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 Reviewed by Mark
Back a few years ago it just
seemed like everything got worse and worse for the merchants in
Hyde Park Village. First Jacobson's went out of business, then
the movie theaters closed, out went Polo and several
restaurants, then the Gap closed. We could go on about the
troubles for another paragraph, but things have turned around
nicely. For the retailers and restaurants that stuck it out, it
looks like Hyde Park Village is back on the map and ready for a
second life.
 For
several years a wine shop and restaurant, the Wine Exchange was
located on Swann Avenue near the movie theaters, obviously the
location was great back in the day, but the restaurant and wine
merchant developed a loyal following and was able to hold on and
has now moved into swankier digs right in the thick of things.
What an impressive Renaissance!
We tried the Wine Exchange
in Hyde Park Village on a crowded Saturday night and found it to
be fabulous. There is a tasty twist one of my favorite
sandwiches, they've turned it into a salad! The Cuban Salad
is made like this, Cuban vinaigrette dressing tossed in iceberg
lettuce with ham, tomato, green olives & Swiss cheese and served
with Cuban garlic bread. Delicious! A friend of mine tried the
Classic Carbonera pasta made with prosciutto and peas in
a creamy parmesan sauce over fettuccini. A third person went for
Blackened Chicken from the dinner entree menu and was
quite pleased, although he thought it could have been a little
spicier.
On previous visits we've enjoyed
the Black Bean Hummus as an appetizer and the Crab
Stacker is a must try; it's a sautéed blue crab cake served
on top of seared tuna, seaweed salad & avocado with tomato salsa
& sriracha (made from sun ripened chilies which are ground into
a smooth paste).
The restaurant also serves six
kinds of Pizza including the Athenian made with grilled chicken,
spinach and artichoke hearts with an olive oil garlic base and
topped with feta & mozzarella. Sounds good and that is
definitely the next thing we'll try!
So check it out and tell them the
gang at
Mark's List sent you!
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