Bin Wine Cafe @ Chicago

On my last day in Chicago, I decided to bus to Wicker Park and check out the hip area of Chicago. The area looks subdued and low-key compared to downtown Chicago but has couple gems worth checking out after a brief walk-around. Weather that day was absolutely gorgeous and just when I was pondering where would be a good place to take in all of this, I stumbled upon the Bin Wine Cafe. Drawn by a desire to sample some wine and cheese and the awards displayed on the door, I happily walked in and sat down by the window to the view to the right. They rolled up the entire window during lunch/tea time so that you can feel connected to the sun and breeze yet remain distant for the love of observing.

Impressed by the organization of their menu. Very Impressed. The wine/cheese menu is organized by flights which makes it so easy for any novice to just pick a flight and sample. After all, isn't this the whole purpose of having flights? You can also order any individual ones by glass and best of all, by bottle! as they carry nearly all the wines featured for retail. I happily picked up couple bottles after my lunch session. Great way to do business. The cheese menu can be paired with the wine menu in front. Even though I had a hard time  figuring out how the pairing works, the friendly waitress didn't mind helping me out with suggestions.

Here comes the wine and cheese! I ordered the Italian Treasure flight and Essex Comte cheese from France


Just look at the beautiful layout and the appetizing dark, delicious red color of the wine
The cheese came with their toasted crackers
which is quite
amazing and adds a wonderful
 neutral palate to the balance. I am not the biggest cheese expert but the cheese tasted like a good

chunk of Parmagiano without so much the saltiness and has more softness and texture.









I definitely wish I could have stayed for couple more days in Chicago to try out their dinner menu and their other location. However, I guess a wonderfully satisfying meal that stimulated all your senses is a perfectly fine memory and I have no regret to leave it at that for now.

Check out their website for more information
http://www.binwinecafe.com/