Thus far, hitting up Postino WineCafe's alluring $5 glasses of wine before 5 p.m. has been pretty impossible, given my work schedule. But as these extraordinary times open opportunities to take advantage of new Postino deals, I’ve been stoked to seize my chance. This week the time truly arrived, when my roommates and I decided that charcuterie should be on the docket.
In addition to its regular menu, Postino has developed special value packages for those seeking a take-home deal. The Date Night package offers a meal for two, including a bruschetta board, an item from the "Snacky Things" menu and a salad for a cool $25. The Kickback Pack, at $45, includes a bruschetta board, three snacks and a cheese board. If you’re just in it for Postino's superb wine collection, you can grab a two- or four-pack of bottles at $30 or $55, respectively. Given our cheese cravings, the natural choice seemed to be the Kickback Pack, so we grabbed the dog, strapped on our skates and made our way to LoHi for an afternoon pick-up.
Apart from coming to a full stop on 17th Street’s hella steep hillside, picking up curbside at Postino’s LoHi location was a breeze. Just inside the door, happy packages including your name, receipt and handwritten notes with friendly messages like “Good vibes inside” sat at the ready along a table. I slipped in, grabbed mine, Tetris'd the many to-go containers into my bag, and skated up the hill toward home, where I realized that there was far more of a feast than I'd imagined as we pulled out box after box and uncapped one of the wine bar's recommended $15 red blends to go with our feast.
The bruschetta was a satisfying meal unto itself, including four toasts, each with different toppings, sliced crosswise into four finger-friendly bites each. One roommate fought for the rich and salty salami and pesto bruschetta while the other went for red pepper jam with goat cheese. We all eyed the remaining piece of the fig and prosciutto, and the tried-and-true standby of mozzarella, tomato and basil rounded out the order. While disappointed that they had run out of the tuna tartare and carpaccio, we still ended up with three good snacky selections: tomatoes and mozzarella, two grilled skewers (one chicken, one petite filet) with cucumber garlic sauce, and crispy cauliflower, which got an A for presentation upon unveiling.
The tomatoes and mozzarella — specifically, stracciatella (fresh mozz mixed with cream) — was creamier and wetter than your average fior di latte style. Meanwhile, the skewers arrived a little more on the dry end, but were much brightened by the accompanying tzatziki-like sauce. We waited a bit too long to unveil our crispy cauliflower (which had become more soggy than crispy in transit), but were so mesmerized by the sweet-yet-acidic sultana raisin and caper romesco that we didn't miss the crunch. If you order, a better takeout option (unless you live within a block or two of the cafe) would be Postino's divine meatballs and goat cheese, which I remember fondly from past visits.
Even with all of that bounty, we couldn't wait to dive into the cheese plate, our true craving of the day. With three kinds of cheese, the sweet ping of dried cherries and mildly tangy quince jam, plus a hefty serving of bulbous purple grapes, it was a luxurious game to combine and recombine flavors until we'd devoured every last morsel. The only thing we wondered was, “Why didn’t we order another bottle of wine?”
You can order takeout from either of Postino's locations, at 2715 17th Street in LoHi or 145 Broadway in the Baker neighborhood. Visit the Postino WineCafe website for hours, phone numbers, online menus and payment. Be sure to also take a look at the company's Upward Updates page for the latest curbside deals, health and safety info and even recipes to make Postino-style food at home.