When Cafe Vincero - the small Italian eatery at the north end of Pacific Avenue - first opened, we went for their soft opening, and then several more times in their first months of operation. We found the food and service to be somewhat unreliable, and often the food was slow to arrive. At times there were great surprises, like the delicious complimentary rosemary bread, fresh from their wood-fired oven, and some other great dinner items. But the ambiance/decor seemed a tad off in the beginning, the wait staff was nice but didn't always seem well-informed, the espresso bar seemed like a waste of space, and they didn't have any beers on tap. And did I mention that the food was slow to arrive?
Since then, I've talked with Kurt Kwon and Ted Broussard - the illustrious duo of restaurant/bar reviewers for The Esplanade News - several times about Vincero. I think we all agreed that the restaurant had promise, but wasn't quite all the way there yet. Kurt visited there last February and wrote a review for The Esplanade News, which you can read HERE.
But for me, Vincero fell down my list of places in the neighborhood to enjoy dinner. Until a couple weeks ago, that is. We thought, since we had not been there in some months, we would give them another try. And hey, Italian food is still Italian food, right? Well. I am pleased to report that Cafe Vincero has markedly improved, and they are well-worth a new visit if you have not been there in a while.
First of all, the espresso bar has now been converted into a full-service wine, beer and spirits bar, with a new bartender who recently moved over from Smoke and Cedar when that establishment closed. We sat at the bar on our visit - because the restaurant was packed and there was a waiting list for tables - and chatted up the bartender for a bit. We didn't catch his name, but he was very knowledgeable and personable, as were the other wait staff who brought us our food. Clearly several months of experience have really helped this staff; they are a fun, classy group. The bartender pointed out where six new beer taps were being installed in his bar, and they should be up and running by now.
A few little extra touches in the decor have made a big difference. The oversize paintings on the brick wall are nice, there are no more visible wires trailing about the place, and as odd as this may sound, a video of candles on the big screen TV over the bar was actually very tasteful for night dining. The brick and custom tile work were always nice here, but it's surprising how a few little things have helped the ambiance.
And the food! We did not once hear, "Oh, we are out of that item," as used to happen when they first opened. We ordered the antipasto tray as an appetizer, and for $10.00 it was practically a meal in itself, when combined with the (still delicious and still complimentary) bread. True, the baked pastas (lasagna, cannelloni) still take a while to arrive at your table, because they are baking each one to order in their wood oven. It might help if they made a note of this on the menu, so patrons know to expect a bit longer wait for those items. But from what we saw around us, the pizzas, pasta dishes, and salads were coming out quickly and regularly. Everything looked and smelled wonderful, our lasagna and cannelloni were outstanding, and the portions were generous.
Maybe we just got lucky and hit them on a good night, but I don't think so. I think it's more likely that it just took a little while to iron out the kinks in this place. If you haven't been to Vincero in a while, I advise giving them another chance - we're glad we did, and we'll be going back.
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