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Sonoma Cellar - Wine Tasting Bar Downstairs and American Cuisine Upstairs - King Street in Old Town Alexandria


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Sonoma Cellar (website) has recently opened up in Old Town Alexandria at 207 King Street

The downstairs is a wine tasting bar and the upstairs is a restaurant (the kitchen is part way upstairs and you pass on your way up)

They had just been opened a week when we went there and I'll take that into consideration.  The owners and chef are very enthusiastic about the new place and that energy shows.

The wine menu is divided up into standard and select, you can order 5 one oz pour flights or a two ounce tasting pour or a glass of any of the wines.  We each had a flight and you can pick which of the wines you want in your flight.

All was average, and hopefully they will improve to good in the future.  Wines were pretty middle of the road, food needs to even out, staffing is still learning.  Tables are very close together and the accoustics make it so you can hear every table (we actually joined in conversations with everyone else there)

We started with the Brie and Fig Jam Crostini which was yummy, I had the Beef Estouffade which parts of the beef were dry and parts were good, the noodles also had parts that were under and over cooked, sweetie had the Petaluma Chicken au Jus which was okay but nothing special.  Next table had pork chop that was to dry but enjoyed their Bodega bay Shrimp (and were amazed with their spaghetti-cut zucchini and I told them they can often buy them pre-cut at Whole Foods).  The dessert wines and the Lavender Crème Brí»lée were the high spot - very smooth with a lavender taste that was not overpowering.

OverAll we left feeling 'meh' as there is so much better in the area, but maybe a good lunch spot to take a break when we have someone there as a tourist or someone really wants to do some wine tasting of california wines.

Grandma review:  Nope - restaurant is upstairs and stairs up to restaurant so not an option for her, the wine tasting is all at tall stools/tables/bar so not an option either.

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Report from my boss who stopped in last night:  beautiful room, service fine for taking care of the table but the server is not knowledgeable of the wines, food wasn't tasty (he got fish tacos and said they were bad but not spoiled bad).

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Stopped in here today after lunch with my gf.  She ordered a glass of chardonnay and I ordered a tasting of one ounce servings of five different wines.  Sparkling, chardonnay, riesling, pinot noir and one other white I cannot remember.   (Actually none of them were  memorable!) $15 for five one ounce pours.  You decide the value.  All five pours were served in the same glass without it being rinsed! 

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Went last night, they had half price bottles, but when we picked one out they opened it and it wasn't chilled (they should really keep a bottle of the whites chilled so if someone gets a whole bottle...) Especially since their bottle prices aren't cheap.  The wine was good and I thought fairly priced at half price, I wouldn't pay the tag amount for it there.  We had the brie crositini which was three long pieces of baquette, brie with fig jam, shredded apple and dried cranberries.  It was really tasty.  We also had the charcuterie plate, which was fine, it didn't have anything that I hadn't had before but was nice for happy hour with people, it was a fair portion for the price.  It was a little breezy so we didn't sit in the garden, but it looked nice.

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Sonoma Cellar just revamped their menu a bit, we went last night for a board dinner and were really happy.  I got the sunset salad with beets, kale, carrots lightly dressed.  There was a bit of guacamole on each side, which seems like an odd combination, but it worked really well.  I got it with the panko chicken, which made it more than enough for an entree size, it could be a small entree salad without the chicken.  Their menu is getting to be so good, I am wishing they were open for lunch.  I heard good reports on their other salads, tartine and fish tacos which all looked really good.  I also sampled a good bit of the cheese and charcuterie plate, which was nicely varied, as well.  The Humboldt Fog cheese being my favorite, but I liked the other selections.  Certainly there are better charcuterie and cheese plates in the area (especially by people who make their own really good charcuterie), but this wasn't bad at all and I would get it again for a happy hour.  

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