Forget comfort or ambience: Focus on the wine
SOMERVILLE -- You could make a game out of guessing all the items of comfort and convenience that you have to do without at Z Wine Bar, a skinny little room next to the Abbey Lounge.
The place has no telephone, remains closed three nights of the week, and in the frozen heart of winter, gives you nowhere to store your coat and hat. The tables are bare of tablecloths, never mind votives. Seating is scarce; come when it's busy and you will have to sit at the bar or at one of the high tables on an uncomfortable stool. There is one stressed-out waitress.
The menu, in its attempt to imitate the small, casual wine bars of Italy, lists a handful of cold appetizers, bruschetta, sandwiches, desserts, and 30 Italian wines, most available by the glass. And that's it.
Some people appreciate this kind of stripped-down dining as a devil-may-care, inexpensive night out, and it's hard to ignore any place where four people can eat well, if not lavishly, on $80. The room, done up in red from the velvet curtains at the door to the pendant lights over the bar, has a collegiate hangout vibe, with walls covered in white spackling and those narrow mirrors of the kind that we once hung on our dorm room doors. Spaced-out lounge music plays on the sound system, and groups of 20-something women populate the tables.
We sat down at 8 p.m. and finally paid the tab at 11, a long time to perch on a backless stool. It's hard to pin down whether the problem is the small kitchen, which can handle only so many orders at a time, or the waitress, who manages 10 or so tables while doubling as bartender. In any case it was so long between placing our orders and getting the food that we sometimes forgot what we asked for.
But Z Wine Bar is oddly comforting, and there is little wrong with the food. An antipasto plate proved a satisfying assembly of mozzarella, sopressata, salami, roasted peppers, marinated olives, and artichoke hearts. A bowl of marinated olives mixed sharp, meaty green ones with mellower black ones. But a melon and prosciutto plate gave us dried-out prosciutto that tasted bland and uncured.
We could have done cartwheels for the meatballs in a panini with a tomato "gravy" and mozzarella; the ground beef comes from the grass-fed Angus cows of River Rock Farm in Westport. But the top slice of bread was nothing but crust, and it sat like a fat hat on top of the meatballs. "This isn't a sandwich, it's Stonehenge," one Saucier complained. He pushed the bread aside and tore into the meatballs. A companion felt shortchanged by her sardine, tomato, and arugula sandwich, which was thick and pleasantly salty but not grilled as advertised.
The bruschetta, tiny rounds of toasted bread coated with winning combinations, were addictive and prompted multiple orders. We couldn't get enough of the sweet, succulent pear, romano, and honey version or a simple basil pesto that offered a fresh, green taste.
We could also make a habit of the vodka tonics and gin martinis with extra olives, but would hate to miss out on the pleasure of pairing wines with snacks. Helpfully, the list of Chiantis, Valpolicellas, Piedmonts, and Italian chardonnays is organized by density of flavor, from light to full-bodied. Wine arrives in small glass decanters that hold a generous single pour. It's the one undeniable luxury.
Z Wine Bar 1 Beacon St., Somerville. (No telephone.)
