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Wining > Dining at Urban Wine Works

San Fran import Chef Jon will fill your belly with carefully chosen grapes and gourmet comfort food – whether wining and dining is part of your job description or something you reserve for the swankiest of Saturdays.

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The slogan for Urban Wine Works: Damn fine table wine. There’s some honesty in advertising yet.

UWW is a full-production winery, and they source local grapes to create their always-surprising blends. One of my girly friends and I frequent this bar – in fact, the staff usually remembers our favorite grape-y picks. (Mine is the Aglianico or Pinotage; hers, the Plaza White or Symphony.) There’s a new wine to choose from every few months as the seasons change and the business grows.

Brussels sprouts petals, pork belly, vegetable risotto, quail and waffle: welcome to the winery where you don’t have to speak French to order something good. I have yet to visit UWW for brunch, but I’ve spent many Saturday mornings poring over the meat-heavy menu online. I’m just waiting for the hangover grand enough to warrant a morning-after meal of lamb chops and truffle fries.

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The employees are knowledgeable and friendly. This is the place to go with a few friends – seating accommodates 1-8 people, and the street side patio makes for some great people-watching. There’s also a small but fairly comprehensive shop near the entrance, stocked with all things wine-related. You’ll probably find something you really, really need – from extra-cool glasses for your reds to the not-so-obvious necessities. Could I interest you in a corkcicle, or perhaps a wine breather? (It’s real, folks.)

Side note: Urban Wine Works also gives its most committed connoisseurs free wine for a year in exchange for some, shall we say, permanent advertising. UWW’s logo tattoos, for what it’s worth, are way cooler than your standard “Mom” heart ink.

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Ink aside – this isn’t the place to go if you want someone to buy you a shot … or if you want to buy someone a shot … or if you plan on getting rip-roaring drunk in the first bar you stop by.

It is the place to go if you want to feel classy, divulge secrets to close friends, listen to live music, and get a heady buzz with an oak-y finish.

Urban Wineworks on Urbanspoon

In the run up to #confluencecon on Saturday Oct 26th I’ll be profiling all of the potential Plaza District eateries where we might go after the conference. You can find my poll and a list of all of the restaurant/bars I’ve profiled so far here.