CALGARY: winebar, a sweet underground spot

Before I could get to the little crepe place on my mental list of places to try in Kensington, the basement space had closed and was papered up for months.

I didn’t think anything of it until some tidy lettering went up late this summer. “winebar,” it read in a nice sans-serif font. A good sign, I thought.

I wish I could say winebar is my hidden, underground gem but it’s already too late for that. The paper came down off the windows about two weeks ago, and the place has been hopping ever since.

winebar kensington is cozy. A few high tables by the door, about a dozen seats along the bar — where you can watch the chefs whip up sharing plates — and then a handful of lower tables against the windows where people on the sidewalk can peer down enviously.

Two big chalkboards list the specials of the day, as well as the charcuterie and cheese selections that are available. (Ah, Salt, your influence is far-reaching.)

For our three-meat charcuterie plate ($16), we picked a delicious elk salami, salty duck prosciutto, and smoked air-dried beef. It came with some cranberry grainy mustard, gherkins, slices of lightly pickled yellow beets, and a generous plate of crusty bread.

We got one of the specials, a fabulous giant scallop ($12), with moist, shredded duck, green bean and pork broth. No wonder a popular dish we saw coming out of the kitchen was
a duck confit crepe with plum ginger compote.

Jason can never pass up any kind of blue cheese, so we got the blue cheese and walnut dip ($9), which is deceivingly light-tasting mixed with what we think was whipped cream, and served with crostini.

The wine list is a nice mix of low and high, new and established, although my friend Christina who went the next night lamented the short selection of by-the-glass.

This is a more casual extension of well-regarded Muse around the corner, and brought to you by the same team. It felt like winebar is still in the “friends and family” stage, with most patrons being greeted by hugs and kisses by the owner or chef.

With their experience, they obviously know what they’re doing, but that’s not to say there weren’t hiccups.

Our server was very sweet, but needs some homework time. She didn’t offer to tell us the day’s specials, and when I asked, she went to check and didn’t return for about 10 minutes. It’s not a big place, so I could see that she was distracted getting cutlery for her other tables.

She didn’t know much about the B.C. meritage we asked about, but to her credit asked her manager, rather than making it up (isn’t that always fun?). But like I said, she was sweet and was making an effort.

I’d like to sample much more from this kitchen. Granted, I wouldn’t come here if I was starving, but that’s not the point; this is a sharing-plate, sip-on-wine kind of neighbourhood hangout.

The positives far outweighed the bumps, and we’ll be back — if there’s room!

winebar kensington, 1131 Kensington Rd. NW, lower level, Calgary, (403) 457-1144.
Open Sunday-Wednesday 4 p.m.-1 a.m., Thursday and Friday 11 a.m.-2 a.m., Saturday noon-2 a.m. No reservations.

Nov. 27, 2008 UPDATE: It feels like they’ve worked out the kinks in service. Our third visit here was flawless. Oh, I also have a new love and it’s winebar’s Berkshire pork belly sandwich.

With the economy tanking, I think more people are going to gravitate towards places like this.

Small warning: It is quite warm inside, probably because of the open kitchen.