Trust Thy Palate

When we first moved downtown in 2005, the area north of Calhoun known as "Upper King" was in its development infancy. I felt a rush of excitement when new entrepreneurs decided to roll the dice and open establishments closer and closer to the Crosstown. The Trusted Palate (http://www.thetrustedpalate.com) is one establishment that I have watched evolve with the neighborhood. 

And evolve it certainly has.

The first time I went inside and met Ian (the owner), there was no furniture or kitchen (in fact, there were no bathrooms either!) - just a large empty space surrounded by shelves of very good wines and walls of mirrors. And yes, mirrors - hand-made, antique mirrors to be exact - which were really cool.  The owner of the building had a mirror shop in the back and used Ian's wine store to display his product. You had to admit that it was pretty cool to sip fine wine and walk around looking at all the cool mirrors. So you see, back then, The Trusted Palate was just a wholesaler type-place where you could buy bottles of really cool wine - but if you talked to Ian (and he is always willing to converse with patrons), you knew the long range plan called for much more. 

The next several iterations of evolution involved the addition of furniture (the sofas, chairs, tables that you see today). Then came kitchen equipment and a menu with food (there was also another owner that came in the picture, but I think that ended as quickly as it started.) Then the mirror shop left and The Trusted Palate expanded to the entire bottom floor and added two bathrooms. (As a fellow renovator, I must give props to Ian for doing a lot of the reno work himself as well.) I should note that when the mirror shop left, the walls were repopulated with cool pieces of art from local artists. 

So there you have it - a history of The Trusted Palate in two paragraphs. And that history brings us to The Trusted Palate that we all know and love today. 

Great wine selection - Ian the owner, is a master of wine and has some kind of crazy doctorate in it and damn does he know his stuff. If you ask him to pick a bottle for you, I guarantee you will not be disappointed. They have also expanded into beer and have done a great job on the selection. Great atmosphere too - chairs are comfortable, the art is cool and the music is hip (although the word "hip" may not be anymore) - they do have live bands throughout the week (Wednesday-Saturday at 9PM). Bottom line is its a great place to kick back and enjoy a quality drink. Finally, the food. Good cheeses, olives and hommus - all things that go well with wine. 

So, just trust your palate and go - it won't be misplaced.