The Demystified Vine

It’s lunch time, folks! How could I not talk about this amazing experience?

Next stop: Lunch at About Thyme Bistro 

This quaint little restaurant was recommended to the group by one of my partner’s friends. She researched local and good places to eat in and around the area of where we were tasting. Getting there was fine. Getting the vehicle up their hilly driveway in our rental car without snow tires from Avis was not fine (see Part I). As we pulled into the driveway, Martin and I quickly realized that we were driving downhill to the parking lot, and without being able to entirely “stop”, we proceeded to spend a solid 20 minutes attempting to get the vehicle back up the hill to park somewhere near the street. We were having no luck. Martin’s friends tried. Suddenly, the cook from the Bistro came out in his shorts, t-shirt and chef hat on, and offered to help. After a few successive tries and some salt, he got the car up. Three cheers (again and again) for Ryan — the hero of the day! Needless to say, we tipped really well.

Located at 3457 King Street in Vinelands, About Thyme Bistro provided us with a wholeheartedly fun dining experience. The 6 of us sat at the back of the restaurant at the communal table, surrounded by the soft chatter of other diners.

The menu, in all its modesty, is unfathomably filled with delectable goodies. Whether you are in the mood for the Soup of the Day ($6, made with vegetable stock made in house), a Bistro Hamburger ($15, house-made patty), or a more refined dish like Trout Fillet ($17, pan seared and served with Red ‘Cargo’ Rice, Indian Lentil Saute and Red Wine-Orange sauce), About Thyme had you covered. I chose to have the Bistro Poutine ($12) which, well, turned my crank. Here is the description right from the menu:

A twist on a great Quebec classic – we start with hand-cut Yukon Gold fries, top them with duck confit, grated aged cheddar and then finish it with house-made foie gras sauce.

Yes, folks. Read that again, and then look at the photo below:

Shawna, one of the fellow wine lovers, ordered their Charcuterie Plate ($19). If I had two stomachs or more, I probably would have ordered that as well. Filled to the edges with various slabs and slices of protein, I couldn’t help but stare at the plate. Cured and smoked meats, fish, house-made pates, and pickles graced the cutting board. Use your imaginations. For their entire menu, click here.

In addition to all this wonderfulness, I want to point out that About Thyme Bistro also has this really neat idea to keep low corkage fees. Why wouldn’t you, considering folks could buy a bottle from the area knowing they could open it at the Bistro for only $5- and sit at their communal table?

I would like to extend a warm thank-you again to those at About Thyme Bistro for their phenomenal service, food, and kind-hearted employee, Ryan, for a wonderful dining experience. I’m sure they are thankful we stopped by too; apparently everyone in the bistro had been watching us trying to get the car up the hill. Go team!

…Part IV coming soon! Up next: Tawse Winery!

Cheers!