My sixth Taste of Hartford visit found me at Bin 228 Panini & Wine Bar.
The joint was certainly jumping.
My dining companion, Monica, and I took a small table near the window. On one wall were paintings of young women,
on the other paintings of sheep.
I was already a fan of this charming little eatery, having taken a couple of lunches there. Since Bin 228’s regular menu doesn’t offer entrées, it figured that its Restaurant Week menu wouldn’t follow the typical starter, main dish, dessert format of most participating eateries. And indeed, it didn’t.
Bin 228 served a Fontina fondue for the first course,
superb miniature crab cakes on a bed of mixed greens for the second course,
and a choice of vegetable, chicken, or flank steak panini for the final course. I elected the vegetable panini, which was delicious but a questionable choice because it was loaded with creamy goat cheese and the fondue had already provided plenty of fromage.
I could carp that Bin 228 didn’t offer a great deal of choice. I could point out that fondue might be the best sharing dish on earth, yet with no alternative selection a couple would wind up eating two fondues separately. I could even quibble that no dessert was offered (but I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and actually prefer savory dishes).
But besides how good the food tasted, there was another saving grace to the relatively limited menu. Let me give you a hint.
With the fondue came a three-ounce pour of Nino Franco Prosecco, with the crab cakes a three-ounce pour of Terre Grillo white wine, and with the panini a three-ounce pour of Renzo Masi Cabernet Sauvignon. Needless to say, the matched wines greatly elevated our dining experience.
Also ensuring that we had a memorable meal was our friendly waitress, Laura,
and camera-shy owner, Alicia Roncari (left).
So visit Bin 228, and have as much fun as we and these pretty young women at the next table did.
Bin 228 Panini & Wine Bar, 228 Pearl Street, Hartford, 860-244-WINE