Va De Vi

It’s about the wine.

That’s the Catalan translation of this restaurant’s name, and indeed it was. 

Kyle and I had no real occasion to go out to dinner, but we just felt like splurging for a fun date night. 

Va De Vi is a gem of a restaurant in Walnut Creek’s downtown area.  The ambiance is casual but chic, with a friendly and knowledgeable staff, a menu that changes with the seasons, and a wine list to die for. 

Every direction you turned had more wine displayed. 

And being all about the wine, the menu was built around making sure you were able to try as many varietals as you wanted, offering wine by the glass, taste, or flight…or you could just go ahead and get the entire bottle.  ;)  The idea, however, is that you can order several small plates with accompanying wine selections and enjoy multiple flavors and pairings over the course of the meal.  Brilliant!

Plain and simple, wine and small plates are fun.  We ordered a few different rounds over the evening, starting with two salads.

I got a spinach salad with pickled red onions, fresh apricots, candied and spiced pecans, and a simple roasted shallot-balsamic vinaigrette. 

Kyle got the wedge.  I have no interest in white creamy stuff or bacon, so this salad appealed to me on no level whatsoever.  Usually Kyle and I have similar tastes in salads, and yet, he saw it on the menu and didn’t even have to think twice about ordering it.  So, although it probably goes without saying, we didn’t share with each other.

Kyle was nearly licking the plate, he liked it so much, but I still think I got the better salad.

Look at that fresh fruit!  And the dressing!  Gah!  Spinach salads will never got old, especially when restaurants know what they’re doing. 

The next round of orders started with rock shrimp avocado lumpia.  Kyle and I have a bit of a soft spot in our heart for lumpia (right Ethel?) so we had to order this dish.

It was crispy on the outside with both warm and cool ingredients on the inside.  And the flavors were yummmmm.  Definitely mouth watering.

We split them 50/50, but I staked claim on the ginger garnish on top, too. 

We also got a summer vegetable & tofu stir fry.  It had sugar peas, shiitake mushrooms, beans, carrots, shallots, garlic, tofu, and oyster sauce.

Good, but very oily.  More oily than necessary in my opinion.

The tofu was savory but my favorite parts were the Chinese long beans and the snap peas.  I like when they are warm but still really crunchy and the peas pop out in your mouth.  It’s the simple things in life…  😀

To start off the next round we got the grilled yellow tail served with roasted tomatoes, shaved fennel, orange slices, and frisee with a citrus vinaigrette. 

I had a tiny bite, but the fish was lacking in flavor.  Also, I’m not a huge fan of fennel.  I don’t mind it, but it’s not a flavor that I’m crazy about.  Kyle happily devoured the dish, though. 

Perhaps it wasn’t good enough to tempt me, or perhaps I was distracted by the arrival of this…

White bean hummus with toasted French bread.  Be still my heart. 

For some reason we missed hearing the specials and only learned of this dish when we overheard the server telling the table next to us.  I didn’t even have to think twice about it.  We quickly called our waitress over and placed our order.  She was happy to oblige. 

I dug in with the enthusiasm of a starving Ethiopian, I think I scared the surrounding tables with my moaning too (please note that Kyle was neither surprised nor bothered by my unladylike eating…).  It was absolutely delicious.  It reminded me of Nanoosh’s hummus.  The bread was warm, crispy but still soft, as if it had been toasted in a wood oven like a pizza.  So.  Dang.  Good.

Our waitress was so on top of it that she noticed the bread was gone but there was a bit of hummus that remained…and went to the kitchen to bring back MORE toasted bread.  Now THAT’S amazing service. 

We (reluctantly) ended the night with coffee. 

With all the hype surrounding this restaurant,  was nervous it wouldn’t live up to it’s reputation, but I’m happy to report Va De Vi is every bit as delicious as it was built up to be.  I literally can’t say enough about the staff, the food…everything!  The whole meal was one of the best I’ve had in the Bay Area, period.  The bistro’s numerous awards speak for themselves.

*Side note: We almost chose it as the location for our rehearsal dinner.

Sadly, I didn’t take a single photo of the wine.  I guess that means we will have to go back!