Saturday, April 18, 2009

Elmhurst loves wine bars - Wine & Vine

Three weeks ago, I had my birthday party at Flight 112 Wine Bar in downtown Elmhurst. Today, I was part of an event at a different wine bar in downtown Elmhurst.

You see, when I'm also part of the Yelp.com community, a fabulous website dedicated to reviewing all things local. (Which you might think overlaps with this blog, but this blog is about local places specific to the Chicago suburbs, whereas Yelp covers the whole country and everything from hotels to chain restaurants to grocery stores.)

Anyway, as part of being a Yelp member, I was invited to this fabulous wine tasting at Wine & Vine, 105 S. York St. in Elmhurst.

The space is fairly large and brightly lit, with warm wood and a long granite bar that seats about 20. The bar is the showcase of the place; it surrounds the kitchen area, which is totally open. So if you sit there, you can watch your food being made.

I should note that while Flight 112 is strictly a wine bar, with assorted flatbreads and nibblies, Wine and Vine is more of a restaurant that showcases wine. The menu features fresh, homemade Italian fare.

The event we attended included little appetizer bites, including cheese, fresh fruit, pesto-stuffed mushrooms, lemon chicken, and a pasta station. The food was tasty, but of course the wine was the showcase. They had a whites station (including a few sparkling wines) and a more extensive reds. I normally don't drink a lot of red wine, but it was nice to taste some that I might not have gotten a full glass of and discovered I liked them.

While I can't really speak for the menu at Wine and Vine, I can tell you that we got a warm welcome and great service while there, and they had a nice variety of wines to choose from. It would be a good place for a romantic dinner or friends' night out.

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