try anything once. Even this slightly embarrassing looking bottle to the right here. Japanese schoolgirl anyone?

Now, my glass could only be as full as the bottle over to the right but D's glass? Cava in a white wine glass HALF FULL (6 oz at least) This would become a theme with Mario. Who is an AWEsome waiter and not just because of the pours and his name. He knew his wine, he loved to talk about it, and he took the time to explain each course and why each wine was chosen for the food. D and I are certified by WSET in wine so we annoy our friends when we go out but wine is a passion of ours.

First Course:

1 comment:

  1. I am sorry I didn't share my third glass with you... I thought I did.

    Can we go back next week for more burrata, please?

    ReplyDelete