The Grape

The Grape is one of those restaurants you will walk by a 100 times and possibly never go in.

It looks expensive and you're probably not convinced just from looks that it's good enough to pay the price. I know personally I have strolled curiously by The Grape here locally and wondered what it was like. They have purple seats that appear....elegant and out of my price range.

My friend Christine stopped by The Grape last night and dropped me this note knowing I was curious. She is writing today as my guest blogger. After reading, I think you will be convinced to go in the next time you walk by The Grape.

"The Grape. Holy crap. Effing amazing.

Let me just say that I was kinda nervous when I walked in there because we saw a sign that said "Please wait to be seated" and we waited about 3-4 minutes before someone actually acknowledged us. And when they did, they said "seat yourself!" Why even bother putting the sign there?

We sat outside on the patio with an outstanding view of Pointe Orlando (who knew there was such a thing?!). We stuck with white last night. With a glass of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and my new personal favorite - Riesling.

We enjoyed our first glass with homemade bruschetta and a selection of four different cheeses. The bruschetta was too garlicky for my taste, and the portions were small. I'd rather spend $2.50 at Publix for crispy bread and canned diced tomatoes, but it was all part of the experience. The cheese, on the other hand -- UNBELIEVABLE. We had a plate of Stilton, Pecorino Toscano, McCall's Shamrock Cheddar, and wait for it...Drunken Goat Cheese. I've always been a fan of any Irish Cheddar, and Stilton cheese will always have a place in my heart, and the Pecorino? Well, I could have done without. The Drunken Goat Cheese (goat cheese soaked in Cabernet then pressed into a wheel and sliced)...absolutely blew my mind. I'm not a fan of goat cheese, but let me tell you , Cabernet works wonders. If I knew Cabernet can make something taste that good, I would have started soaking myself in it years ago.

My one friend opted for the Mediterranean Quesadilla for her entree, "Roma" as it is called, is stuffed with Roma tomato, oregano, basil, roasted garlic, mushroom, spinach, Fontina and Chèvre, served with marinara sauce. I went for the chicken: chicken, feta, sun-dried tomato pesto and provolone, served with a sun-dried tomato aïoli. I pretty much died. My other friend ordered a steak sandwich that looked nothing out of the ordinary, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.

My friend and I then each got a flight of wine (or Grapes by the Bunch as they call it: 2.5 oz glasses of three or more wines). Neither one of us are very educated about wine, our server Gabby, was very willing to assist us. I chose two my own, Falchetto Moscato D'Asti, a very sweet dessert wine, Oriel 365 Prosecco, a sparkling wine that with hints of pear and white peach. Gabby rounded out the trio by bringing me a glass of the Oriel Femme Fatale Rose, which was much heavier than the other two. The Moscato D'Asti was my favorite, and I enjoyed another glass with our dessert: FONDUE for two (we were so full at this point, we knew that Fondue for three was unnecessary).

I know I'm being a Chatty Cathy, which is why I won't go into more details, but holy crap. It was a $156 check. With tip it ended up being $65 per person...as far as I'm concerned, it was the best $65 dollars I've ever spent in my life. Forget Seasons 52, forget Panera, forget Starbucks, forget all those places in Dr. Phillips I normally go to when I want to unwind. This is where I'm going if I want to relax from now on. For three hours, we enjoyed good wine, good conversation, and good (not great, but still good) service. For three hours, they kept my attention, and I would have stayed all night and continued living beyond my means if I didn't have to meet up with friends. - Christine"