She Eats Sixty Vines

There is a new kid on the block up in Plano from the Front Burner Restaurant Group, and they go by the name of Sixty Vines. Front Burner is the same group that is responsible for a wide range of incredible restaurants, from Mexican Sugar and Whiskey Cake in Plano to Velvet Taco and Ida Claire in Dallas. The menus at Sixty Vines are inspired by seasonal foods from the wine country, but sourced with local ingredients. Everything is made fresh in an open kitchen that makes for a very unique and fun dining experience. You can watch fresh meats being sliced and food cooking in the wood-fire kitchen, giving you the feeling that you are truly participating in the cooking process.

To date, we’ve had two incredible dining experiences at Sixty Vines, and we can’t wait to visit again. Every single food item is thoughtfully prepared, and pairs wonderfully with their extensive wine menu. We started with a Salami and Cheese Board, which featured salami, prosciutto, local sausage, and cheese from Texas and California. It was paired with mushroom foie gras, a fig jam, and marinated olives. This board was outstanding. Jared Givens, our bartender, paired it for us initially with a glass of Vine Huggers Sauvignon Blanc that boasts aromas of pineapple, pear, peaches, grapefruit, tangerine and lemon zest, a fantastic wine. We moved next to the Vine Huggers Chardonnay, a fuller white with aromas of lemon, apple, banana, and key lime pie with layers of caramel, crème brulee and stone fruits, also fantastic.

Next, we sampled several of the Shared Plates. The Crispy Zucchini was great, and quite popular with our group. It’s Tapioca dusted with peppadew peppers, cilantro and a sweet chili vinaigrette. This is a Happy Hour item, which means it’s $5 from 3-6 PM.

The Hummus is also a $5 Happy Hour item. It’s very unique, with one side featuring a red beet hummus and the other a sweet pea mint hummus, served with crisped flatbread. We aren’t huge fans of any of the featured ingredients in the hummus (beet, pea or mint), but it works together, devouring the entire thing!

The Toasts are our favorite Shared Plate item on Happy Hour for $5. One of the toasts has sea salt ciabatta with amazing avocado and togarishi. Another of the toasts has raclette cheese and a tomato bacon jam. They’re ALL great, but the best of the toasts has a hefty helping of brie and candied date jam on top that is made fresh in house prior to being served. We can’t wait to go back to order this again. It paired phenomenally with a glass of Vine Huggers Pinot Noir. The Pinot Noir has scents of raspberry, pomegranate and strawberry. It’s relatively mild, and one of my favorites of the Vine Huggers wines on tap.

The Manila Clams are also a must try on the Shared Plate menu. They’re covered in a creamy white wine chowder broth. There are small fingerling potatoes and carrots in the broth, and it’s served with large grilled ciabatta bread. Fantastic.

If you love Couscous, don’t forget to ask for a side. It’s so incredible, we got two orders!

We’ve tried two pastas on the menu so far. The Orecchiette was by far my favorite. It features bitter greens, apple chicken sausage made in house with Romano and chili flakes. It paired wonderfully with Vine Huggers Chardonnay.

The Fregola pasta was also very tasty, but a bit salty for my pallet. It’s a risotto style pasta with wild mushrooms and pecorino Romano.

We sampled one pizza, the Butcher, and this was one of our favorite items. It has a san marzano tomato sauce, soppressata, prosciutto, calabrese, provolone, and mozzarella, yet is not too heavy. We ate this with Vine Huggers “50/50” Red Blend. This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. It’s deeper than the Pinot Noir, and it has flavors of plum, cherry, and tobacco.

Let’s not forget dessert, they’re worth saving room for! We started with the Texas Olive-Oil Citrus Cake with mascarpone whip and seasonal compote. This is a very light dessert with great flavors, everyone loved it. This went famously with another glass of Vine Huggers Sauvignon Blanc.

Our absolute favorite dessert, however, is the Deviled Affogato. It’s a devil’s food cake with salted caramel ice cream and coffee caramel. It’s served with a side of the nitro cold brew coffee shot, and it’s to die for. We ate this with a glass of Vine Huggers Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cab is the boldest of the Vine Hugger reds with hints of blackberry, plum, blueberry, vanilla and spice. What a perfect ending to a perfect meal!

We strongly suggest visiting Sixty Vines. We have not had a single menu item that was less than incredible. The wine is phenomenal. The atmosphere and ambience are fantastic, and the service is outstanding. We want to give a shout out to the best bartender we’ve had in as long as we can remember, Jared Givens. Call ahead and ask to sit in his section. You’ll have one of the best wine and dine experiences of your life. If you prefer a table, on our second visit we were seated with the lovely Shay Garden, who also contributed to a fun and memorable second visit.

And let’s not forget about the beer on tap either! Jared made us a custom beer flight that included Ballast Point “Sextant”, Pilsner Urquell “The Pilsner”, Pitcolas “Velvet Hammer”, and my new favorite beer, The Bruery’s “Mischief”. Thanks Jared!