Bin Wine Cafe

Bin Wine Cafe in Wicker Park is one of my favorite go-to dinner places for the simple fact that it works as well for a dinner out with friends as it does for a date. The space is cool, hip and casual enough that it never seems like it's trying too hard. Exposed brick, warm woods and modern touches (like the tiny vases with minimalist flowers on each table) work together to create an inviting space in the open layout.

The people behind this successful Bucktown eatery are no strangers to the restaurant business. Bin Wine Cafe is the younger sibling of Bin 36 in River North and I have to say this is definitely one of those cases where the younger sib has upstaged the older. I very much prefer Bin Wine Cafe to Bin 36, which I frequented after work at my last agency due to the office's close proximity.

But I am willing to travel for Bin Wine Cafe. Now that Jeff has abandoned his Bucktown roots and therefore eliminated my own Bucktown outpost, a dinner at Bin Wine Cafe requires a little more effort than a casual stroll through the hood. But the drive or cab ride is worth it for some quality wine flights and tasty bistro-inspired fare.

The menu changes seasonally and I've never been displeased with anything I've ordered. Some things have been better than others (a beef stew and the hanger steak frites from last winter's menu, this fall's Gunthorp Chicken breast, the olive selection, various cheese plates, the white pizza, the Top 10 Burger -- yes, Bin Wine Cafe is home to what was named one of the Top Ten burgers in Chicago -- which is only $5 on Tuesdays), but I never leave dissatisfied with the food, the wine or the service at Bin.

Last Friday night, a group of ten of us headed to Bin Wine Cafe to celebrate my friend Steph's birthday. We tried various wine flights, which are also updated frequently -- and everyone seemed to be pleased with the flight they ordered. Some favorites were the Reigning Spanish Reds, The Sexy Reds and The Bin 36 Flight. I'd recommend any of them.

The vast majority of people at the table ordered the Seared Flat Iron Steak and it was pretty tasty, served in a pink peppercorn sauce with Bin's latest take on frites and some little clouds of spinach and cheese that they dubbed gnocchi. The pink peppercorn sauce was a bit more like a straight-up gravy than I'd have liked. It lacked the complexity of a really great sauce, but it was still an interesting complement to the meat. I liked the frites just fine, but don't be fooled into thinking that what you're ordering is anything like the steak frites you'd get at a traditional French bistro. These "frites" are like fancy steak fries -- and if you like steak fries, as I do, you'll be happy. If you had something else in mind, you may be disappointed. The gnocchi were decent, but nothing to write home about. I have to say that this isn't my favorite dish I've ordered at Bin Wine Cafe, which is unfortunate since literally 80% of us ordered it. It was good, but I know Bin's capable of more.

However, my dear friend Brenna branched out and ordered herself the Gunthorp Chicken Breast, which Jeff had the last time we visited, and which is quite delicious. The chicken breast is cooked to perfection and left on the bone so that's tender and juicy when you slice into it. The bird is well-seasoned and the sauce is a worthy accompaniment. All of this is complemented by some slices of chicken rillete served atop a mushroom risotto cake. Very tasty.

For dessert, we enjoyed a trio of gelato (pumpkin, chocolate and apple) and some apple crisps. The gelato was delicious. The fall flavors worked well together and the chocolate gelato was a nice dark chocolate. I could have eaten the entire trio myself. Unfortunately, the apple crisp didn't have enough apple or enough vanilla cream to save it from becoming dry and relatively uninteresting -- which is sad, because it seemed like it could be quite tasty if the proportions were altered.

The service was friendly and attentive, as it always is here. I recommend Bin Wine Cafe, even though my last entree wasn't my favorite dish to date. They do what they do so well so consistently that each meal is enjoyable, even on the nights when I don't order something I feel is the best thing I've ever eaten there.