The World on a Plate
April 2008
The Wine Press
The sensuous pleasures of Mrs K’s winecellar
by Sara Wald
Europe seems more distant than ever, as the dollar weakens to the Euro with each passing day. Lucky for us, The Wine Press, a million-dollar-plus basement renovation of Mrs. K’s Toll House Restaurant on Colesville Road, encapsulates all the charm, romance, and haute cuisine of a European getaway — and we don’t even have to leave Silver Spring.
Vintage brick floors and walls, wooden beams, and antique ironwork adorn the 3,600-square-foot basement, reminiscent of an English castle cellar. True to the restaurant’s name, an antique wine press, rescued from Kansas by the general manager and wine director, Spiro Gioldasis, is a focal point alongside a burbling stone fountain and a stone-topped bar. Candlelit tables are positioned wisely in private nooks, creating intimacy for diners.
And the wine! Bottled spirits are displayed proudly wall to wall as well as stored away in a temperature-controlled, gated storage cellar. The Wine Press offers 600 international wine labels and 60 wines by the glass.
Before the wining and dining even began, our eyes were indulged. Trish, a warm and knowledgeable bartender, became an impromptu tour guide to our culinary journey, recommending wines and pairings. She encouraged us to start with the lighter wines and work our way to the heavier ones.
Per her suggestion, we began with a 2005/2006 Bordeaux from Château La Mothe Du Barry ($7.25 per glass). It was light and refreshing with undertones of pineapple. As Trish explained, the taste is “there and then it’s gone.” It paired nicely with the artisan cheese platter ($16) from the tapas-style small plates menu. The platter featured four varieties: Capoule (a goat cheese from Vermont), Green Hill (a cow’s milk cheese from Georgia), Tarentaise (an aged alpine raw milk organic cheese from Vermont), and St. Pete’s blue cheese (from Minnesota).
We moved on to a Riesling from Firestone Vineyards ($7 per glass). This wine was sweet with notes of tropical fruit and honeysuckle. With the Riesling, we chose three different seafood small plates: seared jumbo scallops ($10), a jumbo lump crab cake ($14), and seafood ceviche ($12).
Just like any trip, a culinary journey has its ups and downs. For us, the meal peaked with the crab cake — succulent, no-filler lump crab with crispy breading. The ceviche was another high point, fresh and citrusy and not at all puckeringly overpowering, like some ceviches can be. The scallops were the low point. While seared crisp on the outside, on the inside they were mushy and bland, not silky and sweet as they should be.
The shift from white wine to red was made easy by a 2004 Pinot Noir from Bogle Vineyards ($11.25 per glass) — a light red wine with currant undertones. The portabello mushroom with blue cheese ($8) that accompanied the Pinot Noir, was pleasantly delicious: meaty, tender, and slightly earthy.
Our journey ended with the heaviest wine of the four: a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Calistoga Estate in Napa Valley ($10.25) that was so rich you could taste the grapes. Unlike the Bordeaux we had earlier in the meal that cut off abruptly, the Cabernet’s taste lingered in your mouth after each sip.
The soup of the day, a Maryland crab soup, was tasty but not particularly memorable.
At The Wine Press, the small plates menu offerings paired with a stellar selection of wines is a recipe for success. First and foremost, come here for the wine. As with Mrs. K’s upstairs, the small plate menu focuses on reliable classics rather than gastronomical innovations. You won’t be dazzled with culinary genius, but you certainly won’t be let down.
Second, come for the romance. It’s hard not to be starry-eyed in this candlelit castle cellar that seems to jump right off the pages of a fairy-tale novel.
And last, come here to get away from it all. Why travel across the world when a piece of Europe is in your own backyard?
The Wine Press at Mrs. K's
9201 Colesville Rd.
Silver Spring, Maryland
301-589-3500
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