Restaurant Review: Ciccolata di Vino

stock photoA wise woman once said a happy marriage is built on love, trust, mutual respect and lots of wine and chocolate, well now even if you aren’t ready to walk down the aisle you can have all the happiness you want at Berkeley’s Ciccolata di Vino.

Located in Downtown Berkeley’s Shattuck corridor, the upscale wine/nibbles/ and sweets bar features artisan cheeses, savory snacks, and desserts paired with an Italian-focused wine list.

We stopped by late on Saturday night to check out the space and sample some of their offerings. The friendly staff seated us at a corner table, and gave us several minutes to soak in the cozy, romantic atmosphere and to review menus before approaching to let us know about the many unavailable items.

While we were disappointed that some of the restaurant’s most tempting treats including the Pinot Griggio, Posenato and Tocai wine flight, and nearly 90% of the dessert menu had previously sold out, the delicate, yet fragrantly delicious lemon tart we were able to sample, and the more than generous glasses of Monastrell, Marzemino and Momtepulciano we were poured went a long way to smoothing things over. ( And made us want to stop by again, earlier in the evening.)

A relatively new addition to an already famous foodie neighborhood, Ciccolata di Vino is clearly a popular destination, and if the lemon tart is an indicator of the overall quality of the faire, rightly so.