Food Everybody Likes: Would you like dinner with your drink?

I love coffeehouses and wineries. Whenever I'm in a coffeehouse, I get the urge to pontificate about history, politics, religion, philosophy, literature...it's like just smelling the coffee in the air automatically makes one more intellectual. Or trying to be intellectual, anyways! In a winery, looking out at a gorgeous view of the vineyard, I can just relax, take a deep breath, and enjoy the finer things in life.

However, coffeehouses and wineries don't always have incredible food. Here are a couple of places that combine the best of both worlds: amazing food and special drinks. These restaurants are definitely not places where you can just order water with your meal.

Uncorked Wine Bar, West Hartford: http://www.uncorkedct.com/

The food (and drink): This is high cuisine at its finest. For dinner, I had the parmesan encrusted organic French chicken. It was arranged beautifully on the plate, the chicken on top of a delicious polenta and topped with glazed carrots. Around all of it was a gravy-like veloute sauce. The chicken was cooked perfectly, and my favorite part of it was the parmesan skin. I felt like this was a dish you would find on Next Food Network Star or Chopped! Kevin had the roast leg of duck, with haricots vert (fancy small green beans). The wine was paired well with the meals as well. My favorite tasting was a red wine from Italy. I always used to like white wine better than red, but I think that's because I usually have local (CT and Finger Lakes, NY) wines. White wines are more suited for cold regions like these. Trying the Italian red wine, though, made me think that I had just never had a good enough red wine before! Finally, we ended the meal with a decadent dessert: chocolate lava cake. It was like a brownie, but more moist and filled in the middle with molten chocolate sauce--a chocoholic's dream.

The vibe: It was a small, fairly intimate restaurant, with a chic bar area and a sit-down restaurant area. It was modern and "cool," and I was very impressed by the attentive service. This restaurant is definitely a classy addition to West Hartford Center.

The value: Although expensive, we got a great deal from LivingSocial. In addition, most of the wine tastings range from $2-$10 for one oz., so you can try a few different wines at affordable prices.

Go for: A romantic date!


Tisane Euro-Asian Cafe, Hartford: www.mytisane.com/

The food (and drinks): This cafe features a fusion of Asian and European flavors, as well as an extensive and exotic tea and coffee list. They have a variety of flatbreads, burgers, and noodle bowls. I've had their Pad Thai, which is perhaps not as authentic as at a Thai restaurant, but just as tasty. The real stars here, though, are the drinks. They have all kinds of tea, easily organized and classified on their menu: black, white, green, oolong, rooibos, herbal. The tea comes in your own personal teapot and stays warm for your whole meal. My favorite is the spicy masala chai.

The vibe: Very bohemian and artsy.

The value: The tea is a great value, and the meals are less expensive than most regular restaurants in the area but more expensive than usual for cafes. Tisane is part of Taste of Hartford so go this week if you can!

Go for: Meetup with friends or downtime on your own with a good book