We went to Jamie Kennedy’s old place Jamie Kennedy’s Wine Bar, renamed Wine Bar owned and operated by executive chef Scott Vivian. The decor seemed familiar; we had been to Chef Kennedy’s restaurant a long time ago. The place is literally cut in half; they have more bar seating than tables. There are also a lot of really hard surfaces, which means noise! And LOTS of it. We had reservations so we were sat at a table; the tables are way too close together. Next time, if there is one, I would want to sit at the bar on the kitchen side, it looks more interesting!
It’s Tapas style, which we love. We started with Mini Burgers on mini English Muffins served with Cornichons, the burgers were very tasty and the mini English Muffins were adorable (I wondered how they would reconcile the mini burger to a life-size English Muffin! Have to file that in the ol’ memory bank).
Our next plate was the Organic Potato Gnocchi which was served in Northern Woods Mushroom ragu – it was amazing. The Gnocchi was the perfect texture of chewy and soft all at the same time and the mushroom ragu was so rich and earthy, yum yum yum! Unfortunately, they too (recall Nyood) brought the final plate of Roasted Lamb Sandwich with Blue Cheese, Caramelized Onions WITH the Gnocchi, which makes me feel very rushed. The lamb had virtually no flavour, overwhelmed by the Blue Cheese. This was my least favourite course and I absolutely hated it that they brought it WITH the Gnocci.
We were still a bit hungry so we ordered the Selection of Artisanal Canadian Cheeses and I had 1 oz. of the N.V. Caves Vale Do Rodo Port a 10 Year Old Tawny Port (it was their suggested paring with the cheese). The cheese selections were OK, most from Ontario and a couple from Québec, some pasteurized and some not. There was maybe an ounce of each of 5 cheeses; they were all very similar in style, texture and taste, very mild at best (both JT and I like sharp cheeses!). My biggest disappointment, however, was the Port, they brought the 1 oz of Port in a 7oz Wine Glass! What? Did you run out of your proper port glasses? It literally looked like the remains of someone’s red wine. I wish I had sent it back. The taste was OK, but it’s like drinking wine out of a Styrofoam cup, it just doesn’t do it for me!
Jamie Kennedy’s Wine Bar overall rating (in my opinion): decor 3/5, service 3/5, food 4/5, Value 3/5, Noise: 3/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being quiet)
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