How to go
What: The Wise Owl Wine, Bar & Tapas
When: 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday; closed Sunday and Monday except for private parties; open the last Monday of each month for service industry clientele night
Where: 6206 Muhlhauser Road, West Chester
Cost: Wine — glass $7 - $23, bottle $18 - $400; Tapas (small plate menu) everything is $12.50 or under, Empanadas $8, Nutella Pistachio Pepper Finger Sandwich $3.50; they also sell wine, retail, out the door
More info: (513) 889-2500; reservations recommended, catering and small (20- 50), intimate sit-down formal dinners & cocktail parties available
Critic's choice: Flight of Buckeyes dessert paired with four light to full-bodied wine tastings, Smoked Chicken Pate served over Toasted French Baguette and Homemade Barbecue Sauce, Buffalo Chicken Empanadas, Moscato D' Asti (Italian white sweet wine)
WEST CHESTER TWP. — The Wise Owl Wine, Bar & Tapas in West Chester is one of a kind.
It’s more than a bar.
It’s more than its Tapas menu.
It’s more than the sum of its parts. It’s an experience that guests will remember.
This small, dimly lit restaurant is all about flavors — infusing flavors into food and pairing the right wine with the right food for the clientele’s palate.
And it’s all personalized by a warm and caring staff, according to new manager Jonathan Howard, who’s better known as J.T.
For example, one of the unique desserts on the Tapas (Spanish for little plate) menu is called Flight of Buckeyes.
“Everybody does truffles or something like that, and we wanted something different. Chef Michael Yearms came to me with the buckeye idea. At first, I didn’t think it would work, but it’s a hit,” said Howard, who ran the bar at Mesh for three years and worked with Paul Sturkey for six years.
The Flight of Buckeyes comes in four different flavors.
“My favorite is the cashew and cognac infused with white chocolate, and tuxedoed,” Howard said. “Then I pair it with a sparkling white wine, like Prosecco.”
To get the full experience, Howard added: “After you take a bite of buckeye, take another bite, and then take a sip of (the paired) wine. And then watch what happens. You’ll taste things with the second bite that you didn’t taste with the first bite. Each buckeye is paired with a different wine to extract the flavor of the buckeye. That’s what it’s all about.”
Chef Michael Yearms has added a few more things to the Wise Owl Tapas menu.
He’s added two kinds of empanadas, which is the Tapas menu’s signature dish — and now the favorite pick among the clientele, according to Chef Yearms.
“Chef Michael Yearms is Italian, and he’s added an Italian and Spanish flair to the Tapas food,” Howard said. “The empanadas are like little nuggets of love. They’re phenomenal.”
The Tapas, or small plates of food, encourage clientele to eat several different foods and flavors with several different paired wines. Clientele get smaller portions but a lot of different flavors.
For example, Howard suggested clientele could start with the popular Smoked Chicken Pate served over a sliced, fresh roasted French baguette.
“It’s a cold side that goes well with a red Zinfandel. Then clientele — we never call people customers — would follow up with Wild Mushroom on Bruchetta and pair that with Tempranillo.”
The inviting Tapas plates are relatively inexpensive, ranging from $3.50 to $12.50 for each one.
Everything on the Tapas menu is fresh and made in-house, except for the cheese. Many ingredients are also grown locally. Basil is even growing in a container outside of the restaurant, waiting to be plucked and transferred to a very fresh Caprese salad.
“We want to focus on getting things from local farmers from West Chester. We want to support the community,” Howard said.
The Tapas menu appears to be somewhat limited, but Chef Yearms has asked anyone to challenge him with a dish and he’ll do it.
On the other hand, The Wine List is extensive, with 200 varieties of bottled wine, ranging from $23 a bottle to $400. The most popular wines are from California and Spain.
“When I go out to eat, I want an experience. I want someone to help me order when I need it, and someone with a genuine heart. And that’s what you get here,” Howard said.
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