3.23.2008

Tapas, Anyone?

I know you're all entertained by my thrilling restaurant reviews.
Heh.
Actually, what I really know is that you are all the type to just move along to the next entertainment if you 're not interested. So, with that out of the way, here's the next one:

On Saturday, I went to a new tapas restaurant in Fort Collins called Cafe Vino with my brother and his girlfriend. Tapas, for the record, is a Spanish style of eating that amounts to "appetizers for dinner." Cafe Vino's tapas menu is quite extensive (in my opinion) and allows for a good variety of tastes. The olive plate had a very good variety, including some very strong flavored olives and some very mild ones (I want more of those!). The bread plate was good too, with a really yummy date bread. The pumpkin tortellini were OK. I think the concept of them is better than the actual item. The grilled artichokes were also OK. Again, the concept was good, but in this case, there was too little presented (ONE artichoke heart, cut in half). Their wine list is pretty varied. I had Pircas Negras Torrontes (Argentina 2006), and it was very good.
The restaurant itself has an interesting feel. It's set up for casual conversation. Each table is like a living room, with sofa-like chairs around a little coffee table. This makes for interesting juggling of plates (like when you're at a friend's house for a buffet style dinner), but since you don't have to eat like that every day, it's unusual and charming.
Fortunately, we saved room for dessert. Jenn and I knew what we wanted to try when we saw the table next to ours served with two large slices of chocolate ganache cake (we shared one, which was more than plenty). It was very dense, the "filling" almost like a flourless cake, and not too sweet. My brother had the creme brulee. The flavor was delicious (I think they used a very good quality vanilla), but the texture was a bit grainy in my opinion. Both were good, however, and a suitable end to a very tasty and affordable meal

4 comments:

Nathan said...

Anne,

The only thing that ticks me off about your restaurant reviews is that I'm not gonna get a chance to take advantage of any of the ones you say are good.

To return the favor, GF and I had dinner last night at a new Korean Barbeque in Williamsburg. There's a grill in the middle of the table and you cook the stuff they bring you in whatever marinade and there's dipping sauces. I have no idea whether or not this place is authentic, but yummmmmm! And fun.

Anne C. said...

Hee! Good job, Nathan, it sounds delicious. :)

Tania said...

ooh, yum. I love tapas, getting to try interesting things without a huge plate commitment.

Nathan's sounds fun too. We had a Mongolian BBQ place that did that. My husband's Korean step-mom has a table-top grill that we have fun doing with her.

I just had pancakes and bacon for dinner. ::burp::

belsum said...

I wish we lived closer, too!