Vino

This was my first trip to the Piazza at Schmidt's since it opened about a month ago. After hearing the buzz about the restaurants there, I figured it was about time for me to check things out for myself. I was also interested to see what sort of impact this Italian-style piazza would have on Philadelphia. My husband and I took a taxi to Northern Liberties, and due to a slight miscommunication with our cab driver, we ended up walking a couple of blocks to our final destination. I am not very familiar with the scene in NoLibs, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Our arrival at the Piazza was announced loudly by the purple banners hanging from the lamp posts (if only there were trumpets and someone to announce our names as we entered). We caught a glimpse of the edgy-cute-artsy boutiques framing the square. As we entered the Piazza I was surprised at how large it was. Tables dotted the edges of the space and a giant screen showing the Phillies game stared at us from one end. It was still early for this Friday night, so I was not surprised at the lack of attendance in this huge space.

Vino is situated near one of the far points of the square. It has a large area for outdoor seating with options on the main Piazza and overlooking the 'older' restaurants on the other side of 2nd street. It was a cool and pleasant evening, so we decided to sit at a table outside. The host showed us to a table so distant from the restaurant I felt kind of excluded from the main vibe of the place. Don't get me wrong, such an abundance of space between tables is quite a luxury, but I don't want to feel like I'm stranded in the middle of the Piazza with only my glass of wine to sustain me.

Our nervous server greeted us. We mustered up smiles as he struggled to remember all of the specials. The fact that he was trying so hard to do everything right was adorable and won us over despite his shortcomings. The menu consisted of Italian-based fare served tapas-style with most dishes around $10. There was also a wide selection of wines by the glass to choose from.

Our first item was the Chianti Pizza (which came out as a wrong order the first time around). The crust of the pizza was thin and crispy-exactly what I expect of a brick oven pizza. Unfortunately, while the pizza tasted fine, It was really missing the distinct Chianti flavor that was advertised. In fact, I didn't see the Chianti balsamic reduction anywhere on the pizza. The salty Parmigiano Reggiano, prosciutto, and peppery arugula were all present and worked well in the pizza, but were overshadowed by the largely diced red onion sprinkled on top. I think the dish would have been slightly elevated had the reduction actually made an appearance. C+.

Next, we had the figs with blue cheese that were wrapped in prosciutto. It was served with arugula and a balsamic reduction. I actually couldn't taste much of the blue cheese-which is odd since I would have expected it to jump out a bit more. The sweet figs with their crunchy seeds were also overwhelmed by the charred prosciutto which seemed to suffocate the other elements rather than complement them. This classic combination is usually one that seems fool proof, but didn't seem to work here. The reduction was too sparse and thick to really add anything to the dish. C.

We also tried the cheese plate (the picture is after we began attacking it). This was by far the best dish, but since they only had to slice cheese to make it, I'm not sure how much credit they deserve. It was served with a rustic crusty bread that was sprinkled with salt and went well with the cheeses. The most unsettling thing about this dish was that neither the food runner nor the server seemed to know exactly which cheese was which. They each gave us conflicting stories. They agreed upon the Maytag blue and the the truffle asiago, however those were of course the most obvious. They just guessed as to which one was the cambra and the taleggio.B.

All in all Vino fell short of being the great wine bar that the name suggests. The food is fine, but by the time you receive the bill, you are left wondering what you ate that could cost that much. I for one know that I could spend $60 on a much better meal. However, I guess that's the price to pay for a nice evening sipping wine and watching the passersby in the Piazza.


Overall: C
Vino
1001 N. 2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123
215-923-2014