Address: 1307 Gladstone Ave.
Phone: (250) 388-4222
Website: http://stagewinebar.com/
Price: $10-15 for a small plate
Notes: Tapas-style dining with a great wine selection
Stage is the darling of the Fernwood food scene. It has the perfect set up for a wine bar - high brick ceilings, open kitchen, a large bar area and candles doing most of the lighting (aka the bane of the food blogger). It could be a place for a casual glass of wine and appetizer, but a proper meal here is probably best saved for an evening out with one or more people to share a few things and spend good money on good food.
It was so nice to see something delicious and stable go into this location after such mis-management from the former landlord. Now that the Fernwood Neighbourhood Group owns the property, things have settled down and good tenants have moved in. The owners of Stage are the original founders of Paprika Bistro.
Service:
November 24, 2011
I managed to pass the IQ test to get into the restaurant... the first door you come to is not, despite all appearances and no obvious indication to the contrary, the entrance - it is the second door!
I was actually at the restaurant for a casual networking event with some other ambitious Victorian young women. It was fortuitous, as I had been wanting to prioritize Stage as a place to blog about for ages, but just never quite made it! The service was pretty relaxed, but we were a pretty chatty table so it ended up feeling like a good balance of service.
Food:
November 24, 2011
I started my night with a glass of wine from their reasonably priced selection on the chalkboard of open bottles for the evening. Can I remember now what I ordered? Er, no. It had a quirky name, if that helps. It was um, red. Winey taste. Good value...! Sorry, folks I got distracted by pretending to be a grown up!
Anyhow - my point is that although the list of wines on the table are big-ticket items (ranging from $40-200 bottles) there are other options available to fit any budget.
Ricotta Gnudi via foodspotting.com
I have been obsessed with gnudi ever since the butternut gnudi I had at Glo earlier this year. My attempts to reproduce gnudi at home were a pretty bit failure, so I was happy to find it on a menu when someone with significantly more culinary technique could make it for me. This gnudi was even lighter and fluffier than with the squash, and the crunch on the outside added extra savoury umami taste that worked very well. The green on top was a watercress salad with a light dressing, and below as an almond salsa verde - which to me felt more like a chunky pesto than a salsa, but again... I'm sure someone with more culinary technique than me prepared it so!
Sadly, this was all I ordered in the food department, but it did resolve me to make a further visit sooner rather than later!
