Mar 11 2008
Water Street Wines
Saturday night Seth and Crystal and my dear wife and I spontaneously dropped out for a drink. I’d found out about a week ago about Water Street Wines, Cafe and Coffee from another local blog.
The place is in the former Big Easy Cafe location, around the corner from Rhodell’s and next to Rizzi’s on State, across the way from WTVP. It’s owned by the same owners as the Mackinaw Valley Vineyard, and should be a good investment for them to get their wines better known in the area. Between us all we tried seven different wines, and TC and I left with a bottle of Alexander’s Conquest, a lovely full-bodied red that I’m looking forward to popping open the next time we have a heavy beef meal. We also shared a piece of their Italian Cream Cake that was just fantastic to eat, especially on the heels of the flight of white wines, before starting into the reds. Seth and Crystal had a scone and I heard no complaints.
Because we were the only table there for a while, the manager spent a good deal of time talking with us and we got the whole story. The place hasn’t been opened long, and I’m pretty sure we’ll become regulars there before too long. Like many of the places on the river, they’ve used the warehouse architecture for their benefit, rather than covering up what used to be there. They have a couple of private rooms that could be used for meetings or parties (small ones). I’ve added them to my Peoria Links section of the sidebar and we will certainly be back!
That sounds like a great place. I don’t know if I’m more jealous that you have neat cafes like that or the fact that you could just “spontaneously drop out for a drink.” Live-in babysitters must be nice.
Seriously, this post made me want to explore our own city more. Who knows- maybe we’ll find someplace spiffy, too.
I don’t know if Erie has much like this–its development has been very different than Peoria’s of late at least.
And yes, live in baby-sitters ROCK. Not without their complicating factors. Of course if you lived in our neighborhood we’d find a way to share.
I do hope you find some small, locally owned places in Erie to enjoy that Nick Scott hasn’t run out of business, though. Two of my most favorite restaurants in the world are in Erie: Marketplace Grill and Pufferbelly. Sullivans (3rd and French I think) is also a nice place for lunch, and if the Plymouth Tavern is still open it’s kind of fun, though very noisy on most nights. Quiet place for lunch, though, most days.