Century Avenue

I think Century Avenue is the best way to experience the World Financial Center in Pudong, Shanghai's tallest building (for now).

The restaurant and bar are on the 91st to 93rd floors of WFC in the Park Hyatt Shanghai Hotel. The observation deck is about 10 floors higher, but really at 90-100 floors above the city it doesn't really make a difference, you are still looking down on the neighboring Jin Mao Tower (#2 tallest). And for a few hundred kuai I'd rather get a bottle of wine.

Beautiful space and expensive but great food. My mom and I split the Chinese BBQ tasting plate and friends had sushi platter.

91-93 Floor, Park Hyatt Shanghai, 100 Century Avenue, Pudong New Area

+86 21 3855 1428, 3855 1429

http://www.100centuryavenue.com.cn/

Enoteca 2

Great wine bar a few blocks off of Xintiandi. Great space for a bottle (or two) with friends, and they have a nice menu as well. We liked the salad with warm goat cheese on baguettes. Very reasonably priced wines are available.

58 Taicang Lu, near Jinan Lu
太仓路58号, 近济南路

5306 3400

Amokka Cafe

A fantastic space with a bar/cafe downstairs and large yet cozy sitting space on the second floor. It feels like a fancy dorm lounge in a way, with small tables and booths where people have meals, drinks, or just reading or typing away. One guy even had a full PC station set up (that remarkably collapsed down when he was done).

They have some good inexpensive wine options (few bottles under 200rmb) and the food is good. You can order pizza from the place down the street, as well as Thai from next door. We went with the antipasti sampler with salumi, cheeses, olives, etc.

No 201 An Fu Rd, Shanghai
上海市安福路201号

5405 0998

BIN 38

February 2009

I had a lovely pre-movie dinner at Bin 38. It was totally packed at 8pm on a Saturday, with every table booked and a gaggles of yuppie Marina folks around the bar. Our table was out in the front by the bar, so I didn't see the rest of the place.

We had a good bottle of Rioja (well, two between three of us), and then several courses of food to share. The winter crudites were small but refreshing, and the spinach artichoke bruschetta were great. Good crab and citrus salad. Love roasted cauliflower and broccoli (did not love the random patron from the bar who kept asking us about it), and lamb meatballs were pretty good. Not huge portions all around.

It was a bit loud, but a fun girls dinner. Final tab ~$70 per person.

http://www.bin38.com/

3232 Scott St (between Chestnut St & Lombard St), San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 567-3838

Cissi's Market

February 2009

We came across Cissi's when Jo spotted the enormous flourescent letters on top of the building that read WINE BAR. Turns out Cissi's is also a great gourmet market, bar, and cafe, with super nice people. We sat outside on the street with a bottle of wine, but the folks inside looked like they had some pretty amazing meals too. I'd go here a lot if I lived in Austin.

www.cissismarket.com/

1400 S Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78704
(512) 225-0521

San Jose Hotel Lounge

February 2009
So maybe this is more bar than restaurant, since they only have small snacks like seasoned edamame and nuts. Super cute outdoor space in "SoCo" neighborhood in Austin. Only beer and wine, but they have some interesting drinks like a cava with bay leaf and some fruit infused champagne.

A little chilly but they have heat lamps for nighttime, which is key.

http://www.sanjosehotel.com/

1316 S Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78704
(512) 804-2418

Sogno Divino

Dinner with Yell

My favorite place by far in San Diego. Middle of Little Italy, and it's basically a wine shop with a few dishes, but SO good. This eggplant wrap with cheese, tomatoes and goodness (I dont know what) was amazing, as were the paninis and salad.

http://www.sogno-divino.com/

1607 India Street, San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 531-8887

SaLitre

September 2008

Wine and liquor bar in Leblon that we stopped in after shopping. Super cute with upstairs porch that we sat at. Wonderful bottle of CATENA 2006 Chardonnay from Mendoza (for about 60R)

Av General San Martin 857, Leblon
3205 6977

Bar Crudo

Friday, December 7, 2007
Dinner with Joyse

Bar Crudo is great little restaurant with extensive Belgian beer list and wine list. A lot of small plates of raw food, which is delicious but probably not filling (especially if you are drinking...)

603 Bush St. (Stockton St.), San Francisco, CA
415-956-0396

Plumed Horse

Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Work dinner

Very nice French/New American restaurant in downtown Saratoga. Cool wine cellar that is two stories deep with a glass floor from the first level. Quite pricey.

www.plumedhorse.com

14555 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, CA 95070
(408) 867-4711

Avec

Monday, November 12, 2007
Dinner with Anthony

Avec is an amazing Mediterranean restaurant in Chicago. Avec is basically the wine bar/more casual version of Blackbird, which is next door (Anthony said Blackbird is great too).

So Avec is small place, great simple architecture. There is one row of tables, and we squeezed in between a group of four and two on the end.

The menu has small plates, large plates and cheese. YUM. We started with three cheeses and "cheese accompaniments" -- quince paste, date cake. One of their signature dishes is a chorizo stuffed medjool dates with bacon. I mean really. Amazing. Then we had a light prosciutto dish with watercress and pears, really great. Last dish was another small plate, veal breast with potatoes. Finished off with a crispy chocolate (like Crunch bars).

The wine was fabulous. Menu has selections from Spain, Portugal, Italy and France, and we got a great one from Duoro, Portugal.

Avec doesn't take reservations, but if you can go with a small group, I didn't see many waiting. Totally worth it!

615 W. Randolph, Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 377-2002

S.N.O.B (Sonoma, Napa or Beyond)

Saturday, November 3, 2007
Libby & Kermit's Engagement Party

S.N.O.B is a cute wine bar with live music

1327 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 440-SNOB

Ottimista Enoteca-Cafe

Sunday, April 29, 2007
Late afternoon drinks with Carolyn and Lowell

Ottimista is a wonderful wine bar on Union Street in Cow Hollow (SF). There are covered seats with heaters on the patio outside in addition to their homey tables and wine bar inside. Their staff is super nice and helpful -- Carolyn and I could not decide between the prosecco and bubbly moscato, and the waitress let us taste both before bringing us a very healthy pour of our final selection (I love moscato, like dessert in a glass). Think our glasses were $8 and $9 each.

While we just had wine, it looked like they also had a nice selection of small and large plates. Also looked like they have a pretty good wine club with quarterly shipments and pick-up parties.

I like the concept behind their name. Per their site, "Ottimista Enoteca-Café gets its name from the Italian translation of the word 'optimist', chosen by owner and eternal optimist Melissa Gisler, who believes that at the wine bar, as in life, the glass should always be half full."

1838 Union Street, San Francisco, California 94123
(415) 674.8400