New Wine Bar & Bistro in Philadelphia

Last night after one of my rehearsals I stopped by "Vintage", a new wine bar & bistro in Center City, located next door to El Vez and some, believe or not, "sex shops" on 13th Street. The area has had a major face lift in recent years with new upscale restaurants, stores, and now "Vintage". One of the owners, a French woman, could not have been any more gracious. High ceilings, original brick walls, and contemporary decor, the place was quite impressive, although major turn offs for me was the smoking at the bar and extremely loud music. I am overly sensitive when it comes to sound, so take this detail with a grain of salt. Though their selection is quite limited, they do offer "flights du jour", which is quite a rarity here in Philadelphia. I chose Pinot Noir and was served an Italian Pinot Nero La-Vis and 2 other Californian PN's - nothing even worth writing down. My "pate' de campagne" was absolutely delicious and went well with my second glass of the La-Vis from Trentino, which, to my palate was the less plonkish of all three PN's. As I left I realized I just needed to continue doing what I always love to do: buy my own wine and go to one of the many good BYOB's that Philly offers.

Sounds more like a social club than a traditional wine bar, especially with the sex shops nearby. I don't see much XXX stuff around Philly, which is nice.

I'm hoping that my next project will have a leg in Philadelphia. I miss it already. And I will give you a heads-up the next time I am coming through. I thought of doing it the last time, but I was a bit melancholy about it being my last trip there for a while, so I kind of laid low.