Vertical Wine Bistro: No well drinks

Note to distributors: If your blockbuster's producer wants a bottle of Krug, just say yes.

In 1984, after "The Terminator" made $72 million for Orion Pictures, studio principals Eric Pleskow and Arthur Krim invited producer Gale Anne Hurd and director Jim Cameron for lunch at New York's Le Cote Basque. Cameron suggested Champagne; Hurd requested Krug.

That's when "Terminator 2" slipped away. Says Hurd, "Orion said Krug was too expensive."

The waiter brought a bottle of Perrier Jouet; Hurd and Cameron brought their sequel to TriStar.

"We felt insulted," says Hurd. "We made them all this money and they're telling us we're not worth a nice bottle of Champagne."

Hurd has three kinds of Krug (Grand Cuvee, Rose, Clos de Mesnil) on the 400-bottle wine list of her new restaurant, Vertical Wine Bistro. However, she recognizes that becoming a producer/restauranteur could be its own bad bargain.

She recites the trusim: "How do you make a small fortune in the restaurant business? Start with a large one."

Of course, unlike most restauranteurs, she can afford to spend a million or so opening a restaurant; pics like the "Terminator" franchise, "Armageddon" and "Hulk" made her millions; real estate investments made her more of the same.

Still, on paper, Vertical Wine Bistro could suggest a particular kind of doom. It's all about small plates and wines by the glass, two current trends (meaning, at some point, they won't be).

However, the kiss of death would seem to be its location. Who goes to Pasadena? (Besides me. I live a few exits away, in Highland Park. However, I think it's safe to say that Hurd's colleagues are not my neighbors.)

Furthermore, Vertical is located a block or so off the outdoor mall that is Colorado Boulevard, where the most popular restaurant is the godforsaken Cheesecake Factory.

Hurd says she didn't initially intend to open a restaurant. The original idea was a wine bar; when she and her husband moved to the area in 2002, she couldn't find a place that served a decent glass of wine. "Then I realized that if I have more than one glass, I need something to eat. And if you have a kitchen, it has to be a certain size for health codes. And then you need a dining room to justify the kitchen."

So Vertical's ambitions kept growing. If it were a movie, the Variety headline might have read VERTICAL PLUNGES INTO FOLLY.

Only that hasn't happened. On a Tuesday, Vertical's sixth night in business, the place is full. There's been no advertising, unless you count the Vertical logo projected on the sidewalk out front; the publicist hasn't even sent out a release. And they aren't wrong.

Still, Hurd isn't necessarily counting on the support of her Westside pals.

"They came out here for my birthday," she says. "There was free wine and food."

FOOD The menu's opening declaration is a little precious: "tapas style dishes created for the wine with seasonal ingredients to enhance the wine experience." Yada yada yikes. It's also damning with faint praise; at this point, every restaurant short of Denny's claims tapas style.

The fact is chef Sara Levine (ex-Lucques, Opus, Zax) did a great job. Charcuterie and California cheese plates are present and accounted for, but more interesting are the foie gras confit, chickpea-parmesan fritters and mushroom arancini, a "fall fruit salad" (fresh figs, dates, goat cheese, arugula) and a plate of oversized shrimp. These were seasoned with capers, shaved fennel and pinenuts, but best of all they tasted like shrimp, instead of overfarmed, briny cotton. Also good: a very creamy polenta topped with sauteed kale, and thin slices of acorn squash sauteed with chiles and mint -- food so simple it leaves no room to screw up.

MOST EXPENSIVE The shrimp and the foie gras confit, each at $17. Seventeen bucks is a lot for four shrimp, but the flavors were good enough to keep people from crying ripoff. However, if the quality were to falter, that's what it would be.
LEAST EXPENSIVE Squash and polenta, sides (although I'm not sure how small plates have sides) priced at $7.50.

WINE The 400-bottle wine list, prepared by sommelier Michael Farwell, is a good read; it favors small producers and fair markups. (Row Eleven's 2005 "Vinas 3" Pinot Noir retails for $17; here, it's $35. And a 2004 Williams Selyem Russian River Chardonnay sells for around $77; at Vertical, it's $85.)

However, most people are going to get excited about the extensive (and for Vertical, profitable) program of wine flights. Vertical currently offers 22, with another five still to come. They include the standards (Chardonnay, and Pinot Grigio, California and New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, Sonoma and Oregon Pinot Noirs), but there's also trios of Sancerres, Albarino/Verdelho and "Great California Cabernets" -- Ramey "Larkmead," Joseph Phelps "Insignia" and Caymus "Special Select." (At $79 for a 2.5-oz. taste of each, it's priced accordingly.) All flight wines are available by the glass, for a total of 70 or so.

MOST EXPENSIVE For the wines, a glass of Caymus "Special Select" runs $75; a bottle of another Cabernet Sauvignon, Paul Hobbs' Stagecoach Vineyards, is $300. For the Champagnes, a glass of Bollinger Cuvee is $20. And then there's a bottle of that Krug Clos de Mesnil for $1,200. (No, Perrier Jouet is not on the list.)
LEAST EXPENSIVE There's a lot of wines for $7 a glass, including a Gieson Sauvignon Blanc, Bogle Chardonnay, Twisted Oak Verdeho, McManis Family Syrah and an Onix Vinicola de Priorat from Spain's Penedes region. Plenty of $28 bottles, too, including Rhone varietals (Domaine les Goubert, Bastide Rhodares), California Zinfandels (Lava Cap, Four Vines) and Spanish reds like Protocolo's Tinto and a Borsao from Campo de Borja.

Vertical Wine Bistro
70 N. Raymond Ave.
Pasadena, CA
(626) 795-3999

Comments

[wineguy]

These mark ups on the high end wines are a bit absurd! $1200 bucks for a bottle of Krug that retails for about $575, puuuuhlease! Come down to earth, baby! And Caymus Special Select retails for about $120, so at $80 bucks a glass, well, you do the math.... Good luck, Gail! While I love my wine, I'll taste at places where they are not trying to rape my wallet.

[Doug]

I'm seeing small plate menus pop up all over NYC. They're great for business. The dishes are typically simple to prepare, cutting down on overhead. Guests usually come in groups and order many of these small plates - each of which is priced at a premium (eg $4.25/shrimp).

This 'trend' is here to stay, especially in high end bars/wine bars where the majority of the income is driven through the sale of wine and spirits.

[Dana Harris]

Yeah, it's a brilliant ploy -- a small plate means you can convince yourself to have "just one" with a drink and suddenly it's $150 later.

[Jarred]

who ever said they don't have well drinks. they actual have a happy hour.