St. Vincent Wine’s braised chickpeas – The GW Hatchet

If you go to a wine bar, you’re in all probability trying ahead to the drink choice however at St. Vincent Wine, it’s the meals which may simply steal the present.

The wine bar, which opened final fall, is situated within the coronary heart of the Park View neighborhood in Columbia Heights at 3212 Georgia Ave. NW., a few 20-minute Uber journey from campus. From the entrance, the wine bar appears to be like nondescript however behind the constructing you’ll discover one of many District’s most alluring out of doors patios.

The patio has ample seating on each the bottom stage, dubbed the backyard, and on a balcony stage. Twinkling lights that dangle throughout each ranges of the patio add to the wine bar’s magical ambiance, making it an attractive place to spend a heat summer time night.

The spacious backyard stage’s flooring is roofed with a fantastic gravel and full of greater than 12 black wire tables of assorted sizes so you possibly can suit your total pal group or discover a seat for you and your date.

St. Vincent’s boasts an in depth wine menu, which incorporates every part from pink and white wines to bubbly and ranges in value from $30 a bottle to as a lot as $150 a bottle. If wine isn’t your alcoholic beverage of alternative, you possibly can go for one thing else to sip on like locally-made Proper Correct Brewing beers ($6) and a canned Venetian spritz ($10).

The wine at St. Vincent Wine is undoubtedly prime quality, however the meals is what you’ll come again for.

The menu features a vary of small plates, pastas and important dishes together with seasonal specials and charcuterie and cheese board choices.

For small plates, diners can select from choices like confit duck croquettes ($15) with inexperienced garlic salsa verde and cured duck egg yolk or the seasonal stuffed squash blossoms ($15) with floor lamb, strained yogurt with cucumber, walnuts and barbarries and a variety of spices.

Fundamental dishes vary from charred halloumi ($12) topped off with kiwi, charred sumac strawberries and pink rice crunch, fried rooster ($19) made with a dried mango powder and served with pickled garlic aioli and inexperienced mango slaw and king crab bucatini ($21) with nori butter, lemon and chive.

I attempted an assortment of St. Vincent Wine’s dishes, however the one which stood out essentially the most was the braised chickpeas ($15). The chickpeas are served straight within the olive oil used for braising and topped off with date molasses, a scattering of recent dill and crumbled feta. Items of baguette are additionally served alongside the chickpeas.

The braising course of, which incorporates slowly cooking the chickpeas in a mixture of olive oil and spices, offers the chickpeas an ideal consistency – gentle on the within however not mushy.

Every further ingredient helped to stability the creamy and wealthy flavors of the chickpeas and olive oil. The date molasses have been the slightest bit candy, the dill packed the dish with the brightness of recent herbs and the feta added only a little bit of briny taste.

The baguette slices, which got here toasted, have been the right car with which to eat the chickpeas. The bread’s crunchy exterior served as an ideally juxtaposed complement to the softness of the chickpeas.

Whereas St. Vincent Wine is a little bit of a hike from Foggy Backside, its distance from campus will likely be straightforward to neglect about when you’re sipping on a clean glass of wine and munching on the wine bar’s scrumptious meals.

This text appeared within the June 4, 2021 issue of the Hatchet.