The Gastronomical All Stars Dinner Club

December was my month to choose a restaurant and with it being the holiday season, I wanted to choose a restaurant on the Plaza.   Of course, things did not begin well, the Plaza during the holiday season equals, hard to find parking.  Once my parking adventure was over, my dining adventure began.

I walked into Coal Vines and was delighted wit the decor.   The place was cozy which is exactly what you want on a cool December evening, the walls were lined with bottles of wine and the back wall had large pictures of Dean Martin and another guy, that I should have recognized, but did not.  Coal Vines quickly became my favorite restaurant venue, that I have been to with the GAS club.

Since Coal Vines is a Pizza and Wine (yes I said Wine, not beer) bar,  I decided you can't go wrong with pizza, though the did have a few other dishes on the menu, of which Richard ordered an excellent pasta.  Josh and I ordered a pizza together, basically your choices were white or red sauce and then a list of additional ingredients that could be added for an additional cost.  We ordered the White Special which included, mozzarella, ricotta, tomatoes, and garlic.  We added chicken and spinach.   The pizza will light on the salt and heavy of the ricotta.  The ingredients were fresh, the crust delicious, but as a whole the pizza was mediocre.   With the yearly pizza cook off, Pizza places do have a hard time holding a candle to the delicious and very unique pizza's we make at home.

Now on to the Wine Bar, I ordered a glass of Saracco Moscato, which you just can't beat.  The wine of course was delicious, but much over priced.

The overall experience was enjoyable,the venue and wine excellent, however, the pizza was average at best. I feel my original rating was a little on the high side.  My updated rating for Coal Vines is a 3.2.