The Fine Tuning of Enotria (and Friends)

April 25, 2013 at 8:29 pm · Filed under Live Music, Restaurants, Uptown, Wine Bars and tagged: Clemon Charles, Enotria Restaurant & Wine Bar

Enotria’s Renovated Courtyard Patio

Sometimes, when we don’t know what to expect from a certain situation, it can be a little unnerving. But if we always gave into those feelings of uncertainty, we’d miss out on a lot of little adventures that lay in wait.

Who knew what to expect from Enotria Restaurant and Wine Bar’s recent renovations? I thought it was just a patio revamp, and that would have been good enough for me. But alas, Enotria had grander plans than I had envisioned.

In the late 90s one of Sacramento’s finest restaurants and wine bars began helping to revitalize the ‘Uptown’ area of North Sacramento by setting up kitchen along Del Paso Blvd (once historic Route 40). Later, they expanded their wine tasting services to encompass an old Swanson’s Cleaners on the corner of Del Paso Blvd. and Arden Way, a door or two down from the restaurant. There was a separate entrance to the restaurant and bar on Del Paso and another for the wine tasting room that juts out toward Arden Way.

Having been curious about the renovation for quite some time, it was the melodious voice of local singer/songwriter Clemon Charles (and talented sidekick Wayne H. Sheats) that finally pulled us out and about Uptown last Saturday evening. So with friends in tow we walked in through the new entrance at the convergence of Del Paso and Arden Way to the sleek new wine bar, where we were greeted warmly and given a brief tour of the new space.

Walking through the bar area, we could see the extensive patio to the right, but kept on going straight, all the way to the back. I was surprised to see that what once was the entire restaurant and bar is now simply a quiet, secluded dining room. (The old bar looked to have been absorbed by an open-style kitchen area). Patrons were nestled at their tables and in booths enjoying fine contemporary California cuisine dining. Later, I discovered the clean, classy (and well-stocked) Ladies’ Room, a fitting respite for the fair maiden in want of powdering her nose.

Finally we reached our destination, entering the spacious but welcoming courtyard patio and getting comfortable at a lounge-y table facing the musical duo. We chose a nice balanced white wine from Argentina (perfect for a warm spring evening), sampled the Happy Hour menu (warm Marcona almonds, olive medley and the fanciest grille cheese we’d ever eaten), and listened to some soothing but surprisingly hip music in a let-go-of-all-your-troubles kind of way.

I highly recommend it.

http://www.Enotria.com

https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/clemon.charles?fref=ts

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