"So how long have you guys been open?" I asked Heather Van Doom, owner of Starlight Wine Bar. "Oh, about three and a half years." she replied. I was surprised that this little gem has been hiding here so long and I had no idea. And when I say hiding, I really mean hiding. The restaurant is located in a train car, located in a building, located in the Gravenstein shopping center near Coffee Catz. My first attempted at finding this eatery had me walk right by without noticing.
The good news is, once inside, ambiance, nostalgia and great cooking take over. This is the kind of place where you'd picture people sipping martinis, cigarette smoke clouding the air and Sinatra buzzing away softly out of a jukebox. Unfortunately, they lack a liquor license, smoking has been banned in California restaurants for quite sometime and I didn't see a jukebox (but there was some good music playing).
The best way to describe the menu would be seasonal, Californian paired with a little New Orleans flair. They also offer an early bird special which consists of an app, entree and dessert for only $25. My wife went this route, while I started with the mussels and then moved onto the gumbo.
The savory, corn beignes were the first to show up. We each grabbed one of these hot, corned filled little donuts and gave them a red aioli bath. They were perfectly crisp on the outside and once you bit into one, the corn filling provided a nice, unexpected contrast (**** out of *****). As we each polished off the first beignes the mussels arrived, soaking in a pool of spicy, red broth. The mussels were nice and plump, not over cooked and the sauce had a kick to it (some tomatoes, red pepper coulis, maybe a bit of saffron and garlic), perfect for submerging bread in ($15, **** out of *****).The next two dishes were a showcase for chef Thaddeus Palmese and his New Orleans roots- BBQ Shrimp and Gumbo. The beautifully butterflied, tail on shrimp were swimming in a buttery, Worcestershire sauce. The only problem I had was I couldn't get the tails off fast enough. (****). Knowing the chef had done time in some big name restaurants (Emril's Delmonico being one of them) I had faith the gumbo would not be a let down. I was right. The roux was a nice, dark brown and the dish as a whole warmed you from head to toe the way a good scotch does. Shrimp, chicken and andouille sausage filled out the dish, along with white rice on top. If I wasn't so damn full at this point I would have ordered another bowl of this okra-file-roux masterpiece. (*****).
My wifes dessert course was next. When we ordered, we were told that it was a peach cobbler with a cream cheese ice cream. What showed up instead was another classic. One which I wouldn't have traded for anything peach related. Bananas Foster. For the record, I don't like desserts or sweets, but this was one of the best sugar laden things I've eaten in recent memory (****). Cinamon, bananas, sugar, banana liqour and ice cream all melted together in a neat bowl... a diabetic nightmare? Maybe. A perfect way to end a great dining experience? Hell yes.
So if you're like me and you haven't heard about this hidden culinary treasure, get out your gps immediately and set a course for Starlight Wine Bar.
