CHEAP EATS: Zee vino is zee star at zee Zin Urban bar

Meat and cheese tray with olives at Zin Urban Wine and Beer Bar
Meat and cheese tray with olives at Zin Urban Wine and Beer Bar

— We love wine.

We don’t always love wine bars, finding many to be spendy and snooty.

But at Zin Urban Wine and Beer Bar, we found zen. A mix of modern and mellow, the moderately priced sipping and snacking spot offers an atmosphere that is soothing, not stuffy, seven days a week (yes, including Sunday).

Joining other new businesses - like a nail salon and bakery - in the Tuf-Nut building, the bar down the street from Dizzy’s is close enough to downtown’s action while being far enough away to find parking fairly easily.

Track lighting and candles give the bar, with its clean, contemporary furnishings, a soft glow, as rhythmic music sets a mood without impeding conversation. Servers are friendly and helpful.

Thirty-plus wines - most of them unfamiliar to us - sold by the glass range from $5 for Sandeman Fine Ruby Port dessert wine up to $13.50 for Serge Laporte Sancerre. Forty-plus bottles range from $23 for Le Drunk Rooster Chardonnay to $47 for Seghesio Old Vine Zinfandel. Also available are four flights - two reds, two whites - that feature three 2-ounce samplings of wine.

A friend was served the wrong flight (she ordered the Big Reds Flight, but received the Zin Flight, not to mention several apologies). But she liked the trio of Alexander Valley wines - Sin Zin, Temptation Zin and Redemption Zin - and the handy cheat sheet that came with them. Her favorite turned out to be the least expensive (Temptation, $7.50).

A glass of crisp Carousel Classic ($7) was a subtle sparkling wine, while the Coppola Directors Cut Cabernet ($11) was a hearty red.

As for food, Zin’s menu of “Noshes” features several meats and cheeses ($3.50 individually, $9 for choice of three and $9 as a “sammy” plate with Boulevard bread and condiments). Other “Bites” include stuffed figs ($7), stuffed peppers ($6), mixed nuts ($3) and assorted olives ($4). We were bummed we couldn’t sample the “Salad on a Stick,” still mentioned on the menu but no longer offered.

The pretty platter we ordered featured one meat (the fiery spicy calabrese salami) and portions of two cheeses (a creamy goat and a tasty herbed cotswold), served with lavash, a smear of sundried tomato paste and an ornamental flower. It did what it was supposed to do: accompany the wine without overwhelming the palate or appetite.

On a second visit, we ordered two meats - a zesty fennel salami and a pleasantly salty prosciutto - and a different cheese - the blissful brie-like Saint Andres triple cream as a “sammie” plate with small slices of bread, a couple of petite pickles and dots of sun-dried tomato paste, aioli and mustard.

The assorted olives ($4) were just assorted olives. The stars were the slightly stiff stuffed peppers ($6), tangy spicy prosciutto-and-provolone-stuffed cherry peppers that popped with flavor.

To drink, we ordered the full-bodied Big Reds Flight ($15.50) containing the aforementioned Coppola, Santa Barbara Pinot Noir and Nicolas Catena Malbec. We also ordered the light, summery Around the Swirl Flight ($12.50) with a grapefruity Yali Sauvignon Blanc, a buttery Merryvale Chardonnay and fresh Parallel 45 Rose.

Zin also sells 10 beers by the bottle ($3.50), from imports like Stella Artois to good old American Miller and Bud Lite.

Through March, Zin is promoting Soup Sundays - $10 for choice of wine and a bowl of soup with Boulevard bread.

For information on wine tastings, visit the bar’s Facebook page, facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/ ZIN-urban-wine-beer- bar/ 160833600599596?ref=ts.

Zin Urban Wine and Beer Bar Address: 300 River Market Ave., Little Rock Hours: Bar opens at 3:30 p.m.

Sunday and 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday and stays open “’til” Cuisine: Wine, beer, tapas Credit cards: AE, D, V, MC Wheelchair accessible: Yes Carryout: Yes (501) 246-4876, zinlr.com

Weekend, Pages 40 on 02/03/2011

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