THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED DiVino

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED DiVino Restaurant Review:

When wine bar Portalis moved to a larger venue on Ballard Avenue, an upstart Italian wine and tapas bar called DiVino took its place. Out went the slightly antiqued-look of Portalis, and in came a funky, modernistic wine bar. Classic, however, is DiVino’s wine list---which focuses on libations by the bottle but offers a rotating array of Italian and European wine by the glass as well. The tapas-style menu features Italian nibbles, with several varieties of bruschetta, polenta dishes, meats, charcuterie and cheese, and vegetable starters. Bruschetta are filling (try it topped with shrimp and vegetables) and could serve as their own meal. Beef sautéed with mushrooms is bitter but compelling. We’d like to see more wines by the glass here, and the atmosphere makes more sense for drinking than dining. Still, any group out to sample several shared bottles won’t go wrong if their aim is to learn Italian, one sip at a time.