Vin Room: ****

So this is a touch late, but here it is - 5th Stop of A Picky Eater's Never Ending Big Taste Tour: Vin Room! (sort of) When I made the reservations to Vin Room, I obviously did not read the Big Taste menu all the way through, as it was only offered between 5 and 6:30PM (odd, isn't it). When we discovered that little fact, it was too late to change the reservation, so we decided to go anyway. Vin Room is located on 4 street, and has two floor with fairly eye pleasing modern decor - although I am quite picky about what table I get there, as there are some awkward ones (like the raised two-person booths... just odd). We tucked ourselves away in the back corner on the second floor, and prepared to enjoy our meal. Of course, we started with wine - we each got a half bottle (13oz) - Pinot Noir for myself, Amarone for my other half. I enjoy when places offer something between a bottle and a glass - I rarely drink just one glass with dinner, and sometimes I just don't feel like compromising on the bottle. Of course, Vin offers tapas, or small plates for dinner. We got:

• Israeli Couscous with roasted mushrooms - FYI, not really couscous at all, but actually this - very, very delicious, especially with the addition of roasted mushrooms


• Lamb kabob with fenugreek tumeric sauce and sautéed spinach - quite aggressively spiced, but delicious nonetheless; the sauce was silky and the meat was cooked very well


• Bison tartare with root chips - tartare was very, very delicious, although I wish they replaced root chips with something else

Charcuterie platter - I want to speak about this separately. You get to create your own, which I loved. Of course, you get a bit less you normally would for the same price, but I love, love, love the choice. We got four: elk salami (good), smoked duck (amazing), chevre noire (basically firm goat cheese with black wax coating, quite nice) and a manchego (also excellent). It of course came with crackers and delicious pickled vegetables - pearl onions, beets and cornichons. Mmmmmm! Love it.

For desert, we got the citrus tartlet with chocolate crust and almond cake. What we didn't realize, is that the deserts were already made for sharing (we got 2 mini tartlets and 3 mini almond cakes). Well, more food for us! Both deserts were good, alhough I preferred the citrus tartlet. Overall, I was really impressed with Vin Room this time around, and I would give it four stars - great food, and great wine. I can't wait to check out the patio in the summer!