Vino 610

So, Friday night Mark and I struggled with the age-old question: “What’s for dinner?” This question is often the bane of my existence come Friday night. I get home from work, and Mark is either a) deep in thought, doing homework b) starving and ready to eat the turtle or c) both. We spend a good chunk of time figuring out what to do for dinner. For the first hour, we try to decide if we should cook or go out. The hour after that, we have to decide either what to cook or where we should go. The third hour is spent giving up, and going to Jimmy John’s for a Beach Club and a Turkey Tom.

Well, this past Friday I had the fun idea to plan ahead. I thought that I would make steak and roasted potatoes for dinner. This is a “fun” idea because I never cook. Ever. I hate cooking. And, I’m bad at it. I burn mac and cheese half the time. Which is why I’m so grateful that I have Mark. Not only is he good at it, but he actually loves doing it. Those Friday nights that we actually do cook, the “we” refers simply to Mark. I stand by and watch him enthusiastically, usually while sipping a nice glass of wine.

When I got home this past Friday, Mark was lying on the floor in scenario c – doing homework, starving hungry. At work that day, I was pretty excited to cook dinner. I even looked up some fun recipes for sauces on the Internet. Oh yes, I was going to go all out. But by the end of the day, my enthusiasm for cooking was significantly waning. So when I walked through the door and Mark suggested we go out, I jumped at the idea.

Mark suggested Vino 610, a new wine bar and restaurant near the corner of Lyndale and Lake St. I had driven by it a few weeks earlier, and I had added it to my mental list of new places to try. From the street, it looks like a wonderfully quaint place to have a good meal, a nice bottle of wine and an intimate conversation. It was all that, and so much more.

As soon as we walked in, I was immediately in love with the place. It was small and cozy with a warm, romantic feel. I really don’t like large restaurants – I feel that they don’t promote conversation or relaxation. Small restaurants allow you to cozy up with your date and have a leisure dinner. There were about 12 tables or so in the place, as well as a bar area that contained a full wall wine rack. The tables and walls were dark, heavy wood accented with deep reds. Tea lights that hung from the ceiling gave off the perfect amount of light.

We sat at a small table near the window in the corner. After receiving the wine list and menu, I decided on a very nice glass of Rosenblum Vintner’s Cuvee, and Mark had a Heineken. Unfortunately, he’s had to lay off the wine lately for health reasons. When our drinks came, they were served with the cutest little dishes of something extra. (Side note: I love small containers of things. I will order something or purchase something only because it comes in a small bottle or dish. Example – when Mark and I go to the liquor store, I will purchase a split of the worst champagne ever, only because it’s cute.) Mark’s beer was served with a stuffed olive, and my wine was served with a tiny wedge of cheese. I mini-squealed in delight, I was so excited.

Dinner was a tough decision. The menu was not extensive, but did contain a few items that I found it hard to decide between. I think that I’ve had a meat deficiency in my diet lately, because every time we go to dinner I feel the need to order a steak. So, I did. I had the Petit Filet. It was cooked in a red wine sauce and served with mashed potatoes. Mark decided on the Pasta with Pesto, which was served with a dark garlic cheese toast. Both dishes were fantastic. My steak was perfectly well done with great flavor. The pasta was nice and light with pesto flavor. And the garlic cheese bread that came with Mark’s meal was to die for – seriously. Garlic cheese bread is not something I would usually comment on, but this was great. For dessert, we split a Lemon Torte, which was yellow cake layered with lemon filling and butter cream frosting. Words almost can’t express how good that cake was – moist and delicious, without being overly rich.

After dinner, we sat and talked while finishing our drinks. The restaurant had filled with other couples enjoying an intimate meal as well as small groups of friends chatting and sipping wine. I really recommend this place to anyone. It’s a great place to take a date, a couple of friends or your parents to have a nice meal, a great glass of wine and a fun evening.

After our lovely dinner, we returned home where I promptly fell asleep at 9:30 PM. I guess that one glass of wine hit me hard...

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