Fourth Avenue Wine Bar

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Tonight I had dinner at the Fourth Avenue Wine Bar. I chose this place because I wanted somewhere with a nice atmosphere but not too crazy food choices. I was going with a very good friend of mine who I hadn't seen in two years, who I love to death and enjoy every single minute i'm with her, but who is very different from me in that she and I have contrasting food tastes. My goal is always to get her to try something new, but I don't want to scare her off, so i'm always very conservative with my choices. I knew she liked cheese, I knew she liked french fries, and I knew this bar had both. We started off with the three cheeses with roasted walnuts and grapes. The cheese selection was very nice and bold. With that we shared the sage, lemon and garlic meatballs with aged balsamic dip, which were also nice, and the warm dates wrapped in thick smoked bacon. None of these items were over the top for my friend Nancie, except the dates. Luckily they were wrapped in the delicious bacon, so it was definitely acceptable if not enjoyable. We shared a bottle of the quinta das maias dao, a 2005 portuguese wine that was absolutely divine. We had a wonderful evening. I wouldn't say the service was exceptional, they seemed to be there when you didn't want them to be and not when you needed them. But the food was very good and I had a great evening. This restaurant is tapas style ranging from $2 (for baguette) to $19, with a few mains from $16 to $28. It's also very small and depending on the time you will probably have to wait for a table. They don't take reservations but the wait isn't very long.

www.107fourthavenue.com