Category Archives: Wine Bars

Scratch

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***** (5 stars)

Amazing food and service in an intimate environment. The menu changes constantly, so it’s a fun surprise to see what they have. We were there for a private party, and they knocked it out of the park with one dish after another. The rib eye with bone marrow was the best beef dish I ever tasted. It’s nice that they’re open until 2am most nights, because with only 40 seats going early or late is the only way to get in.

Scratch
223 W Fairbanks Ave
Winter Park, FL 32789
(407) 325-5165
http://www.yelp.com/biz/scratch-winter-park

Carmel Cafe & Wine Bar

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***** (5 stars)

A very interesting approach to dining.  Originally I think the plan was an all iPad menu and ordering, and that’s still available, but now there are also paper menus, and very attentive service. Everyone was extremely friendly, and the ambience is great.

We tried an array of appetizers and liked them all, including the chickpea fries (great curry aioli), edamame hummus, short rib and mushroom flatbread (didn’t really need the short ribs) and grilled veggies.

Wines are available in as small as 3oz pours, which makes it fun to try different things. (Check out the Klinker Brick Farah Syrah, which won best of show at the state fair).

I love this new addition to the Winter Park dining scene.

Carmel Cafe & Wine Bar
140 N Orlando Ave
Winter Park, FL 32789
(407) 513-4912
http://www.yelp.com/biz/carmel-cafe-and-wine-bar-winter-park

Seasons 52

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***** (5 stars)

This is the original, and I think still the best Seasons 52. It’s hard to believe this is a chain owned by Darden, the same people who bring you Olive Garden. The food here is delicious, nutritious, and low in calories; in fact, the original concept was that everything was less than 475 calories, which given its flavorful nature was amazing. Now there are some exceptions, but it’s still pretty healthful.

I like the quarterly updating of the menu. Favorites are all of the flatbreads, the cedar plank salmon, the vegetarian plate and the hummus. Less successful are the burgers.

While many people like the little dessert shot glasses, they’re not what I want in a dessert; they remind me of supermarket pudding cups. But that’s okay, it makes it easy to skip a course that could double the meal’s calorie count.

Although the wine list has been dumbed down since the early days, there are still some interesting offerings, even by the glass.

My favorite thing about Seasons is the architecture, both inside and outside. Drawing upon elements of Frank Lloyd Wright ad the 1950s, it is elegant, interesting and restful. A great place for business lunches, family dinners, single (there’s an active bar scene here) and dates–quite an accomplishment to work for so many different interests.

Seasons 52
7700 Sand Lake Rd
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 354-5212
http://www.yelp.com/biz/seasons-52-orlando

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar

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*** (3 stars)

Flemings is an adequate steak house with little to differentiate it from all the others in town. The decor is a bit lighter than some, I guess. The happy hour small plates in the bar seem to be the big draw. Wine pours, served in portion enhancer carafes and glassware, are some of the stingiest in town; I wonder if they’re getting seven glasses from a bottle. I think you’re better off paying corkage to bring your own.

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
933 N Orlando Ave
Winter Park, FL 32789
(407) 699-9463
http://www.yelp.com/biz/flemings-prime-steakhouse-and-wine-bar-winter-park

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar

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*** (3 stars)

Yet another restaurant row steakhouse. Prices are high, and steaks are good, but nothing extraordinary. Happy hour in the bar is a good deal. But Flemings has the stingiest wine pours in town. Despite the high prices per glass, they must be stretching a bottle at least to six pours, maybe more. There are better choices within two blocks.

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
8030 Via Dellagio Way
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 352-5706
http://www.yelp.com/biz/flemings-prime-steakhouse-and-wine-bar-orlando

Union Pizzeria

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**** (4 stars)

This place serves thin crust pizza with an almost burnt crust, which is my favorite style. Unfortunately they are very inflexible about ingredients, so your only option is to order something and have them leave stuff off. Good selection of beers, and the Caesar salad is excellent. The really neat thing about the place is that SPACE, the world’s best intimate live performance venue is attached. You can have a pizza before the show, or even take it back with you and eat it on one of the cocktail tables while watching the show. Because SPACE is such a great audio environment, it attracts the top small acts. SPACE plus Union Pizza and a nice stout is a definite win.

Union Pizzeria
1245 Chicago Ave
Evanston, IL 60202
(847) 475-2400
http://www.yelp.com/biz/union-pizzeria-evanston

The Tasting Room

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***** (5 stars)

The Tasting Room is a great small plates restaurant in charming Winter Garden. Because it is operated from the same kitchen as The Chef’s Table–one of Central Florida’s best restaurants–you’d expect the food to be great, and it is. The Tasting Room is a lively and less formal atmosphere than The Chef’s Table, and the emphasis is on sampling lots of different foods, accompanied by craft beers, wines by the glass, or exotic cocktails from the full bar. On our first visit, my favorites were the fish dip, the bacon-wrapped scallops, and the bourbon pecan dessert. It’s great to be able to drop in to such a fine dining experience without needing a reservation. Definitely a new favorite.

The Tasting Room
99 W Plant St
Winter Garden, FL 34787
(407) 230-4837
http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-tasting-room-winter-garden

Cuvee Wine & Bistro

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***** (5 stars)

Cuvée Wine & Bistro has an interesting business plan, which combines two different concepts: a restaurant, and self-service wine dispensers.

It occupies part of a former bank building, but has been redecorated in a pleasant, trendy way. High booth backs keep the noise level down, although the old farts next to us were quite rowdy. Each dining room is surrounded by rows of wine dispensers, some refrigerated for the whites, others not, for reds. There are well over 100 selections, available in 1, 2.5 or 5 ounce pours. As with other such places, you load a card with money, and then it’s debited as you use the machines.

We arrived at 6:30 and things were fairly quite, but the restaurant soon filled up. What’s interesting about the success of the place is that it doesn’t seem to be driven by all the wine dispensers that surround the dining rooms. We saw few other patrons wandering around to try different wines with each course. Instead, most either let the waiter bring them a glass of something, or ordered a bottle for the table. Still, being surrounded by all those glowing bottles probably boosts wine sales. I couldn’t see the bar from where we sat, so I don’t know how much tasting traffic originated there.

The food was mostly very good. A cheese sampler plate offered a nice variety, and my clam appetizer was delicious. Salads were fine, and the steaks Linda and Martin had were good quality. I liked my eggplant napoleon, too. Service was excellent: attentive yet not rushing us.

The wines are more fairly priced than at the other self-serve wine place I’ve been to. Unfortunately, of four high end wines we tried (Tapestry, a Nuits St. Georges, a Pommard, and Dominus) all were spoiled by having been open a long, long time. As evidenced by the strong geranium smell, the dispensing system can’t keep them good forever. Our waiter cheerfully credited us for the wines we complained about, but they should have been removed, rather than left for the next sucker. None of the lower priced selections had this problem, and we tried many. Best QPR (quality to price ratio) was the Bell Petite Sirah.

It was fun to try small tastes of many different wines with our food. We all agreed we would return.

Cuvee Wine & Bistro
2237 SW 19th Ave Rd
Ocala, FL 34471
(352) 351-1816
http://www.yelp.com/biz/cuvee-wine-and-bistro-ocala