Vin Antico

4.5 stars.  Excellent experience all around.  I feel like I've stumbled upon some of the best food in Marin!  We will be back.  Frequently.

We snuck away for a last minute date night, and were able to get a same-day reservation at Vin Antico on <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2FUrbanspoon.com&s=92552da7d8b414b784e63328b4f847df61ab77858e529d2892a8ece0dd097c4a" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://Urbanspoon.com</a>.  I hadn't been here before, but walked by it recently and thought it looked really warm and inviting.  Isn't it great when a random restaurant pick turns out to be an unexpectedly incredible experience?  We arrived a little early for our reservation, and though the small space was quite full, our table was made available in just a few minutes.  The look and feel of this restaurant is very welcoming.  It feels cozy, like you want to sink into your seat and stay there a long, long time.  The hostess was very nice, as was the bartender, and once we were seated our friendly server greeted us immediately.  High end service from start to finish at Vin Antico.  Water was refreshed quickly, the appropriate flatware brought as needed, just the right amount of checking in to make sure things were satisfactory.  

We ordered the bean escabeche with flatbread to start.  Delicious.  Absolutely perfect.  Then came the entrees.  Air chilled chicken for me.  I don't know what air chilled chicken actually means, and was wondering if it would be served cold, but it was warm, served alongside some tender potatoes and the most mouth-watering sauce.  My husband had the brown rice risotto, which he pronounced perfect, and this is from a guy who something of a risotto connoisseur.  We kept saying, "I didn't expect the food to be THIS good!."  To finish, we ordered the chocolate cake with salted caramel sauce and coffee gelato.  Where do I start?  The flavor of the sauce and the coffee smell of the gelato were absolutely to die for.  I wanted to lick my plate.  Our bill for a glass of wine, an appetizer, two entrees and dessert was approximately $65, which I thought was a bargain considering the very high level of food quality and service.

I just wish that I'd discovered Vin Antico sooner.  I think it's going to be my new favorite restaurant.

Ambiance warm and inviting.

This is a wine bar, and I believe the first order of business is to impress your customers, not the opposite. The wine pour was pretty light, especially for a $15 glass of wine. In fact most of the glasses of wines were $12-$15 per glass. Pretty expensive, on average even for the bay area. And we weren't just being snobs. We watched another waiter bring a very healthy pour to another table...almost twice as much as our pour! When we told our server, she was either embarrassed, or copped an attitude, and said they pour 5.5 ounces. Well I saw her pour and she did not measure. Our pour was at best 3.5 -4 ounces. Then she then went and told the waiter who poured nicely for his customers, and  he turned around and looked at us. Then she mentioned this to the owner/manager, who also turned around and looked at us. Our served did bring us a little extra wine, but she seemed reticent to do that. She also stayed a distance from our table after we spoke up, and you could tell both she and the manager did not want to come over to our table.

We thought the manager was going to come over and talk to us, but she did not. It seemed the server and manager both had an attitude and would rather lose us as a customer than be really interested in our opinion (and make improvements).

The food was healthy, but average. My husband's dish of hand made fettucini with clams came with peas...not mentioned on the menu. He was surprise, and dismayed, as he really doesn't like peas. This is not really a vegetable that goes with a seafood pasta dish...or at least they could have listed this as an ingredient and my husband would not have ordered it. I had the risotto. Fairly tasty. All the menu items were fairly expensive as well...a little higher than average for similar bay area restaurants.

I did like the fries.

Between my husband and I, we have eaten at 100+ high end restaurants around the bay area. We know when price meets tastiness meets service in a perfect storm of bliss that you would return to. We will not return to this restaurant, even though we live in San Rafael.

This remains one of our favorite restaurants and we are thrilled it has reopened. New management, new executive chef, new menu, but still the same innovative style and delicious food. Locally sourced and organic whenever possible, beautifully prepared. Great ambiance, great service, intimate dining, fun to sit at the counter and watch the activity in the kitchen. Gilled artichoke appetizer is wonderful, salads are so fresh and tasty, their homemade pasta is superb. Definitely gets our vote the the best restaurant in San Rafael.