Perched upon the concrete waterslide of Bankers Hill sits a dining sanctuary where the lights are dimmed low and the sangrias flow. Come to Wet Stone Wine Bar for a dining experience handcrafted with the utmost attention to detail.
I slipped into the restaurant just in time to escape irreversible hearing damage from a Boeing 737 landing overhead. Once inside, the clamor of urban madness faded into the cozy solace of modern bossa nova music and relaxed conversation. The room glowed faintly with entirely natural lighting as intimate candles flickered against various abstract paintings around the room like some kind of Bohemian power outage shelter. Various wine bottles were decoratively stuck into the walls, giving the impression that perhaps even the building was a wino.
My girlfriend and I arrived during the 5 to 7 p.m. happy hour, and we immediately set to work on making the most out of the $2 sangria discount. Without delay, we tried the tropical white and stone fruit red sangrias, both of which were dangerously flavorful. The presentation was fantastic as well, each garnished with fruit, mint and a lengthy cinnamon stick. It was almost too aesthetic to drink, like the Mona Lisa with a straw stuck in her head.
For our first dish, we ordered the quesadilla do guayaba, consisting of three different Mexican cheeses, guava paste and crema fresca garnished with charred scallions. It had a kind of texture I hadn’t experienced before in a quesadilla—rather than the cheese being soupy and overly melted, it had a very nice and crumbly consistency similar to that of goat cheese.
Shortly thereafter were the pork belly crostinis braised with fennel slaw, Aji amarillo aioli and pickled red onions. My girlfriend found the dish flavorful, but somewhat awkward to eat because of its artsy presentation.
The next course was the ahi tuna tartare served with fresh avocado, Peruvian chiles, red onion and cilantro served with toastprints, (toastprint is foodie speak for “small piece of toast”). As I sunk my teeth into it, I could help but let out an uncontrollable moan that quickly made the neighboring table uncomfortable. C’est la vie. The quality of the fish was incredible. Aside from the aspects that make any piece of ahi tuna amazing, it had that melt-in-your-mouth texture accompanied by a powerful spiciness that contributed to the flavor without the consequential sinus pain.
Finally, there was the mango salad with goat cheese, caramelized walnuts and red wine shallot vinaigrette, and the smoked salmon crostini with fresh mozzarella, dill fronds and chives. Both dishes were superb—not in a seemingly-biased-restaurant-review kind of way, but in a sincere, “this place is just really damn good” way.
Proprietor and chef Christian Gomez opened up Wet Stone Wine Bar in January 2008, basing it on both his various experiences throughout the last 20 years in the restaurant business and his own tastes as a foodie and oenophile.
“We offer globally inspired small plates and an esoteric wine list in a contemporary, elegantly designed space,” Gomez said. “It’s not just about putting things on a plate and slapping it on (the table). It’s really an arrangement, it’s a feeling, it’s a texture, it’s a color. It’s about the altogether presentation.”
“Having lived in Venice Beach for quite a while I was also very into design, and I still am, and so I decided I would make a special kind of conclave so to speak, elementally designed using wood, steel, concrete and stone,” Gomez said. “And so after putting all of those things together between food, drink and ambience, it has really been a fantastic experience for me.”
Our hostess, Gentry Faulkner, described the restaurant as “very ambient, very intimate—a great place to bring a date.” I fully agree in that it would be a great spot for dinner with someone you’ve just met, or even someone you’ve known for many years.
“Friday nights, though, we get a bit more lively,” Faulkner said. “We’ll have handcrafted sangria pouring out the walls. You can get a really different feel from one night to the next.”
Waiting for the check, we washed everything down with more delicious sangria, just for good measure. The total came out to about $70, which was certainly reasonable when you factor in both the quality of the meal and the ambience, for which comfortable is an understatement. We stepped out the door satisfied, sure to soon pass through it once again… but not without a flashlight.
Photos courtesy of Wet Stone Wine Bar.
