Atlantic City Weekly

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NEW JERSEY IS VERY fortunate to have laws that permit any restaurateur the opportunity to open a restaurant and allow him or her to permit customers take their own favorite wines to match and enhance the food.

Chef Vola, for example, has been an Atlantic City hot spot for real wine lovers for a long time. Located at 111 South Albion Place (345-2022), it's basically hidden from the public. However, to get a seat at Chef Vola's, you will need reservations weeks in advance and don't be surprised if you're asked who recommended the restaurant to you.

Chef Vola is known for its Italian food and quality steaks. People take Barolo, aged Chianti and other great Italian wines as well as California Cabernets and Merlots to match the full flavors and super sauces. The wine glasses are sub-par, just a bit too small, and need to be replaced with larger, taller glasses and the smoking section has to go because traces of cigarette smoke destroy a fine wine's aroma. However, the realistic ambiance -- located in a basement off the street -- and the friendly service from family owners and staff make Chef Vola a must dining experience.

Tisha's in Cape May is a complete contrast to Chef Vola. It's located at 714 Beach Drive (884-9119) behind the Convention Center facing the ocean. It's open, airy, but about the same size. Reservations are also a must! No smoking is permitted. They have excellent large, clear, all-purpose wine glasses over white table cloths and a menu that compliments just about every wine I can think of to take. Take your best wines to Tisha's. Take more than one. Eat like they do in Europe; slow down and live a little.

I always start with a sparkling wine, something to savor while reviewing the menu. They'll have an ice bucket at your side in a blink. If you need an extra glass to open your big red so it can properly air before the entree arrives, you'll get it.

Between appetizer and entree, Tisha's is unique because it still serves a salad between your two courses. And after the salad, a small sorbet to prepare your palate for a different wine and an entree like pan-seared halibut with crab dressed in a white wine beurre blanc sauce. After all these years, there is still no charge for the salad and the sorbet! Brilliant marketing and a compliment to all wine-loving BYOB seekers.

A new exciting adventure for BYOB lovers is Cucina at the Sheraton at Two Miss America Way (822-7224) across from the train and convention center. Hundreds of BYOB fans remember Arthur Giordano when he ran the Cucina Rustica in Margate. Well, Arthur has recently opened his licensed restaurant to BYOB lovers once again. Yes, you can buy bottles of wines at the restaurant, or you can feel free to take whatever favorite bottles you have to dinner.

The entire menu demands wine to complete the flavors. The view is 21st Century Atlantic City. The glasses could be a bit larger and the old style bowls have to be replaced with proper modern shapes for the reds, but it's smoke-free to save your health and to permit you to linger over the aroma of great wines with real Italian food.

BYOB restaurateurs know that BYOB really means to bring your own wine. Most BYOBs with 60 tables will have wine on all 60 tables and usually two or three different bottles on each table. A licensed premise with 60 tables, charging its usual 200- to 300-percent markup, will have 40 tables with iced tea, 10 with wine and 10 with Coke.

Look for a future article about the entire area's best BYOBs and you and your wining-dining friends can make an entire tour through the region, savoring the finest foods with your special and best wines. Share your needs with the restaurant and the best ones will listen and comply. BYOBs provide a community service; they encourage small business, they help neighborhoods have activity and they offer a place for dedicated wine lovers to share their treasures.

Today's lovers of South Jersey's best BYOBs all have their favorite locations, but everyone seeks food that is compatible with wine, large clear glasses and a light or white tablecloth to highlight the presentation. Even the smallest village restaurant in Europe is aware of this; now the Atlantic City area is also enjoying this standard of living.

A former professor of English and Language, Dr. Mahoney is one of only 74 certified wine educators in the world. He is chancellor of the Dionysian Society International and president of the South Jersey Chapter of the American Wine Society. He has written books, articles and critiques of wines and restaurants locally and internationally and teaches courses for both the casual and distinguished wine enthusiast. He is president of Promotional Wine Consultants, a national teaching and research company. For information about participating in casual or formal wine classes, call 476-2728.

Three Keys to Great BYOBs

What makes area wine lover's return over and over again to a BYOB? Quality food that marries well with wine; proper large clear wine glasses and plenty of them, all set on white tablecloths to highlight both the wine and the food.

Cuisine that uses curry, jalapeno peppers or excessive blackened foods all destroys wine. People who often trek to BYOBs take their best or special bottles. They are the most knowledgeable wine people in South Jersey. They know, and so should the restaurateur, that BYOB really means BYOW, or Bring Your Own Wine!

Since wine is the liquid part of any meal, BYOBs afford the best opportunity to savor the best wines at a respectable price -- the retail cost.