So, I’ve recently checked out a lovely little spot in Old Town of Wichita called Caffe Moderne. It’s a great addition to the Old Town scene and has a mix of many things I love: wine, coffee, good nibblies, and great service. On top of that they have free WiFi, which was a much needed commodity for me when my cable was screwed up by a prior break in to my part time apartment here last November. Happily for me it got me to go back to my original thought of going TV-less while in town and it’s saving me money in the long run. Enough so that I’ll be able to cover the costs of the TV loss in about 8 months.
But, back to the place that I’m discussing… My waitress, Andrea (pronounced Ahn-dree-ah), was perky and incredibly sweet for what seemed like the snooty pronouncement of her name. Of course, I can put that aside for anyone that makes me think of the punk style, tattoed waitress types from back in my main city love, Seattle. Even more authentic would have been if she’d had a few facial piercings… 🙂 It’s always fun for me to find places that remind me of home; or a place I’ve traveled to; or somewhere I want to go. Actually, as I think about it, I can see this place dropped down into many a metro area and fitting in nicely. Not because it’s homogenous, but because it’s quirky and stylish enough that I think avid coffee and wine lovers from many places might enjoy its ambiance and design. Granted, it might not pass muster in NYC, but I’d be happy finding this spot in Toulouse, or San Francisco, or RTP, or Portland, Madrid, or Frankfurt. Since it’s located here it’s not nearly as packed as it could be and while that is a bit of a shame for the owner right now, it’s a plus for me because no one on a Wednesday night wanted to bump me from my little 2 person table where I typed away writing this post.
While writing and doing other work I sampled a couple of the spreads (sundried tomato & artichoke) with pita, although the pita could be better – it seemed store bought from the local Dillons, and I went through a white wine flight sampler which included the following: Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough, NZ), Irony Chardonnay (Napa, CA), Jewel Viognier (CA), and Hogue Reisling (Eastern WA). If I’d not come in so late I would have also gone for the red wine sampler. The sweet deal of this is that it was an $8 flight with 2 ounce pours of each – although I have a feeling the bartender poured a bit heavy. I was certain after seeing the first flight that I should avoid the second one for driving reasons. No need to come to Kansas to tend to my dad disabled from a DUI driver to become my own nightmare version of one.
I will say that the sweeter wines did better with the artichoke dip, and the more grassy and buttery wines did better with the sundried tomatoes. Some of this I understand more after going through a recent taste testing with the WAC Wine Club, of which I’m a member, where we sampled various foods and wines to get the gist of play on flavors and how acid, fat, temperature, and salinity affect the pairing of wine to food. It was a really great presentation and one I hope to replicate for friends in the near future.
Anyhow, I’ll likely make a recommendation to the kitchen to find home made pita or other softer flat bread but otherwise I plan on coming back to sample more at this beautifully decorated (modern art deco) locale.
Update – I went back one more time to Caffe Moderne before returning to Seattle and sampled their gelato. YUM! I love Italian ice cream… It’s definitely worth going and trying it here. I had a regular sized portion with 2 flavors, apple pie and the other was coconut. Very good flavor and texture for sure. The non-fat latte I ordered to accompany my ice cream was also very good although the barista didn’t follow my request for no foam on the order, but it still was tasty and complemented my gelato perfectly. Go check it out!
