Wine & Dine: Vino Venue

When the menu is wine-friendly, I am THERE. And such is the case with Vino Venue in Dunwoody, GA—it’s a “wine and dine emporium” with all kinds of wine-inspired dishes on the menu and a fine collection of sips that would make any wine-lover “blush.” 😉 We’re talking 50-plus wines to choose from as well as bistro-style cuisine meant for sharing (hello, charcuterie!). They even offer cooking classes for aspiring chefs as well as wine classes for those wanting to step up their sommelier skills. If you’re wondering why I’m bubbling right now, it’s because I recently had the amazing opportunity to get wined AND dined myself at Vino Venue!

Thanks to fellow foodie blogger Chef Melissa (The Front Porch Gourmet), I was invited to a private tasting at Vino Venue along with a few foodie friends. Melissa is also a Chef Instructor at Vino, so we knew we’d obviously be in great hands during this experience. What I didn’t realize was how tasty each dish was going to be! Especially when paired with amazing wine. I definitely felt like I was transported to a dream world!

So, let’s get into the food featured at the private tasting. Executive Chef Patric Good and Sous Chef Will Hunt walked us through each dish and gave us some interesting info about how they developed them.

Vino Venue’s Sous Chef Will Hunt and Executive Chef Patric Good

A few sips in and we were all smiles

To Start

Appetizer samples were first to the tongue, and I knew right away if these were any indicator of the rest of the food, we were in for treat. We tried the colorful and crave-worthy Summer Salad and Heirloom Tomato & Burrata Salad, which had baby arugula, EVOO, balsamic pearls, mozzarella, sea salt, and cracked black pepper for a simple start.

Summer Salad

Heirloom Tomato & Burrata Salad

Then we moved into Smoked Salmon Rillettes (ducktrap salmon, cucumber relish, and grilled sourdough) and special Deep Fried Chicharrones that aren’t on the menu; the chef made them just for our group!! I’m not going to lie, I really, really loved the Tomato & Burrata Salad and the Smoked Salmon Rillettes were bomb! Seriously soooo good.

Smoked Salmon Rillettes

Deep Fried Chicharrones

To Share

Next up for this food adventure was the shared plates, and it’s a good thing sharing is encouraged, because these dishes were sinful! We had beer-battered Fried Green Beans complete with garlic aioli, Duck Confit Flatbread with blueberry mostarda, caramelized onions, and yummy fontina cheese, and an interesting but delicious Faux Poutine which featured steak fries covered in pulled beef short rib, demi-glace, and Irish cheddar cheese (this was my hubby’s favorite). I told you this stuff was sinful!

Fried Green Beans

Duck Confit Flatbread

Faux Poutine

We also tried the Wild Mushroom Flatbread (fontina, parmigiano reggiano, shallots, and white truffle creme fraiche) and the Roasted Piquillo Peppers which had smoky shredded adobo chicken, cotija cheese, cilantro, and cilantro cream—a scrumptious southwestern delight.

Roasted Piquillo Peppers

To Savor

Just in case you were getting full just reading about all these Vino Venue samples, just wait ‘til you see what we had next. The third round of dishes was a bit heavier than the previous plates, so buckle up. These “to savor” items were every bit bold and flavorful.

There was the Vino Venue Burger, which had certified angus beef, comeback sauce, house pickles, LTO, and applewood smoked bacon (of course). Basically it was a yummy step up from a classic bacon burger. Then we had Knife & Fork Fried Egg Sandwich, which gave the phrase “breakfast for dinner” a whole new elegant meaning! This sandy featured over-medium eggs, pimento cheese, tomato jam, pecan wood bacon, red onion, and bibb lettuce on grilled sourdough bread. Can’t you just taste that right now?!

Vino Venue Burger

Knife & Fork Fried Egg Sandwich

We also had the Ratatouille (pappardelle pasta, arugula pesto, and ricotta) as well as the Grilled Ribeye (horseradish mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, and maître d’ butter). Hubby loved both the burger and the ribeye, probably because he’s a diehard carnivore, LOL. The
Trout served over succotash was another one of my favorites, but since it was specially crafted for the tasting and not on the menu I had to savor each-deelish-bite (as if that would be a problem). 😉

Ratatouille

Grilled Ribeye

Trout

To Spoil Yourself

Ahh, yes, the desserts! You know I wouldn’t leave out the sweet treats in this recap. So, if you like fruit with your dessert, you’d love any of these options: Lavender Creme Brulee (roasted blueberries), Tres Leches Cake (fresh strawberries) or the Dark Chocolate Pot de Creme (raspberries). Don’t they all sound delicious?! I personally go coo-coo over Key Lime Pie, so VV’s with whipped mascarpone and a coconut graham crust was the ultimate end to an amazing sampling session.

Lavender Creme Brulee, Tres Leches Cake, Dark Chocolate Pot de Creme, Key Lime Pie

To Sip

I just checked my watch and it’s definitely wine o’clock! Ha… and you thought I forgot to tell you about the wine. What kind of monster do you think I am?! 😀 As we tasted, VV Manager/Partner Rob Van Leer gave us an overview of the wines that we would be sampling/pairing with the dishes, so we had a good idea of what we were getting into. Here are the sips we sampled:

• étoile Brut (Domaine Chandon)
• Gloria Ferrer Carneros Chardonnay
• Tavel Vidal-Fleury (Rosé)
• Metz Road (Pinot Noir)

VV Manager Rob Van Leer gives us the juicy deets about each sip

!Salut

Tavel Vidal-Fleury (Rosé)

When you love wine, you see the world through rosé-colored glasses and I just can’t get enough rosé lately. So I was all smiles when Rob brought the Tavel out! Needless to say, I had my fair share of the bubbly pink wine, and I’m not even the least bit sorry about it. 😛

Cheers to an uh-mazing ensemble of eats and drinks.

This entire experience at Vino Venue was absolutely wonderful. Indulging with these delicious dishes and sophisticated sips was right up my alley, and I have Chef M, Rob, and Chefs Patric and Will to thank for it. I plan on coming back very soon for a re-do, because everything was just that great! Thank you everyone again for having us and treating our palates to an uh-mazing adventure!

Be sure to visit www.vinovenue.com to preview their bistro-style menu and wine offerings or to schedule a class. Me, I’m heading back because no wine should be left behind, of course. 😉

Vino Venue is located at 4478 Chamblee Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody, GA.