3 sour grapes (in an otherwise delicious bunch) about the VPC wine dinners

Volunteer Park Cafe is an ambitious little thing. Not content with slinging good lattes and great breakfast treats, VPC also hosts monthly wine dinners. The March dinner sneaked up on us too quickly -- it's this Friday night. Sorry for the late notice but, if you are quick, you can probably still get in. We checked a little earlier today and they still had a few seats left. Here's a look at the planned menu and wine pairings -- this month's winery partner is Woodinville's Chatter Creek.

We attended one of the early VPC dinners -- it's a unique neighborhood experience and a lot of fun. But be ready for a few elements that may or may not be cool with you:

1. It's not for the shy. If (like us) you go as couple, you'll be seated at a table with a bunch of people you don't know. There's a lot of wine flowing so you won't be strangers for long. This is a blessing and a curse -- depending on who you sit by. You might want to ask about the group you'll be sitting with when you make your reservation.
   
2. It's an expensive affair. $85 a head plus they pop you for automatic gratuity. You get great food and great wine but the price and the people willing to pay it gave our evening a snooty air. One couple at our table was very sorry for us when we shamefully admitted we didn't own a beach house in the San Juans.
3. It's designed to promote the winery. Maybe we were naive but we were surprised about the hard sell we got to buy cases from the featured winery. We also thought it was a bit tacky when a few "friends of the winery" let it be known that they were eating and drinking for free that night while rubes like us had to pay.

So how's that for sour grapes? We qualify all of the above by adding that, yes, you should totally go to the dinners. The food was wonderful and we drank a lot of great wine -- btw, walk if you can and avoid having to deal with a car if at all possible. And we met some great people. We also met some people that we would have rather not. A few probably felt likewise about us. Pretty much like any party we go to. Knowing the above, we plan to go again one of these months. We figured you could handle that.

--j/k