Hidden behind Oystera on the main street of Todos Santos are beautiful gardens, a vineyard, a sunken ship, picnic tables and Vino Park. As you enter the parking area through the gate on the east side of Oystera, you will see two huge Chinese gates on the right. These are the entrance to Vino Park. As you walk through the gates, for the first time, you see the incredible vista of gardens, vines and more. Down a series of stairs is the two-level deck that is the main part of the Vino Park, overlooking the vineyard. The bar and kitchen on the right include a wood-fired oven for pizza, bread and more.
We had attended the grand opening party of Vino Park in June, which featured all of the wine and pizza (with slices lots of different kinds being walked from table-to-table) you could drink and eat. As this was the first time that we had been back, we wanted to experience other items from the menu. We were joined by Richard Hastings, an amazing guitarist and his wife Theresa. Our server provided us with drink and food menus and asked if we would like sparkling or still water and check to see if we had any allergies.
As we were exploring the menus, Ibrahim, the chef of Vino Park and Cerritos Tropical came to the table as asked if we trusted him to decide our dinners for us. When a chef asked this question, you know that you are about to have an amazing experience. We enthusiastically said yes. The result was incredible.
Our dinner started with a charcuterie board of cheese and meats and the baked brie. Both came with crusty bread toasted in their wood-fired oven. The charcuterie board came with three different types of cheeses, three sliced meats, olives and pickles. Ibrahim suggested that in each case we add some of the fresh strawberry jam to the bread before choosing the cheese and sliced meats that we might want to add. The strawberry jam was a delicious layer added to the other choices. But that wasn’t the end of the appetizers. Ibrahim then served their hummus with garbanzo and other beans and a large, puffed pita. Ripping a piece of the pita and putting in the selection of hummus was delightful.
We were getting full but they came to clear the table for the next course. The first item was one of their wood-fired pizzas with cheese, a special pork and bacon on top. As were each grabbing a slice, the lasagna arrived. And when we thought that Ibraham was through, he offered the smoked ribs with corn on the cob and tzatziki. The range of flavors from the menu were truly amazing. It was a lot of food but it allowed the four of us to sample most of the items from the menu. What an experience!
But it wasn’t over – there was still dessert. The apple tart with vanilla ice cream was to die for. What a way to end the meal. Throughout all of these courses, Therese and I enjoyed an Italian Chardonnay – La Cappuccina – Richard, some limonada mineral and vodka on the rocks and Beth, sparkling water.
As we were finishing dinner Abe Juarez, one of the owners of Oystera joined us to find out how we enjoyed our meal and tell us about some of his upcoming plans including the Gastrovino Festival at Santa Terra on December 10th and a wine club for Vino Park with some great benefits.
Thank you, Ibrahim for the incredible meal – the food, presentation and service were excellent. We are going back for the Gastrovino event.
For more information about Santa Terra Vino Park visit them on Facebook on https://www.facebook.com/SantaTerraTS or visit Oystera on their website at https://www.oystera-ts.com/ or visit them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OysteraBar
