The Grape offers vintage experience By Colleen Coffield Sachs
Daily News Columnist
The Grape is a wine bar and restaurant located in Destin Commons. Photographed by Daily News photographer Nick Tomecek.
DESTIN – The Grape, a newcomer to Destin Commons, is a venue devoted to wine and things that taste good with wine.
Its components include a retail shop and a wine bar. The restaurant is sleek, but has a comfortable, intimate feel. A bar runs most of the length of the space, with seating at small tables throughout.
The cozy feel is helped by the color scheme. A deep purple (or grape) covers walls, chairs, water pitchers, and nearly everything else. Lighting is low, but enough to see the menu, food and wine. It would be hard to visit The Grape and not feel relaxed.
Recognizing that many people are intimidated by wine, The Grape has created a system designed to demystify the winechoosing process. More than 120 wines are classified by number (1 through 10), and are color-coded as well.
Grape No. 1, which is pale green, is the designation for light-bodied white wines. Grape No. 8 (deep purple) marks a sparkler, and 10 is reserved for special occasion reds.
To make things even easier, each item on the menu suggests a wine pairing by number. For example, the Grape Mini Crab Cakes work with one through four, eight or nine grapes.
Most of the menu at The Grape is dedicated to small plates. Choose from cheese plates, spreads, pita-based pizzas, quesadillas and appetizers. Salads and sandwiches make up the entrée portion of the menu.
I like to start with a cheese plate or selection of spreads. Cheeses, that are sold by the ounce and are served with bread and crackers, include rich Saint Andre, sharp English white Cheddar, Stilton, and Caciotta al Tartufo.
Spreads come with bread, and included a good hummus topped with roasted garlic, creamy spinach bacon spread, assertive tapenade, and marinated Roma tomatoes with fresh mozzarella.
Highlights of the appetizer menu included shrimp remoulade made with jumbo shrimp that were perfectly cooked. The remoulade sauce was a touch spicy, and very delicious.
Among the other appetizers are nicely seasoned two-bite lamb chops served with a black cherry preserve; a fresh-tasting Roma tomato bruschetta highlighted with balsamic and garlic; and pate served with pickles and caperberries.
The section of the menu titled Pita Pisas was where I found one of my favorite flavor combinations. A pita crust is topped with Cambozola triple-cream blue cheese, prosciutto and fig spread. It is a delicious blend of creamy, salty, savory and sweet.
A pair of quiches and some unusual quesadillas work as a meal. The Tuscan quesadilla with tomato, garlic, mushroom, spinach, Fontina and Chevre gets high marks. The spinach and bacon quiche was more spinach than egg, making it slightly lighter than eggier varieties.
Among the entrees, I enjoyed the Shrimp and Crab Louis. Tender shrimp and crab meat were mixed in a creamy dressing with a touch of spice, and served atop a salad of crisp greens with balsamic vinaigrette.
Another good choice was the Grape Club, a substantial sandwich with grilled chicken breast, crisp applewood smoked bacon, lettuce and tomato.
There were plenty of dessert options including crepes, cheesecake, gelato and apple pie.
One section of the dessert menu is devoted to chocolate. That is where we found the chocolate fondue. An order serves between two and four, and included a pot of excellent melted chocolate, and plates with sliced banana, strawberries, cake, macaroons, marshmallow-topped graham crackers and grapes.
The Grape has wine dinners monthly, and has live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Events can be found on the Web site at www.yourgrape.com.
There are many things to like about The Grape. It has good food and a relaxing atmosphere. Service is attentive, and servers have good knowledge of the wines and food.
One of my favorite things about The Grape is that every person at the table gets a wine list. That is surely a sign of a place that is devoted to wine.
Colleen Coffield Sachs is restaurant reviewer for the Daily News. She dines unannounced at area restaurants for this column. You may write to her in care of the newspaper at P.O. Box 2949, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32549.
