Cantina Sociale: Beirut's Very Own Wine Bar-Cum-Café

For some time now, my friends and I have been searching high and low for a wine bar-cum-café. You know the type: a casual space where you can curl up with a book while sipping a cappuccino, or heck, a glass of Bordeaux. A zen outfit where you can hammer out a paper for your Psych class without a waiter constantly hovering over your shoulder, asking whether you’d fancy dessert.

At long last, I'm happy to report, I've found the fit, and its name is Cantina Sociale.

Located adjacent to Caribou Coffee a block from Sassine Square in Achrafieh, Cantina is a self-service café that doubles as a wine cellar housing over 300 available labels (and they start at rock bottom prices, too!). There are about 20 local and international bottles on tap, and with a single swipe of your Cantina membership card, you can opt for one of three volumes of wine: a sample, a half glass, or a full glass.


Cantina boasts 300 international and local wine labels 

There are also numerous bottles of wine on tap


Discover wines from Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, California, Portugal, Spain, France and more at any budget. This is no exaggeration: a bottle of Côtes du Rhône millésime 2012 from France can be had for as little as 16,000 LL, with a trivial 15% markup for dine-in (that’s still less than half of what you’d pay at any other venue in town).


A bottle of Côtes du Rhône for all of USD 12? Fancy that!


Why, you ask, are prices of wine bottles so affordable? The owner of Cantina, who is related to the Clos St. Thomas family, has been importing wine in bulk far before she even conceived the idea of a hangout. She passes on those savings to customers.

Settle inside at a wooden table or wall divan, or sit al fresco on the terrace. Once you’ve homed in on a choice from the wine bible, expect a stir of the appetite.


Feels just like home with shelves of knickknacks on display


In the nibbles department, food is rather simple. There is a selection of salads and sandwiches, as well as deli and cheese boards to accompany your vino. Prosciutto with pesto in fresh white baguette (15,000 LL) is a winning combination, but I found the tuna blend (14,000 LL) to be rather bitter and couldn't make out if it were endive or green apple to blame.


The food spread


The summer rolls (13,000 LL) bound in rice paper could use a lift from coriander, though admittedly the mild peanut sauce is fantastic. Complimentary crudités, Taralli, and popcorn are a wonderful touch and immediately replenished once depleted.


Veggie summer rolls with peanut dip


Dessert comprises inventive specialties like rum bread pudding and caramel popcorn beer float. Bizarrely enough, both draw on alcohols besides wine -- rather curious for a wine bar. But that doesn't undermine the fact that they're superb.


Foreground: rum bread pudding; background; caramel popcorn beer float


In terms of authentic concept, laidback atmosphere, and comfort, Cantina hits the mark. But I'd really like to see it up its game in the gourmet department, even if its menu adheres to the basics of salads and sandwiches (hint: draw inspiration from Bar Tartine!). Because really, it takes two to tango – nothing like good food and sublime wine to get you in the groove.


Cantina Sociale
Achrafieh
01-334714
Open 8 am - midnight

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

6 Types of Patrons You’ll Encounter at a Coffee Shop in Lebanon

Image
You haven’t really adult-ed if you haven’t flocked to a coffee shop at least once in the past week, am I right? Admittedly, I was a little late to the game. I started sipping on caffeinated brew when my eldest was born, about six years ago. I’d place him in his stroller and lap around the mall for an hour or two, and when he drifted off to sleep, I’d slide into an armchair at Dunkin’ and order a donut, croissant-wich and coffee combo (yep, that was the ultimate trifecta.).  Fresh-brewed dark roast coffee, served piping hot with the steam blanketing my visage to deliver facial-like effects. Those few moments of uninterrupted peace formed my golden hour. I’d sit back, sip on my cup of joe, and quietly take in the scenes surrounding me. To this day, I love hanging out aimlessly at a coffee shop, merely to study the behavior of other patrons and try to deduce their craft. Here are the most common profiles I’ve encountered. My favorite indulgence at a coffee shop: donut and a cup of ...
Read more

A Crowning Iftar Experience at the Crowne Plaza Beirut

Image
It had been decidedly too long since my first visit to the Crowne Plaza Beirut, tucked in the heart of Hamra along the main drag. Standing tall – a formidable 21 floors to be exact – with sweeping panoramic views of the Lebanese capital city, the Crowne Plaza, an IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group) property, has so much going for it. To begin, the underground self-parking facility cannot be overlooked, as parking is typically nightmare-inducing elsewhere in Beirut. At just 200,000 LBP (USD 2.20) for up to four hours, this is a bargain. Alight the elevator at the ground floor, where a few steps westward will land you at the threshold of the Crowne Plaza. The hotel boasts 190 rooms, and I’m told that you can nab a room with complimentary breakfast buffet including VAT for about $100. You really can’t beat that in or outside of the city! Last Friday, we forayed into Hamra with the aim of trying the Iftar, a traditional Ramadan feast enjoyed at sunset, at Crowne Plaza’s Vivaldi restaurant...
Read more

7 Types of Lebanese Parents You’ll Encounter at School Pickup

Image
For the past three years, I’ve been shuttling my kids to and from school. It’s always a treat to greet them as their scholastic day draws to a close and they melt into your arms, eager to head home.  Right up there after that gratifying reunion is the entertainment value you derive from your encounters with other parents milling around the school building threshold in the minutes leading up to end of day. So amusing is the range of characters you’ll meet – whether they be grandparents filling in for parents tied up at work, or parents able to carve out time to pluck up their offspring – that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to blog about it. Here they are in no specific order. Can you relate?   1. The Haughty Mama : her favorite hand accessory is her smartphone, which she’s either holding to her lips transmitting nonstop nonsense voice notes, or scrolling furiously through her Instagram feed. Her hair is perfectly coiffed, with the essential extensions. She’s got those...
Read more