It looks like Alexandra Gill and I wrote pretty much the same review of Flite Restaurant this week in the Globe and the WE.

Here’s Alex on the food:

While Mr. Munsen is not reinventing the wheel at Flite, his dishes are flavourful and well-executed.

Here’s me on the food:

There’s nothing too exciting about his 24-item small-plates menu, but I suspect he isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel.

Here’s Alex (and her dining companion, wine guy Mark Davidson) on the wine list:

If only the wine program were better paired with the decent-valued menu and convivial nature of the room.

There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the grouping of two-ounce trios, which are all culled from the same list of wines by the glass.

The glasses are carried to the table in elegant silver serving holders, but not presented with any tasting notes, enlightening words of wisdom or suggested food pairings.

The flights come in a “hodge podge” of reds, “mixed bag” of whites and peculiar sampling of “aromatics.”

There are no varietal tastings and the regional groupings (Chile and California) seem to be thrown together.

“Flights of wine are for people who want to be taken somewhere and experience something new,” Mr. Davidson advises. “There’s nothing overly exciting about these flights, other than the fact that they are well-priced [from $7.50 to $11].

“If you put together a series of flights – and name your place Flite – then make the damn things interesting.”

Here’s me on the wine list:

The wine list was not quite what I had expected. For starters, it was poorly laid out, with every other listing inexplicably printed in bold. It was also weak in terms of food-crucial varietals like Pinot Noir, Riesling and Gewurtztraminer, and there were only two vintages referenced on the entire list (the ’99 Dom Perignon and an ’01 Châteauneuf du Pape). Out of 80 bottles on offer, only 23 were available by the glass (30-plus would cut it in the “wine bar” league), and only five namesake “flites” (sets of three two-ounce pours, to encourage tasting and pairing) were featured. With all its spelling mistakes and missed opportunities, the list read as if the wine aspect of this wine bar was a bit of an afterthought. Still, it’s priced right, with bottles hovering around $40 and rarely exceeding $60, so no one but the most tight-assed of oenophiles will give a winced shit.

It’s a good thing Mark Davidson isn’t a tight-ass, as I’d probably look a bit like a bit of a dick right about now…

For more of this week’s media dine around, click on…

Joanne Sasvari at the Vancouver Sun weighs in on the bar at the Four Seasons new Yew Restaurant.

Also in the Sun, Mia Stainsby reviews North Vancouver’s Chinese/Malaysian fusion spot, Okra.

Again in the Sun, Michael Kane gives us the low down on Scott Morison of Browns and Pinkys.

In the Georgia Straight, Angela Murrills does lunch.

In the North Shore News, Deana Lancaster reviews my former employer, The Beach House (which started getting better the day after I left). Hats off to chef Julio Gonzales-Perini. He’s really turned the place around.

——————— UDRIAs | February 18th, 2008