Well Fed On the Town

Wine Fun in Dayton, Ohio

Posted by Curt McAdams
March 11, 2008

Yes, you read that correctly… In a downtown that is almost lifeless outside of work hours, there’s something of a bright spot appearing along the edges. First was the Therapy Cafe, a trendy, metropolitan club that started making something of an island of martini-drinking inhabitants in the middle of old concrete and industrial buildings. Now that island is extended a bit with the Wine Gallery and Cafe, at the corner of 3rd Street and Wayne Avenue.

Just a couple of blocks separate the Wine Gallery and Cafe from the much more active Oregon District, but it’s two blocks of low traffic and old buildings. The kind of area where you just wouldn’t be unless you had a reason to be there. But now the Wine Gallery and Cafe offers a change.

The Wine Gallery and Cafe is basically a big, open area with brick walls and glass around 2 sides. A bar sits back a bit, but doesn’t really shut off the room. The back wall is lined with wines that are available to buy to take home. With low lighting and comfortable seating, the area next to the entry invites guests to enjoy some wine while they talk with friends or wait for a table.

We went late on a Saturday with friends, expecting to have to wait. Reservations are taken up until 7:00 PM, but then it’s open. The food is good, though not great. The high point of our food was either the baked perogies with sour cream/habenero sauce (which was a bit too hot for the setting, but still good) or the au gratin potatoes (these were very good). The rest of the food was fine, but not why I’ll be going back to the cafe. In fact, the next time I’m back, I’ll probably just get appetizers, as that suits the high points of the place better, in my opinion. In fact, I’d love to see the Wine Gallery and Cafe switch to nothing but appetizers and small plates.

The key to what makes this a place I can see myself going to often is the flights offered on the wine menu. I didn’t count them, but I’d guess there are about two dozen different flights. A flight is a series of wines offered with a common theme, whether it’s the same type of wine from different places, different wines from the same vineyard or any theme the owner came up with. Keeping in line with the gallery theme, the flights are all named after something artistic, and the wines within the flights change now and then, though the spirit of the flight remains.

We started off by ordering one flight each, with the women getting the same flight (sweet white wines) and the men getting the same flight (Pinot Noirs from Oregon, Alsace and Italy, called Pinot Portfolio). Along with that, we got some appetizers. By the time we were ready for our meal, we had gotten a second flight, each, this time each of us getting something different. I should have kept track of what everyone had, but I had some big reds, my wife had sweet reds, and our friends had a white flight and another red flight.

The fun was trying each others’ wines. My wife liked that she could get wines that I wouldn’t consider ordering for myself… Trying one of the sweet reds made sure I’ve had my cough medicine for this month! I enjoyed being able to pay the price of a glass of wine and getting to try three wines instead. I’ve seen flights offered at much greater prices, with less thought into the theme.

We talked a bit with Brian, the owner. He also sells wines at a local market on the weekends. He was great at explaining what the Wine Gallery and Cafe is about without getting pretentious, as some wine people can be in the Midwest. One group of women that was there had met for lunch and stayed until 10 pm, just enjoying themselves and talking.

I really hope the place does well. There is live music now and then, but I don’t know if I’m going to like that as well as just having it quiet so everyone can talk. I’ll definitely be back; the Wine Gallery and Cafe has already become the place to meet friends for a relaxing night out.