There's a wine store next door to my ladie's gym which I've paid cursory attention to for the past four years. It looks small and dingy on the outside, and in the nice weather they set out a little green plastic table with plastic chairs in a cheap imitation of a delightful sidewalk bistro. They also advertise wine tasting events every week, but I always noted that with a dismissive glance and went about my way, passing judgement on the exterior of building.
And then my friend went up there a week ago and said it was surprisingly nice inside (she also goes to the ladie's gym next door). So we went last night and let me tell you, it's the best deal in town. The interior of the wine store is charming, with nice Tuscany-flavored furnishings and paint, knick-knacks, and spotlessly clean.
Every Friday night, from 5-8 p.m., they offer healthy pours of five different wines to sample with cheese and crackers, for $5. And for an extra $2.50, they offer two dessert wines and a little basket of homemade desserts!
An older (by older, I'm talking 50's, which really isn't that old now that I'm 43 - drat!) husband and wife team operate this little shindig and they do a bang-up job. He will tell you stories about where the wines come from, colorful antecdotes about the particular vineyards, and the wife bakes the delicacies. For $7.50, we had seven glasses of wine and a sampling of five different homemade Christmas cookies. They change up the theme every week. Next Friday, the dessert menu includes port wines and bread pudding, made with some special Italian fruit bread. I put in my order for a 9 x 13 inch pan, please.
The place, by the way, was hoppin', with at least 50 people there throughout the evening. Not bad for a tiny joint in the middle of a surburban strip mall. The best kept little secret in town, five minutes from home, and here I've been walking on by for the last four years. Just goes to show, the old adage is true: Never judge a bistro by it's cheap plastic chairs.
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