Out to eat: Wine Guy Bistro

The Grilled Lollypop Lamb chops at the Wine Guy Bistro wine bar and shop at Rookwood Pavilion in Norwood. (Credit: Ernest Coleman | Metromix)

Meatballs: I have been craving them for almost a month now. I don't know why. Wait, make that I didn't know why -- until I ate a divine meatball last week at a new restaurant, and I realized the universe was trying to tell me something.

Or maybe I just really like meatballs. Anyway.

This place is called the Wine Guy Bistro, and it opened up a month ago in Rookwood Pavilion next to Starbucks. On a night that was so cold my eyeballs froze in my head, I convinced my buddy Jason to join me for dinner, which wasn't hard. He read the menu and declared he wanted to eat everything.

We did not eat everything, but we ate a lot.

The Wine Guy is a big, beautiful place with wooden tables and squishy seats and bottles of wine lining the walls. It's candle-lit and cozy and would be a great date spot if you're into that sort of thing.

Our server, Michael, presented us a plate of pita wedges and a dangerously addictive tomato-cream cheese spread and explained the way things work around here: The flights of wine are listed on the menu; the bottles are not. If you want a bottle, you shop the walls, pick one out and return to your table. You're charged state minimum plus a $10 corkage fee.

We decided to go with a flight of white, which ended up being a sauvignon blanc, a pinot grigio and two blends. We also ordered two soups - Italian wedding for me, the fire-roasted tomato and red pepper bisque for him.

The bisque was rich and smoky, drizzled with sour cream and studded with croutons. My soup, with tiny meatballs, spinach and onions, was light but hearty, perfect for the cold weather.

The Wine Guy's menu allows you to order tapas-sized portions of most of the entrees, so Jason and I decided to split small plates of the osso buco ravioli and the Cajun scallops.

We also increased our wine intake, switching to a couple of reds our new friend Michael recommended.

The ravioli was fine, but I wished the pieces - there were four - had more stuffing. I preferred the scallops, which were sautéed perfectly and served with a sweet sauce, candied walnuts and crumbles of bleu cheese.

But my favorite was, you guessed it, the meatballs. We ordered the meatball appetizer, three nearly fist-sized hunks of happiness swimming in a delicious red sauce and sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

I finally satisfied my meatball craving -- and understood that it had led me to the Wine Guy, a fun new place I'm going to recommend to all of my friends.