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Walking back to my table at Celebration's Imperium Wine Room, I spotted a red "8" stenciled on the polished concrete floor. Wondering if maybe it was left from the previous tenant, I asked. "It's a Chinese lucky number," my server said. It was then I noticed multiple scattered 8's. A quick web search and I now know that the word for "8" sounds similar to the word for "wealth." That's funny because one of the things that brought me to Imperium was the selection of inexpensive wines by the glass.
Arriving: Imperium has two patios, which is great now that the weather is cooling off. You can sit out front along Market Street or in back near the parking lot. The street seems more romantic at first, but the back area is quieter and has more elbow room. Inside, there's tables and a small bar with pop-art screenings of a Chinese Buddha odd since Buddha said intoxication is a no-no.
Scoping: I stopped in after work on a weekday and spotted mostly folks in their thirties to fifties, although one family had brought both Granny and a couple kiddos. The single cougars migrated to the bar while couples and office groups grabbed tables. A poker game was going in the back.
Drinking: No hard liquor in this wine room, though you can get bottled beer. Imperium has two wine lists. The "Reserve" menu is where you'll find "bottle only" wines in the $32-$60 range and glasses between $8 and $10. The "5-6-7" menu is all by-the-glass wines, both red and white, broken down into $5, $6 and $7 categories or $2.50, $3 and $3.50 if you order Monday through Friday, 4-7 pm. That's the kind of deal that makes you tell the boss you have a 4:30 doctor's appointment.
The $5 Bel Arbor White Zinfandel from California was much less cloying and syrupy than I expect from a zin, almost crisp (almost). The Chilean $5 Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc hit me with notes of pear and citrus. Moving over the the reds and up to the $6 glasses, the Spanish Rojo Mojo Shiraz has a tinny note that put me off at first. I like more spice, but it's a drinkable table red.
Chewing: I've noticed that a lot of wine bars, Imperium included, don't bother with a full kitchen. Judging by the menu of salads, sandwiches and flatbreads, I'd guess that the kitchen skipped the grill and fryer, getting by with a fridge, panini presses and an oven.
Imperium shrimp ($8) are the basic battered (baked to reheat) variety, plussed up with a sweet chili dressing and a collection of veggies and crunchy bits that the menu calls "traditional garnish wrappers" - even though nothing was big enough to actually use as a wrapper. I will say the shrimp had good texture and full shrimp flavor.
I tried two panini. Smoked turkey and Brie ($9) also includes slices of Granny Smith apple for texture and sweetness. Sauceless blackened chicken alfredo ($9) is needlessly confusingly named, so I'll clarify shreds of rotisserie chicken tossed with Cajun seasoning, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, fresh basil and fresh parsley. The sandwiches are small for the price, but then, they also come with a small greens salad not mentioned on the menu.
Upper Crust Pizza is literally next door, so Imperium has to offer unique flatbread topping combos. The smoked salmon flatbread ($10) is actually two long oval crusts with an herbed cream cheese, mixed greens, red onion and capers. Everything is pretty fresh though the flatbreads themselves seem premade and cooled off quickly.
Dessert? Sure, why not? Despite the clichéd name, my table settled on splitting the $10 Death by Chocolate. That would be a plate of vanilla ice cream (yeah, not chocolate) with ganache, squares of a couple different cakey/fudgy/crunchy things and drizzled with a chocolate sauce. It's OK, just not enough chocolate to actually justify the homicidal name. It's like you went to the frozen dessert section and bought four things, cut them up and put them on a plate.
Going: I didn't spot any of those magical 8's in the men's room, but it's got one of those fancy faucets that comes out like a waterfall. It's like washing your hands in Vogue or GQ.
Departing: I don't see myself rushing back to Imperium just to eat, but if I'm there and I'm on that third glass of late afternoon $3 wine, I could see myself throwing a little solid food on top of that vino before glass number 4.
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