Vin Santo & Soft Serve

This evening, Jay and I met up with our friends, Brian (who is also Jay’s cousin) and his girlfriend Mal for dinner and drinks at Vin Santo, a local tapas and wine bar in Latham, NY.

I am totally in LOVE with the decor inside!  It’s decorated to make it feel like you’re dining out on the streets of Italy.  The atmosphere and ambiance of the restaurant are so warming and welcoming.  I’m so glad Jay and I had decided to come and check it out a few weeks back!

(Yes, that’s Jay & Brian as we were walking out the door…they were a little embarrassed to be walking out with the weird girl taking all the photos in the place!)  Ahh, being a blogger! 😀

So Jay and I started out by sharing a bottle of his favorite (and one of my favorite) wines: St. Urbans Hof Riesling.

An elegant, crisp and fruity Riesling with a hint of natural residual sweetness.  This wine has the typical light character of the Riesling grape and the style of a classic Mosel Riesling. I discovered tonight that I think I enjoy drinking this wine better when I’m not eating.  When it was paired with the food, it definitely took on a pretty sweet taste.  But hey, it was still yummy. 🙂

The menu featured a bunch of delicious sounding tapas, or small plates, and I had no idea how we were going to decide!  Luckily we narrowed it down to four AWESOME choices.

Calamari Diablo

Sauteed in a spicy white wine, tomato, basil compote

Bruschetta

Marinated diced tomatoes, garlic and basil, served with warm grilled bread

Crab Cakes

Pan seared with a tarragon reduction sauce

Brown Sugar Encrusted Brie

Served with warm bread and a grape marmalade

The brie was by far my FAVORITE.  Paired with the grape marmalade, it was melt in your mouth good.  Here’s my share for the evening.

The calamari was really good, but a little too spicy for me! (I’m a MILD salsa kinda girl, if ya know what I mean!)  I also went back for another tiny piece of brie and about 1/3 of another crab cake.

I also had another glass of wine before the evening ended.

Brian and Mal were so much fun, and good sports about letting  me take their photo! 🙂

Me & the Hubby 😀

We didn’t end up stuffing ourselves with food, which was nice, and the conversation somehow got onto the topic of ice cream.  Weird, right?  I wonder who started that one…….. 😉

So the night ended with me and my sweet tooth very happy!  I ordered a small vanilla and black raspberry twist with rainbow sprinkles.  It totally hit the spot!  Just like Julie said, “Rainbow Sprinkles Make Life Better”! 😀