Hedonia

Bar bites: The Hidden Vine

Met up with Jen for convo and reminiscing last night. She called the place: The Hidden Vine, a wine bar in the basement of the Taylor Hotel in Nob Hill. Convenient for her, not so much for me. But it was a worthwhile excursion.

The place is cute, subterranean, and were it not for the placard on the corner of Cosmo Alley, would live up to its name. When I arrived, Jen was pretty much the only soul there; within 30 minutes the place was hopping.

They were pushing Portuguese wines, which I admittedly know little about. At first, my instinct was "high margins," but I kept an open mind and ordered a fleet of tastings. I had the 2001 Vinhos Sogrape; the 2003 Quinto do Crasto and the 2001 Quinto do Carmo. Unsurprisingly, they were similar in complexion to central Spanish wines -- extremely earthy, pretty tannic but had a few surprises in store.

Initially, all three were so tannic I could hardly discern any real character, but over time each opened up and revealed itself like a flower. The Vinhos Sogrape was the most basic, not really developing much complexity but eventually relaxing into a pleasant softness. The Quinta do Crasto developed a pronounced combination of smokey and honeyed notes, so much so that it was decidedly reminiscent of ham. The Quinta do Carmo started out with lush chocolate, tobacco and leather notes, but eventually picked up more delicate overtones of violet and mint.

It was cheese night, meaning they set out small trays with three cheeses and some (rather good) chorizo. Not enough to make a meal out of, mind you, but it's always nice to have some absorptive foil to a winey evening.

The server was quite helpful and clearly knowledgeable about the wines, even excited about educating people on Portuguese wines in particular. However, as the night wore on and our conversation lasted longer than our wine, we eventually were given the clear hint that the table could be better utilized. So much for European-style service. We hadn't even fully departed our table before some vulture-like twentysomethings descended upon it.

This is precisely what I don't like about wine bars. For my money, I'd be content to sit at the bar at Incanto, order up a flight of off-the-beaten-track Italian wines and enjoy a few small plates of top-notch food. Perhaps a Portuguese counterpart will come along someday.
 

Bar Bites: Incanto

What better before a late flight out than a quick bite at the bar of a favorite restaurant? In point of fact, though we adore Incanto under any circumstances, we often tend to prefer dining at the bar over the dining room. We're clearly not alone -- the bar filled up though there were yet tables to be had.

Two reasons we like sitting at the bar: First, it is comfortable and casual. Second, the wine steward is at your beck and call. Incanto's menu is ever-changing; they actually print a new one every day. The ingredients are seasonal, the preparations classically Italian. What's not to love?

We started with the cured meat platter. Chef Chris Cosentino's mortadella is perennially fantastic, light, fluffy yet robust. I was surprisingly pleased by the head cheese, not normally my favorite thing, but the seasoning and spicing were spot on. Delicious pickled carrots and watermelon radishes made for excellent acidic counterpoints.

I had the mezze rigatoni with cardoons and pangrattata; I love cardoons and get them so seldom. Overall delicious, the pasta exactly al dente, it was slightly oversalted, but I can forgive that. DPaul had the nettle pappardelle with beet greens and maitake mushrooms. Ironically he complained of it needing salt, but I thought it tasted wonderfully delicate and fresh.

Wine director Edward Ruiz steered us toward a half-carafe of the Roera Arneis, which had a smoky, earthy complexion that played extremely well both with the mushrooms and the cardoons. For dessert, a meyer lemon budino with pistachio hit the spot.

Hey, it beats eating in the airport, right? And we were out in plenty of time to catch our flight. Ottimo!

Incanto
1550 Church St (at Duncan)

Bar Bites: Le Zinc

Most people who know me know that I have a thing for bistrots, and for small-plate dining in general. While my favorite bistro in the city, no contest, is Café Claude, there is one enjoyable bistro right here in our own neighborhood: Le Zinc. DPaul and  I have eaten here a number of times, for brunch, lunch or dinner. It has always been recommendable. However, especially on rainy, gloomy Sundays like today, we often feel peckish in the mid-afternoon and just want a smattering of tasty things.

This is the best-kept secret part about Le Zinc: From 3-5 pm, in between their standard lunch/brunch and dinner menues, they offer a limited but interesting menu of tapas that allow you to appease the afternoon grumblies with gorgeous small plates. Today we had delightful croustillants de camembert, crispy fried and redolent of truffle oil; escargots aux cèpes, a perfect disk of snails and porcini, bursting with mushroom and garlic flavors (this we substituted for the brik au merguez, which they were unfortunately out of); crevettes au lard fumé, succulent shrimp wrapped in bacon served with chili oil and squid ink; and of course an order of frîtes. Wouldn't be bistro fare without the frîtes! Combine all this with a lovely carafe of Sancerre rosé, and you've got a light and satisfying meal that chases away the hunger pains as well as the rainy day blues.

Le Zinc
4063 24th St (between Noe and Castro)

Bar Bites: Medjool

DPaul had a colleague in town last night from DC. This fella actually travels with a cooler so that he can bring home cheeses and other delicacies from San Francisco. We brought him to one of our perennial faves, Medjool.

There's little about Medjool I don't like. I love the hip, lofty space with the jumble of Morocccan lamps; the clever cocktail menu (I had the Rose Hip, with rose-infused vodka and a float of cava); and mostly the diverse menu of small plates inspired by the cuisines of the entire circumference of the Mediterranean. There's been hardly anything I haven't enjoyed there, but highlights last night were the chicken in almond-pomegranate sauce (with a healthy dose of cumin) and the zhoug-marinated prawns with spicy tomato jam.

Small plate dining works for me on a lot of levels -- I enjoy the diversity of flavors and the ability to order a lot or a little depending on the mood. Medjool fits the bill, whether you want to sit down to a full meal or just have a cocktail and some nibbles. On nice days (such as we've been having), the rooftop Sky Terrace can't be beat with its 360º views.

Medjool
2522 Mission St, x 21st St