Side of Chipps: Gervasi Vineyard & Italian Bistro

Ever since this place opened about a year ago I have heard great things. I also heard it was expensive and since The Big Guy and I do not care much for Ohio wine, we had been putting it off. Finally we went on a double date with my brother and all 4 of us loved it. First off, the place is huge. I did not get any pics of the outside, but did steal the picture below from their website. There are two buildings from the parking lot, one is the Marketplace, the second and largest is the restaurant. We walked into the Bistro first and inside is gorgeous. All wood inside it feels like an elegant barn with pretty ornate wood details. The Bistro has 3 levels: The lowest opens out to the outside in the back and is below where we walked in. It looked like mostly tables. Half of the main floor (where we walked in) is the wine bar and associated seating. The top level is a loft area with cool vintage chairs and couches. All these levels are joined by a open spiral wooden staircase in the middle of the floor. Reservations are recommended for the table seating in most of the restaurant, but we walked in at dinner time on a Sat and sat upstairs on the couches. We got served right away and enjoyed our private little party in the loft. We started with a red wine sampler. The wines were better than expected. The vines you pass as you drive up the long driveway towards the parking lot are too young to make wine. The wines were drank were sourced from California and other places. We chose our fave and ordered a whole bottle for the table. The flights were not too expensive and the bottle of wine was reasonable. There were not other wineries offered, but we did not miss it. Next we ordered the mussel appetizer. It was great and a pretty good size. Some of the dishes on the menu are meant to be shared. The prices seemed high until you realized that it was actually for two people. The menu is changed every season to use the freshest, most seasonal ingredients. I love this, it also gives me a reason to go back. I want to try something every season! We were there when it was still the summer menu. For dinner TBG and I split the short rib dinner. It was big enough for the both of us (surprisingly!). The short ribs were very tender and tasty, the mashed potatoes creamy and real. I do not normally like onions, I just stand them, but the caramelized onions in this dish were amazing. There were a lot and I tried to get some on every bite. We loved every bite of this meal. Our dates got the lemon chicken pasta and the creamed lobster pasta. Theirs were also good. The pasta was nicely cooked, the sauces not overwhelming. The lemon chicken was seasonally refreshing. These were meals for one and were still pretty big. For dessert we ordered the chocolate cakes. It came with 4 little cakes with some ganache on top and fresh berries. It was perfect. It went well with the rest of our red wine and was the perfect bite of chocolate to end the meal. The service was great. She had to keep running up those spiral stairs and we were never left wondering where she was. The food also came out in a timely manner, we were actually done earlier than we wanted to be. All in all I thought the prices were reasonable. Not something you could do every week, but the food was worth the money. After dinner we ventured outside. There is a piazza outside with a more casual menu and it's own bar. There was live music out here the day we were there too. He was pretty good. Past that is the bocce ball courts pictured below and the lake. To the right of that picture is villas you can rent for the night, or weekend for a romantic getaway. To the left of the lake is the private party area. There was a wedding going on the night we were there. It would be a beautiful place for a wedding. Behind the party building are the grape vines that would make awesome wedding pictures. Maybe TBG and I will renew our vows there ;) After we had enough ooing and ahing at the outdoors we went into the Marketplace. On the way we passed a small cute building that was actually the outdoor bathrooms. When you walk in the store you see all their bottles of wine to buy. The second part of the store is unique wine and cheese related gifts. There were some typical things and also some high end things like Italian pottery and reclaimed wood cutting boards. We will definitely be back and I recommend anyone who likes wine, Italian food, or just sitting outside to go to Gervasi Vineyard.