A Tasty Affair

Although Vintages 611 — with its polished stained-concrete floors, vibrant palette of paint and sculptural metal wall décor — looks stylishly modern, the white linen tablecloths and cut-glass water goblets hearken to another era.

The cool, softly lit interior was a welcome respite on a recent hot evening — too hot even to enjoy the sweet patio seating, surrounded by geraniums in their full summer-time abundance.

The hostess, in a crisp white blouse with black pants, showed us to a pleasant table where we looked over the menu. Vintages’ owner Tana Rekofke kept watch over the dining room as though it were her party, greeting repeat and regular customers, and welcoming newcomers. And, in fact, Rekofke is a veteran of the party-circuit, having previously owned a catering company, A Catered Affair. The menu reflects that experience. The emphasis is on solidly prepared, time-tested, crowd-pleasing food.

We started out with the springtime bruschetta ($7). Six slices of baguette were topped with a creamy spinach mixture — almost a spinach dip — warmed and then topped with chopped tomatoes and garlic. It was delicious. The tomatoes weren’t heirloom, the bread wasn’t artisan, and this appetizer wasn’t complicated or particularly sophisticated. It was just so dang tasty.

Other appetizers are also somewhat standard fare — crab cakes with pepper aioli ($9), stuffed mushrooms with cheese and bacon ($6) and a Cougar gold cheese platter ($14) — with one exception that I’ll get to later.

Next up was a salad. The black and bleu all over steak salad with Cajun spices and bleu cheese ($11) caught my eye, but we settled on the celebration chicken salad ($9) with black beans. Fresh — no wilted or brown leaves to pick out here — and cold, crisp Romaine lettuce and tender chicken were nicely accented by a tart cilantro vinaigrette, and our server was perfectly happy to have the generously portioned entrée salad split for us. There is also a great sounding starter salad on the menu, the Vintages 611 salad, featuring spinach, strawberries, bleu cheese and pecans ($5).

The homemade macaroni and cheese with five cheeses ($11) is featured on the pasta menu, and though there’s just one chicken entrée (outside of the pasta and salads), our server had high praise for the Company’s Coming stuffed chicken with wild mushrooms ($19) and brie.

When it came to the beef, our server bypassed the spendy bone-in ribeye ($27) to recommend the marinated flank steak ($19) — “It is just a great cut of meat,” she told us. Still, the other beef options sounded delectable — a filet mignon with bourbon bleu cheese demi-glaze ($29), with au gratin potatoes and vegetables. There’s also a classic slow-cooked signature prime rib ($24-$28). However, once my companion saw that flank steak, he had no regrets. It was a thing of beauty, perfectly cooked to medium and lightly flavored with the somewhat strange-sounding combination of soy, garlic and Italian seasonings — but it all worked amazingly well.

On a side note, I have to say that this was one of the few occasions in the past year or more that a steak was delivered as ordered — it was a textbook medium, and that, it turns out, is an accomplishment worth savoring.

The accompanying mashed potatoes were hot and authentic, with occasional chunks of real potato. Fresh sautéed veggies rounded out the plate. Not only was this entrée exceptionally tasty, it is reasonably priced.

I opted for the seared scallops ($19) with saffron risotto and asparagus. The scallops were perfectly cooked, sweet and tender, and the saffron risotto was simply sublime — al dente and gently spiced to complement the delicate scallops. A few spears of grilled asparagus added color and a bit of crunch to the plate.

The wine list at Vintages is refreshingly engaging, offering traditional selections as well as “discovery whites!” and “exciting reds!” These wines are less commonly known, but deemed worthy of trying. Bottle prices range from $15 to a few selections upwards of $60. The bulk of the wines are in the $20 range, with a number of good wines offered by the glass as well. There are also classic cocktails and some specialty drinks, including the Tana Tini ($8) with Frangelico, Absolut Citron and fresh lemon.

Desserts aren’t made on the premises and they unfortunately don’t live up to the standards set by the rest of the menu. I tried the tiramisu ($6), which was pretty enough, especially with fresh blueberries garnishing the plate. But the dessert lacked balance between the rich coffee flavor and the creamy cheese and, alluding to its provenance, it was still a bit frozen in the middle. My companion’s chocolate caramel yum cake ($6) was like a Ding Dong for grown-ups, with a thick gooey ganache over a too-sweet chocolate cake. Nothing yummy here.

What we should have ordered was there all the time, just oddly misplaced onto the appetizer menu. The homemade gingersnaps with creamy brie topped by caramel ($8) would have made a perfect dessert to share, and indeed our server said it is occasionally ordered for that purpose. So skip the schlepped-in sweets and go with the gingersnaps.

Dinner at Vintages 611 reminded me of going to the home of an exceedingly good hostess and cook. The food is not profoundly creative or complex. But it is prepared with great attention to detail and flavor, cooked carefully and not overloaded with salt. Our server was so hospitable and engaging that we felt sorry to leave as we paid our bill. Tana waved goodbye. Our party was over for the evening, but we’ll be back.