The Barrel Room

The Barrel Room Restaurant Review:

Sommelier duo Sarah Trubnick and Carolyn Johnson team up with fellow somm Stephen Deyton (Michael Mina, Park Tavern) at this popular wine bar in a smart, stainless-steel-and-redwood-clad space in the Financial District. The wine bar reinvents itself quarterly with a rotating regional focus for both food and wine, with a wine list that favors obscure small-lot producers, and no fewer than 50 selections offered by the glass and flight. Executive chef Manuel Hewitt’s entertaining dishes for the Latin America focus feature Chilean classic “ostiones al pil-pil” (seared scallops in a serrano and cachaça broth) and tri-tip bathed in a delightfully lean gingered chimichurri. An eclectic charcuterie showcases house-made sausages, and pork belly seared to near ruin is surprisingly soft and buttery. Cocktails and spirit flights include the sweet, Fernet-forward “Mendoza, Midday” and a take on a tequila Manhattan. Bottles can be ordered to go from the adjoining wine store. Also located in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood at 5330 College Ave., 510-655-1700.