Photos by Evie Carpenter
Grade: A-
Postino Winecafe fits in well with the Camelback Road and Central Avenue business community, which has become a bastion for cool businesses and deserves the attention of downtown residents.
This area includes some of Phoenix’s cultural highlights, like Hula’s Modern Tiki, Lola Coffee, Maizie’s Cafe and Bistro and Stinkweeds music store.
Among this crowd of intriguing local businesses, Postino is a contender for the title of best food.
Featuring a wide range of small servings, Postino gives patrons an opportunity to try a few different options.
My advice is to start with the ultimate sampler: the bruschetta. For $12.75, Postino serves your choice of four of their 11 options, including my favorites: smoked salmon with pesto, and prosciutto with figs and mascarpone.
Each of the four servings of bruschetta is cut into four pieces, so along with a cup of soup or another small plate, this could be a meal for two.
The NYC Grilled Cheese accompanies the bruschetta well, for those looking for a small addition to the appetizer. Its taste lies in its simplicity: several small grilled cheese sandwiches on crunchy bread with Sierra Nevada mustard, ketchup and pesto to dip.
Hungrier customers who still want to try a couple of different things can pay $9.50 for half a panini with a salad or a cup of soup, or just the soup and salad together.
I ordered half a panini: prosciutto with Brie on focaccia bread, with fig jam and arugula, dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The soup of the day was tomato Florentine, which included pasta shells, small chunks of tomatoes and chopped carrots and onions.
The panini expertly mixed sweet and salty flavors, and the fig jam stood out as the most pleasantly unusual part of the sandwich. It had a creamy texture due to the Brie, and the olive oil gave it a rich, Italian-food kind of taste.
Perhaps because it was a windy February day, the hot soup caught my attention as much as anything else. It wasn’t as flashy as other dishes, but it was impossible to dislike — like something a good grandmother would make. The pieces of tomato gave it an even texture — not too thin and not too thick. I don’t recommend it once the weather heats up, but it’s perfect for whenever soup is appropriate.
One thing is essential to the complete Postino experience: a good drink. For those 21 and older, the restaurant offers a bottle of any house wine with any four bruschetta options for $20 after 8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays.
Customers under 21 aren’t missing out, though. Postino’s cucumber-honey lemonade might be its most unique beverage.
Postino’s atmosphere alone may attract as many customers as its menu does, with artwork on its brick walls and a wine bar connecting to outdoor and indoor seating. The lighting is usually stylishly dim, but huge windows let in natural light during the day.
Located just north of Camelback Road, Postino is on the southwest corner of Central Avenue and Colter Street. It is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday, 9 a.m. to midnight Saturday and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.
Contact the critic at john.l.fitzpatrick@asu.edu
Want to know what we thought of the restrooms at Postino Winecafe? Check out the Phoenix Potty Spots blog to get the scoop.
