Em Me

Review of CUCINA ENOTECA

My friend and I have been coming here about once a...

My friend and I have been coming here about once a month to meet up for wine and light appetizers. The restaurant itself is amazing, but the shopping plaza it is located in has terrible parking. If I don't get lucky on my first pass through, I park on the hill behind the shopping center and walk down.

Cucina Enoteca is a modern styled restaurant, so it has high ceilings that cause a lot of echo if you're sitting in the open seating area. We haven't actually had dinner here, just appetizers, so we've never had to reserve a table ahead of time, we just sit in the open seating. The open seating is open to anyone, so other parties may ask you to move if the seating shifts throughout the night. I'd suggest reserving a table if you want your privacy, but I've had a good time talking to other people at the open seating.

Our favorite server was Matt (I use was, only because he moved to a different restaurant). He always made sure that we ordered a bottle of wine that we would enjoy and checked in with us regularly. The other servers here also do a great job too and regularly ask if you need anything. Since we typically just come to enjoy light appetizers and a bottle of wine, we don't typically need anything, be it's nice to know that they check in once in a while.

The wine selection here is pretty good - my friend is a big fan of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, so there's always a reliable bottle we can enjoy. To go with our wine, we typically order an assorted cheese plate, which comes with a variety of bread and 5 cheeses that we can select. I don't really like soft cheeses, so we typically ask our server to help us select the ones that aren't soft. This usually ends up with a couple of double orders on cheese since they only have 6-7 cheeses at a time. The cheese plate here is really good, but the portions are definitely smaller than other wine bars I've been to.

We also get the stuffed squash blossoms, which are delicious. They are lightly fried and stuffed with a lemon ricotta - it's definitely a treat. A order comes with 3 blossoms, so make sure you get enough for the group you're with. In addition to the cheese plate and stuffed blossoms, we've gotten the beet and avocado salad, which is really refreshing. I'm not a big fan of beets, but I really like how this salad is put together. Definitely worth a try if you're looking for something different.

Overall, Cucina Enoteca is a great place to have light appetizers and enjoy some wine. I really like the ambiance, although they could definitely benefit from something to reduce the amount of noise in the open seating area.