4.5 stars. Â Excellent experience all around. Â I feel like I've stumbled upon some of the best food in Marin! Â We will be back. Â 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>. Â I hadn't been here before, but walked by it recently and thought it looked really warm and inviting. Â Isn't it great when a random restaurant pick turns out to be an unexpectedly incredible experience? Â 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. Â The look and feel of this restaurant is very welcoming. Â It feels cozy, like you want to sink into your seat and stay there a long, long time. Â The hostess was very nice, as was the bartender, and once we were seated our friendly server greeted us immediately. Â High end service from start to finish at Vin Antico. Â Water was refreshed quickly, the appropriate flatware brought as needed, just the right amount of checking in to make sure things were satisfactory. Â
We ordered the bean escabeche with flatbread to start. Â Delicious. Â Absolutely perfect. Â Then came the entrees. Â Air chilled chicken for me. Â 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. Â My husband had the brown rice risotto, which he pronounced perfect, and this is from a guy who something of a risotto connoisseur. Â We kept saying, "I didn't expect the food to be THIS good!." Â To finish, we ordered the chocolate cake with salted caramel sauce and coffee gelato. Â Where do I start? Â The flavor of the sauce and the coffee smell of the gelato were absolutely to die for. Â I wanted to lick my plate. Â 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. Â 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.
Review Source:Wowie-Zowie. I was there with my wife on what I believe was their first lunch opening. One of the best meals we've had in awhile. The staff was friendly and helpful. we had salad with Halibut . Big Yum. The dessert was just as wonderful. Thank you for coming back to San Rafael. Blues in the background-a great touch
Review Source:I really wanted to like this place.
Being new in town, I like looking for 'pretty places' to see and be seen on the weekends. It's part of my inner urban diva, damnit. I'm very often (more often than not, really) fine with dive bars and such but sometimes it's just...date night. And I was wearing a dress. With sweet cleavage and a cool new necklace. Hello. I lived in Florida. I bring out the cleavage from time to time. I'm allowed.
So...we were on said date night and driving by this glittery-warm-beautifully-lit place and I said 'Now THERE'S the kind of place I'd like to go right now.' Patrick was into it, too. So we parked and went immediately in. It wasn't terribly late (we'd just seen a movie) and there was ample time for a snack and a drink. In other words: kitchens and bars were open
We pulled up to the bar and sat down. The bartender saw us because she gave us menus, but then she never came back. We just sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. We even saw her standing talking to someone near the open kitchen. Who knows. Maybe there was a reason.
Whatever it was, we were over it. It's annoying to be ignored. I can go home and pour my own wine, I go out for the experience. So we walked out. And went next door to the friendly, family-owned Napoli. It was not as 'sexy' in terms of ambiance but at least we weren't ignored. And I can guarantee you that the delightful Rombauer chardonnay I had was just as good as next door. The service is what made all the difference.
If you want to have an amazing evening out, this is the place to go. Naomi and her warm and welcoming smile greets you at the door. Â Weather you sit and dine at a table or sit at the bar, the staff delivers great customer service. My first experience I ordered the Kale salad, which was out of this world. Â I moved on to the Pork Chop, YUM is all I can say. Â On my second visit, I decided to sit at the bar. Â It was very entertaining, Corey the bar tender was extremely pleasant. I had the Spicy sausage flat bread, another good choice and my main meal was the vegetarian Risotto I would do that dish again and again. I highly recommend this restaurant....Very happy to have a place to go where you feel like your with friends and family.
Review Source:Vin Antico is BACK!!! Â Greeted at the door by one of San Rafael's most beautiful smiles - Naomi - followed by a plethora of great food and wine. Â I've been 3 times already and am still torn between the trout and albacore...both so amazingly tasty but different. Â A must have are the flatbread appies to start. Â As a group we ordered one of every desert to share...wish I had one of everything to myself!!! Though cheese plate was my fav to round out the wine:). Â Definitely our new date night spot!
Review Source:Vin Antico is back! I was sooooo sad when they closed because they had a great feeling and a healthy concept.......
That being said, THANK GOODNESS they have new owners and management - it's like they've been reincarnated with all the things I used to love and added some great new things I never would have dreamed possible! And I loved the old owners.....now I'm truly guilty of having an affair!
The food is still so healthy and seasonal and honestly darnright sexy.
I wish I were really a foodie so I could talk about the way the food rolls on your tongue and blends with the proper wine pairings etc etc. But I'm a simple girl - I just know what I like to eat and drink. And so far EVERYTHING I've had in my three visits to since they reopened have been waaaaay above bar.
Bottom line: great food, fantastic beer and wine selection, and the atmosphere is still the best.
The burger is excellent. Also had the spinach salad with bleu cheese. The albacore tuna is cooked more thoroughly than most restaurants do ahi. It was very good. Wine list has reasonably priced selections and they have Lagunitas IPA on tap. Seems that every dessert comes with gelato, which is not a problem for me. I plan to return.
Review Source:I was there for their first official night open. Â When we arrived at 7 p.m. on a Friday night, it was very quiet. Â By the time we left, at around 9:20, the place was packed. Â Our table shared the flat bread with kale and blue cheese, really good. Â A definite must is the artichoke with an aioli dipping sauce. My wife and I shared the Hobbs bacon and blue cheese salad. Â I had the trout with risotto- vibrant flavors and great texture. My wife had the burger which was as good a burger as she's had. Â The wine list is great. Â They offer a gluten free cider and are in the process of bringing in a gluten free beer. Â We'll be back! Â Well done!
Review Source:
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