Blend

We so glad to get to see a wine bar in downtown.  Blend has a great atmosphere and a staff that knows and appreciates wine.  What makes Blend truly special is the food...   The new chef is inventive and loves to experiment.   The menu focuses on local, updates every day and we love it all.   Standouts are the short ribs with peaches glacé  - heavenly, the  BBQ shrimp and the desserts.
Great spot for after work of for an event (the upstairs space is really nice)
With food this good, I wish they were open for lunch.

I went to Blend on a Friday night for my friend's birthday party. It was great-- the atmosphere, locations, and prices were just right! We were a group of 5, and got excellent service. The waiter was attentive (though a bit surly!) and took good care of us. We ordered wine, cocktails, and shared a few cheese plates. The cheese plate the birthday girl and I shared was delicious and actually better than any I've had in Napa, California or elsewhere! My gin martini was spot on, and the wine flights my friends had were reportedly wonderful. We also ordered dessert, which was great. The chocolate torte was the best, followed by the bread pudding. The birthday girl ordered the smores which she didn't end up liking, but the owner of Blend paid a visit to our table and took her suggestions for improving the dessert. He also brought us a free champagne toast! He was very sociable and nice to talk to, and that made our visit even more special. I really appreciated him taking time to speak with us.
I can't wait to try the roasted cauliflower dish and some more of the special cocktails! Looking forward to my next visit-- great location and decent prices with fantastic food and drinks.

The ambiance is 5 stars, love the loft like feeling and the upstairs area is great. The rustic wooden tables are perfect and it is spacious yet cozy at the same time.

Cannot say a lot about the food, because we simply noshed on some cheese and fruits with our wine. While the cheese itself was pretty good, the pairing with our wines was awful! We had 2 separate tables going because of the number of people and we felt like our table kept getting ignored for service for some reason, while the other table had perfect service! It was the same server and every time she just bypassed our table.. maybe she found us smelly??!!
Anyways, so she paired the absolute wrong cheese with our wine and I did not like having any of it. The cocktails were nice (when they finally made their way to our table - having sat ignored by the bartender for a while)!

Since I was with a bunch of people from work, I did not mind as much since we were busy talking - and i would still like to go back, only expect better service!

I am giving the place 3 stars because I loved the ambiance, and the wine (though awful with the cheese), was really really good..!