It was a late Monday afternoon and an Oak Street Plaza regular was chiding the charismatic bartender at Jay's Bistro as to exactly what a bistro is.
Straining to eavesdrop on the conversation at the plush bar in the restaurant's new location, I heard something about the word "wine." Made sense. So I looked it up myself.
Bistro -- Fr. (Parisian) slang, wine shop, wine seller. 1.) A small wine shop or restaurant where wine is served. 2.) A small nightclub or bar.
Surveying the wine list, I noticed Jay's keeps not only a list of reds and whites, but also a further breakdown of the rich, the oaky, the meridian ...
On the house list: Robert Mondavi white zin, among others. Also listed: a variety of French and Italian. And some familiar Californians: Merryvale wines. Been there. Markham wines. Been there too. And alas, my first wine, Rodney Strong Chardonnay. Seen also: Dom Perignon, $210 a bottle.
Not staying too long for my first stop-in, I simply ordered a $4.75 glass of the house chardonnay.
First exam, passed. With extra credit for having my first choice on their list. And a good bartender.
But a meal would be the true test.
My friend Jon joined me at the new Jay's on Tuesday for a late lunch.
He noticed the professionalism of the menu right away.
"It's a really good, well-designed menu," he said. Jon is taking a food service operations class at Colorado State University for his hospitality major, in which he is learning about menu design. He showed me that many of the best sellers and most popular items are placed near the middle in the center column of the three-part menu. And he ordered one of them: The New Yorker ($8.50) from the sandwiches, wraps and rolls menu. Not a steak sandwich, but the seasoned corned beef reuben. He also ordered a cup of the Tomato Florentine soup ($2.50).
This being a cold day, he ordered a hot chocolate and it was served with a topping of whipped cream ($1.75). So I got to see him make a mustache of it. He also ordered a Diet Coke.
I ordered a Coke and a house salad with cilantro dressing and decided to go with something from the pasta list: linguini with tomato basil sauce ($7).
My salad was simple and didn't overtake my appetite for the main dish to come. The linguini was served warm with a well-seasoned sauce made with diced Roma tomatoes and pesto, and was sprinkled with Asiago cheese. Another word I didn't know. Asiago, I found, is a cheese named after a small town in northern Italy, with the taste resembling a cross between sharp white cheddar and Parmesan.
I mix my own spaghetti sauce and simmer it for hours, always adding a splash of burgundy. That may be why I thought I sensed some subtle wine in the sauce itself.
In any case, I ate a lot. More than usual. I think I had lunch and dinner during my sitting.
"Sorry I ate all the bread," Jon said coyly. I gave him a look I'm sure said, 'Believe me, that's okay.'
He downed his soup quickly, saying, "I could have had a whole bowl of it." The soup was a tomato bisque with spinach.
His sandwich was served with French fries. He complimented the restaurant's move to slice the corned beef instead of leaving it chunky and messy.
Jay's seems a good place to drop in for a drink or appetizer (or even a meal) at the beautiful bar. A good place to take a visitor. And a place to return.
Anna Maria Basquez is the arts and entertainment reporter at the Coloradoan. Reach her at AnnaBasquez@coloradoan.com.
