DINERS WHO GO to Impromptu Wine & Art Bar looking for food will be disappointed. It’s in the name: They’ll find wine and art and some salami and cheese but no Food. Honestly, diners who purposely go to wine bars (like I did) when they are in the mood for filet mignon (like I was) deserve to nibble on dates and artichoke hearts for the evening.
Once one is resigned to eating finger food, Impromptu’s a fine spot to do it. It’s a cozy little place on a cozy little triangle of land in the heart of Madison Park. The dining room, which is shaped like a baby grand piano, is swathed in warm colors the shades of cr譥 brl饠and cabernet. There are four white-clothed tables in the main dining area, a wine bar with four stools, a tall cafe table in the “cafe” corner, and a squat table with two inviting black leather chairs in front of a gas fireplace. There are a few more tables outside on the patio facing the lake, presumably popular in warmer months, but abandoned most autumn nights despite a patio warmer and whimsical white decorative lights. Inside, jazz plays softly from unseen speakers. At night, Impromptu feels like an escape destination, a womblike hideaway in the center of Madison Park’s village.
The art, for its part, rotates monthly. It’s curated by proprietor Cliff Wilwerth and usually features local artists, though a recent dual display of glass art by a Seattle artist and framed works by a Florida artist was unimpressive.
The focus is the wines. Manager/chef/sommelier Kyle Reynolds changes his entire wine selection every two months, always keeping to a strict regional theme. September and October were all about Central Italy. November and December will see a Southeastern Australian wine list. Flight tastings of four wines are available for $11 (whites) and $14 (reds). Refreshingly, Reynolds’ approach seems geared toward novices. The friendly staff is willing and able to answer any questions the extensively detailed wine list doesn’t make clear, and luckily for nonexperts, they do so without a hint of snobbery or patronization.
To be fair, that finger food does include some items to be eaten with a fork, such as a house salad with apples and hazelnuts ($4 half/$6 full), a tasty salad with prosciutto and salami ($7 half/$10 full), a daily quiche ($7.50) and, when Canada-U.S. trade policies cooperate, chicken pot pie ($9). Desserts such as chocolate mousse and gelato (both $6) come all the way from Italy via local importer Dolce Europa, and by the taste of that mousse, you wouldn’t know they’d been flash frozen.
