Featured Restaurant (September 2009) - Main Street Wine Cellars 302 Main Street Seal Beach, CA 90740 562-430-3200 www.mainstwine.com

I came across Main Street Wine Cellars during a sales trip in Long Beach in July, and after meeting the owner, Chris Partlow earlier that day, I decided that this would be an ideal place for five of my best girlfriends and me to catch up, enjoy some tasty treats, and sip on wine. We were all going to be in Long Beach for a reunion, and wanted to go somewhere with a fun atmosphere that wasn’t too expensive (entrees are $9-$13) or too loud, and Main Street Cellars turned out to be just what we needed.

Of course we decided to bring a couple bottles of Carina Cellars wine with us (the 06 Clairvoyant and 07 Central Coast Viognier), and were pleased that the corkage fee was only $15.00 per bottle. A couple girls also tried the 07 Hob Nob Pinot Noir from France, and the 05 Valdubon Tempranillo from Spain. For those of you who desire to taste a variety of wine, you’ll be happy to know that glasses of wine range from $8-$10, a half glass is $5-$7, and you can do one of the arranged flights for $15.

With the wine flowing as freely as our conversation, we decided to share a number of the delicious tapas offered, and started off with the roasted artichoke and goat cheese bruschetta. This disappeared as quickly as it arrived, and we did not have to wait long before our next order of boneless short rib beef sliders with gruyere cheese, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers and parmesan truffle potato chips. Normally I’m one to pass on the potato chips, but these were delicious! The sliders were fantastic as well and very filling. We then continued with the ciabatta Panini with sautéed wild mushrooms with gruyere, white truffle oil and garlic aioli. This could have been enough on its own, and while seemingly rich in its combination of flavors, was actually very light and delicious. Us girls have never been ones to turn down dessert, so we went big and ordered the chocolate lovers’ cake - a decadent chocolate sponge cake with molten chocolate sauce creeping down the sides. After we’d finished, we continued to sip our wine and enjoy the large open air seating at the front of the bar, already talking of when and where our next reunion would be…