2015 Best New Dining Experience: The Wine Room at Bar Marco

Because the room seats only 10 people, you can book it for your own special event or share it with other people who are bound to become new friends by the end of the evening.

photo courtesy of bar marco
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Every Wednesday through Saturday night The Wine Room at Bar Marco hosts a special event, where Executive Chef Jamilka Borges prepares tasting menus that are beautiful reflections of her creativity. Her menu design begins with weather, but it’s not dictated strictly by time or temperature.

“I hate using the word ‘seasonal’ because there are a lot of things I do in The Wine Room [to] fit my mood not only because it’s in season. So in spring, you’ll see lighter dishes and in the winter heavier ones like braises, but if I get into something, like, say, making gnocchi, you’ll also see variations on that for awhile,” she says.

Each course is paired with a wine that often is biodynamic, natural or experimental in style. Dominic Fiore, who brings a wealth of experience from working at Daniel and Betony in New York, is the wine director.

“It’s exciting because it’s a conversation between the two of us,” says Borges, who debuted The Wine Room in February 2014 with original wine director Sarah Thomas.

What’s nearly as wonderful as the food and wine is the company you’ll keep during the 90-minute dining experience. Because the room seats only 10 people, you can book it for your own special event or share it with other people who are bound to become new friends by the end of the evening.

Indeed, that’s part of the magic of The Wine Room at Bar Marco; it feels much more like a dinner party at which you can just show up rather than a typical restaurant experience.

STRIP DISTRICT: 2216 Penn Ave., downstairs
412/471-1900; barmarcopgh.com