Honolulu Weekly

Maybe you’re tired of drinking cheap domestic drafts from a tap that hasn’t been cleaned in a decade. Perhaps you’ve been kicked out off all the sports bars in and around Waikiki. But if you’re like many people and headed for a first-time wine bar experience, you probably have a date and you don’t want to suggest happy hour at the local watering hole. You want to show you have a modicum of class. You’re dressed to impress, wearing the suit that makes people who apparently haven’t seen a new movie in a decade tell you that you’re ’so money.’ The only problem is, you might not know the difference between Shiraz and Shinola.

Drive into the lower level of the dilapidated Market City Shopping Center and your date might think you’re suggesting an evening filled with 50-cent Jell-o shots. But walk through the door for Formaggio (if you can find it–the non-descript signage and blackened windows make it look like they closed down in the ’80s) and the atmosphere changes to one that is both relaxed yet upscale: low-lit with a tasteful black-and-oak motif. But that still might not change the fact that the last bottle of wine that you bought weighed about eight pounds and cost $5.

But don’t start sweating through those fancy clothes just yet. The atmosphere at Formaggio encourages sampling, switching featured wines once and sometimes twice a month, creating an environment where even regulars are newbies. The majority of the featured wines can be purchased in two-ounce samples for the wary, meaning if you think Cabernet tastes more like a carburetor, you can move on quickly to something more to your liking.

Still, if wine makes you think of children at a Wal-Mart, they offer a full bar and even the old hopsy standard (that’s beer, for the wine people) is a big seller. More important, Formaggio has a full menu, ranging from the ever-present tapas, to the full scale, high-end menu items with an Italian flavor made to impress both your taste buds and your date. Tables are arranged to accommodate small groups or couples looking for a bit of quality romantic wooing, but more often than not, these are pushed together to increase your sampling size, particularly on the weekends when live entertainment plays just steps away from the seating area. Just remember, with the small size the place fills up quickly and early, and waitlists are not uncommon.

Formaggio

2919 Kapi’olani Blvd., 739-7719

Getting In: 21+ Dress Code: Semi-casual Soundtrack: Light jazz and rock; live acoustic entertainment in the evening Sightings: Kim Gennaula, Guy Hagi Signature Drink: The Merlot backlash has finally ended. Take that, Paul Giamatti!