Eat Boutique

After the flower show, I met a friend for dinner at Toro in Boston’s South End. Toro is a Spanish wine bar and tapas joint that caters to the young and fabulous. I’ve got the “young” part down and visited with a “fabulous” creative friend of mine. The wine list was long and substantial. The chalk board reminded me of the gigantic homemade one my husband dedicated to me as he hung it in the kitchen (old kitchen) last year. I miss the daily love scribbles to me, and the dinner party menus posted each weekend. Though we never had the talent to draw one of those bulls, below.

The food was perfect, little bursts of flavor that popped alongside the many different wines I tasted.

The decor was casual, dressed in rough blond wood and dark metals. These stools looked homemade and made me think I need to inspire the husband with a weekend project to make some of these for our back deck. I can imagine summers of rain pounding that roughness into the grain, forcing them to curve more closely to our bodies year to year.

The bathroom was dark and lovely, as a bar that caters to the young and fabulous should have. I was pleased with the wallpaper, dark and moody, of those gorgeous matador and his wild bull.

Toro is located at 1704 Washington Street, Boston, MA, 617-536-4300. 

There’s a great round-up on lovely low-priced wines in The Boston Globe “Food” section today. It’s called “Plonkapalooza: Four wine experts take part in the tasting of 50 bottles that cost $12 or less and come up with a few real deals“. It features some great wine directors of local restaurants, and interviews one wine director from one of my favorite boutique restaurants, Oleana in Cambridge. (Theresa Paopao has assembled a great list and always knows what to pour with the restaurant’s unique dishes.)

[FYI: I pulled the photo from the article. I wish I could take photos that good!]

I have to give a ShoutOut to my new favorite boutique wine shop, OurGlass Wine Co. I have always found buying wine a struggle, until now. I’m not the sort of gal who spends five minutes in any shop, especially a wine shop. I need to browse, investigate wine labels as if they were art, and taste, taste, taste.

When I visit this little shop nestled amidst the chain shops along route 1 north of Boston, I feel like there’s some sort of justice in the world. Brian and Penny Lamb have set up a true community experience - where I can be both expert and novic, and where I always learn something new. I typically visit when I’m not quite sure what I need and the staff always engages to understand my menu and suggests the perfect accompaniment. If staffers are busy with other clients, no worries - Each wine has a personal write-up explaining origins, grapes, winemakers and flavors.

The best part: They have free wine tastings on Fridays and Saturdays. Free. You can sample up to a dozen wines. It doesn’t get much easier than that. Browse, taste, buy. At least four times per year, the staff hosts a grand wine tasting - the most recent was this past Saturday. Over 80 wines and beers where available, along with cheeses, meats and sweets. I could only make my way through about 30 wines - but found five great bottles to add to our regular repertoire.

All hail independent boutique wine shops! You can visit OurGlass Wine Co. at 124 A Broadway, Route 1 North, Saugus, Massachusetts, 01906; 781-941-8068.

Ahh… “Martha Stewart Vintage” wines… Who would have thought it? (Love those folks over at Epi Log…)