Last night we dined at Wink, a little restaurant tucked away behind Whole Earth Provision Co on Lamar. The place is tiny, but since we had reservations, we walked right in. The tables are very close together, so if you're claustrophobic, you'd best eat elsewhere.
Our server was a very knowledgeable woman who happily suggested wines and provided tastings so we could choose which wine we liked best. We decided on a bottle of chardonnay. I'll let the other gals go into detail about the wine, as I'm not really an oenophile, I just like what I like. Needless to say, I really liked this wine.
For starters we had cold gulf shrimp on a bed of Fuji apple, fennel, and minted cucumber. It was delightful. We also had four plump grilled sea scallops (1 each) that melted in my mouth. Warm square rolls and butter kept us sated until our main courses arrived.
I ordered the hanger steak with potatoes and fennel in a caramelized butter sauce. The meat was a delicate medium-rare and it disintegrated into a flood of flavor in my mouth. The potato wedges were tiny browned delights, especially when paired with the wilted greens. After, I was quite full, but we decided on dessert.
We enjoyed a piece of El Rey chocolate cake surrounded by whipped cream and zinfindel-infused cherries AND a wonderful orange lavender risotto tart. The chocolate was divinely rich but the orange lavender confection won me over with its sweet and delicate flavors. Yum!
OVERALL OPINION: I rather enjoyed Wink. The service was good, the food was better, and the lighting was nice. However, the bathroom was kinda crummy; I expected it to be nicer since we had just dropped $250 on our evening. The close nature of the dining room can be off-putting to those of us who don't like to be elbow-to-elbow with our dining neighbors. But if that's the worst of it, Wink should be around for a very long time!
