Last Friday we ventured over to Columbia City to check out the new-ish (i.e., 2007) wine bar “Verve.” I’ve walked past it several times, but it always seemed sterile.

Imagine our surprise when we walked in, soggy from the rain, to find a cozy warm little spot just packed on a Saturday night. The waitstaff were upset that we couldn’t sit immediately.

“Maybe we should use that table?” (the one holding a vase of flowers by the door) “Or do you want some wine?”

In a few moments we each had a glass of sparking and were happily browsing their little wine section, carefully arranged by country. We had to be pulled away when our table opened up 5 minutes later.

This is a proper wine bar, with tastings on Tuesday nights from 6-8pm, and multiple flights every night of the week. If you’re in the mood for a bottle, you can buy one at store price and pay a 10$ corkage, not half bad.

We decided against the bottle. Cobe ordered a glass of pinot (the Walnut City, from Oregon) which was the most pine scented pinot I have ever experienced. It had a beautifully long nose, but I like my pinots a bit more on the cherry side. I tried the old world wine flight, a mix of Italian, French and Spanish wines. They were all beautiful, and great food wines, especially the Bordeaux (a 2005 Chateau Dutruch from the Haut-Medoc) which just happened to be a perfect match for the lamb.

But what really impressed us was the food. The prices are very reasonable and I mean reasonable– entrees are 12-16$. But you get a large amount of food, each dish is designed and plated with care, and the flavors are beautiful.

The only dish that disappointed was the grilled pattypan squash, which was slightly underdone. The lamb shank was a big hunk of meat that came fall-off-the-bone tender and had a beautifully rich flavor, complemented by a bed of lentils flavored with chanterelles and apples . The hangar steak was grilled a perfect medium rare and presented on a bed of smashed potatoes with Point Reyes Farmstead blue. The cheese plate could have been a bit more pungent (I love a good stinky cheese), but they were artfully arranged and accompanied by a balsamic reduction with just a few shaves of lime zest.

And damn Bordeaux is just perfect with lamb.

We left full, warm and happy. I’ll definitely be back.

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Verve Wine Bar & Cellar
3820 S Ferdinand St Ste 102
Seattle, WA 98118
www.vervewinebar.com
(206) 760-0977

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The day I found Salumi, the deli owned by the senior Batali, I had arrived. Homemade salami, aged provolone. It didn’t have the same feel as Philly’s DiBruno Brothers, but the food was as good.

But sadly it’s downtown, mostly open for lunch, and the lines are down the block.

Da Pino is the opposite of Salumi, the rebel brother who lives in the woods. It’s way down on Ranier Avenue, almost all the way to Columbia City. You could miss it if you drove to fast.

But there are no lines down the block, it’s open till 7pm nearly every day, and their sausages are as good as Salumi’s (if not better). When I went in the other day at 5 oclock, it was completely empty. I had to call out to find the owner, hidden behind the deli case.

The specialty here is homemade sausages, and there’s a caseful right as you walk in the door. The coppa is wonderful, layered in thick spicy paprika. I also tried the wine soaked salami which was quite good, though not so different from the salami in the grocery store. But the wild boar sausage just blew me away. It looks like a flattened sausage (see below) and has this rich peppery flavor and chewy texture, like the sausages we ate in France just a few weeks ago.

Da Pino also offers sandwiches (coppa, prosciutto, a few others) and pastas and has a few tables in the adjoining room. Everything looks so italian: the cans of lavazza, the limoncello above the bar, the case full of de cecco pasta. Such a different feel than Salumi. Here the air feels still, you can see the dust gathering on the bar stools. But it seems business has been good.

“I’m almost out of the wild boar sausage,” Pino said as I was leaving, “after that article in the paper.”

Better get there before it’s all gone.

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Da Pino
4225 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle
206-356-8502

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