Parkdale Winos

In a taxi going west on Queen a few days ago and noticed a little spot that I had not remembered seeing before. Mentally made a note to go check it out, and Friday I fulfilled that mission.

Cafe Taste on Queen W, just a few doors west of the Cadillac Lounge is a cozy place that would have gone unnoticed if it weren't for the sidewalk signing appealing to Sheena's baser instincts. A wine bar? In East Parkdale? With cheese and homemade breads and everything? Yep.

Beautiful atmosphere. Little candle lit tables. About 1/2 full on a Friday night. Lovely black and white ink framed artwork on display (for sale - very very reasonable prices averaging $200 including lovely framing). My favourite one was marked sold, but if it wasn't I honestly may have walked out with it.

Decent but not overly innovative wine list. I ordered off the specials board and enjoyed my Malivoire Pinot Gris. El Chaperone struggled with the beer selection and fell back to the D'arenberg D'arrys Shiraz, which was a real treat to see on the menu.

Started with the cheese plate and was very happy with the perhaps unsurprising choices of old cheddar, bleu cheese and havarti, but the quality and quantity made up for the lack of imagination. Sheena confesses to have been utterly spoiled by the Fat Cat Bistro's cheese plates.

Next was the mushroom-cauliflower soup. A mistake, not because of the soup (was pretty good) but because our spoons remained undelivered to the point of getting cold, and we were compelled to start just dipping the bread into it and that filled us up faster than we wanted.

Main course for me was an incredible grilled chicken/goat cheese salad with lots of spinach (I ate it not asking the origin and wondered about it all night but I didn't get any bloody diarrhea so I guess it wasn't Californian). Nice light soy sauce and plenty of toasted walnuts. I really loved it and regretted being filled up by the soup/bread. Will get it again, bien sur.

The manager was very hospitable and told us about his regular wine tasting nights. Going to check into it for sure. Also have free wireless, and he assured me the signal was great. Anyone else interested in getting the schedule, contact cafetaste@rogers.com.

Hmm... Next tasting is Aussie Night later this month. Hope I'm in town for it. Maybe a little SheenaVision live blogging hotstove during the tasting? Wanna come with?