Wine Bar & Restaurant
By Bernie Whitmore

While fast food joints litter America’s landscape, most small towns are lucky if they can claim one venue for fine dining. Sturbridge, on the other hand, has a tradition of exceptional restaurants that attract as many foodies as Old Sturbridge Village does wannabe time travelers.

Bin 479 is relatively new to the Sturbridge scene and is anything but colonial, advertising contemporary continental cuisine, tapas, and an extensive wine list. Photos on their homepage reveal them to be refreshingly free of the dusty gewgaws that seem to accumulate in that end of the county. Moreover, they take pride in their “…detachment from the small town.” Could they be poised to join the town’s elite? A friend and I headed down the Mass Pike to investigate.

We visited on a Wednesday, which happens to be Live Jazz night, and were led through a lounge furnished with comfortable leather furniture. The dining room was visible through a “window” in the dividing wall that contained shelves decorated with a handsome display of wine bottles and decanters. We were shown to a table topped with linen, gleaming flatware and a candle, lovely against the background of cappuccino-hued walls hung with oil paintings.

Amanda-Lyn, our server, furnished us with menus and Bin 479’s twelve page wine list of sixty-some offerings. The appetizer menu offered some favorites like Beef Carpaccio and some newcomers like Cocoa Seared Sea Scallops. We decided to share one of the evening’s specials.

After making our menu selections, we relaxed for a few moments, sipped wine and spread soft herbed butter on warm sliced bread. Soon our appetizer, Trio of Grilled Sausages ($15), was presented. Each side of a large triangular dish had two lengths of Wild Boar Cranberry, Duck with Cilantro, and Roasted Garlic Dijon Buffalo sausages. They were served with tasty mustard, an excellent complement to their spiciness. Duck with Cilantro had the most distinctive flavor and was my favorite.

Such big flavors deserve a full red wine. My choice, Two-Up Shiraz, proved itself more than capable of standing up to my dinner. This South Australian selection is rich with bold berry and oak flavors ~ and just a note of espresso. My friend chose a glass of Pannotia Vineyards Malbec. These Argentinean wines merit more attention; this one was tasted of blueberries, ripe apples and herbs. Such full red wines deserve proper glassware; Bin 479 serves theirs perfectly in sparkling oversized globes.

Our entrees arrived just as the jazz duo began its first set. I had chosen the Pan Seared Ahi Tuna Steak ($24). When asked my doneness preference, I had betrayed an irrational prejudice against sushi by requesting “pink.” But here was an example of chef-knows-better; she prepared it properly, quick-seared on the outside, red on the inside. And I was the better for it.
The tuna, sliced on a bias and dabbed with florets of roasted garlic wasabi aioli, was served around a sauté of shredded snow peas and red endive. Its impeccable freshness gave it an essence-of-the-sea flavor and buttery texture.

Bin 479’s menu is slanted toward beef, a popular choice at tables adjacent to ours. Forgoing red meat for the evening, my friend chose Pork Mignon ($23). A ten ounce cut of pork filet was grilled and served with mashed sweet potatoes and crunchy green beans. He declared it “Succulent! Juicy!” and raved about the sweet contrast provided by the mango demi glaze.

Dessert time found me considering Bananas Foster French Toast…but in the end it just sounded too risky. Instead, I played it safe with the Crème Brulee Trio. Bin 479 served each flavor in a classic white espresso cup and garnished the dish with an orchid flower ~ elegant presentation as well as an ideal arrangement for sharing. The maple, raspberry and vanilla custards, each with burnt sugar crusts, were so smooth and creamy I scraped the little cups clean.

I suspect Bin 479’s attachment to their neighborhood is closer than they acknowledge. Their warm welcome and friendly service certainly didn’t feel big city, yet their sophisticated setting, cuisine and presentation were by no means small town. If they were looking to fill a sweet spot in Worcester County’s dining scene, they may well have succeeded.