Does anybody know any details about Copia Wine Bar in the Vanguard Loft building...



it has an opening soon sign and when you look inside it appears that it will have 3 sections, a wine store, a restaurant and a wine bar



I walked past it this wekeend on the loft tour and it looked almost done inside, but I have heard absolutely nothing anywhere about it. It looked awesome inside

Haven't heard much about it, although I did hear a new wine bar was going in on Wash Ave. It's good to hear that it's close. It'll have to be pretty awesome to be as good as Erato and 33.

I am going to be working there part time as a server.

We will have the largest outdoor patio, which is on the back side of the building and will have bands and a bar there. Inside we will have a small market with higher end goods much like lucas park market. Also will have a very large wine room and cellar. if i remember right are list will be around 800 or 900 by next summer. We will also distill are own wines around 4 in the first few months. There is also a large private room in back. We are planning on opening around Oct 8th.

Thanks for the information viae! MidcoastSTL had mentioned the Copia Wine Bar on this fourm back in late July, but other than that I haven't heard anything about it either.

Great News! That sounds like a cool idea, I had no idea about the patio... Plus I should be in town that weekend to check it out.

This bit was in today's Dining Section in the P-D. My own personal note, hurray for the people who fought to keep this from becoming another parking lot 15 years ago.





What's opening or closing

By Joe Bonwich

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

09/21/2005



Copious new downtown restaurants



The downtown Loft District restaurant expansion continues on Oct. 13 with the opening of Copia (1122 Washington Avenue, 314-621-7275), with former longtime Aqua Vin chef Dave Rook (of the famous St. Louis Rook family cooks) in charge in the kitchen. The renovation of the large, architecturally significant structure is a particular vindication for the preservationists who successfully fought about 15 years ago to save the building from being torn down to be converted into what was then one of the city of St. Louis' favorite growth engines: a parking lot. The building was purchased in 2000 by Eyad Tammas, who will run the restaurant, and his partners.

brickandmortar wrote: The renovation of the large, architecturally significant structure is a particular vindication for the preservationists who successfully fought about 15 years ago to save the building from being torn down to be converted into what was then one of the city of St. Louis' favorite growth engines: a parking lot.

That was funny. Favorite growth engine.

<A HREF="http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050928/cgw0 ... =29">Copia Restaurant Brings Spirit of the Vineyards to the Heart of Downtown St. Louis</A>

Wednesday September 28, 9:05 am ET



Urban Winery-Restaurant Will Age Wine On-site to Complement Progressive American Menu



ST. LOUIS, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Copia Urban Winery continues the revitalization of downtown St. Louis' hot dining district by introducing its "urban winery" concept on October 13, 2005. Along with partner Les Bourgeois winery, Copia will create house wines that will be aged on-site in stainless steel vats in Copia's wine aging room. "Once our wine has aged, we will be able to serve wine directly from the vats -- we will truly be an unique addition to the St. Louis dining scene," states Angie Bustos, the general manager at Copia.



<A HREF="http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050928/cgw007.html?.v=29">>>> read more</A>



Copia Urban Winery

1122 Washington Avenue

St. Louis, MO 63101-1122



Restaurant Hours: Monday-Saturday from 11 AM - 11 PM

Bar Hours: Monday-Saturday from 11 AM - 1 AM

Retail Wine Shop: Monday-Saturday from 9AM-11PM



Web: http://www.copiawine.com

Phone: 314-621-7275

Les Bourgeois?



That's actually a little deflating. As a self professed wine snob, that's not the best wine they could have worked with. There is a ton of great great wine in the Missouri region. They should have gone for Montelle, their wine is always solid and they have the best Cynthiana and Norton in MO. I say that a little regrettably, since I really don't like going to their winery.



I'm still looking forward to the opening. At least they'll feature other wines I can taste. :p

^Really cool concept. Is this cosmopolitan?

Nah, couldn't be. Otherwise it would be in Clayton.

I was there Friday night. The back patio is incredible, this will definitely compete with Lucas Park for the late night crowd. The service wasn't too impressive, but they are still working out the kinks. I guess it's our fault for going on the second night since opening. In any event, this is an EXCELLENT addition to Washington Avenue. Afterwards, we went to Dapper Dan's on Tucker, which is quite a step back in time. It was the first bar in St. Louis to get a liquor license after prohibition and Al Capone used to be a regular when in town. The bartender will tell you all about this...and the mens room has a trough!

JCity,



I went last night to Copia. Did you eat?



The food is incredible. I had the Ahi Tuna and it was awesome. I went with my cousin and my aunt, and they split the steak, which was so tender. Really, the food is outstanding.



I agree with the service, our waiter was nice enough, but I think overall there are improvements needed to it's staff and more. Personally, I thought their caesar salad had way too much dressing, the dressing was delicious so it ended up okay, but less dressing is better. Also, they needed some sort of bread or crackers on the table. A wine restaurant needs something to cleanse your palate for those who would be switching wines during the meal. Frankly, I saw that as a big faux pas.



We also sat on the patio and it was great, it's huge! It should be interesting to see how they react during the winter months, because the dining room isn't particularly big.



But overall, a great place, and I hope it does really well.

Does anyone have a photo of this place to post?

I went to Copia for my birthday on Saturday and I really enjoyed it. I don't have a picture to post (I forgot), but the place was very warm with dark reds and golds. Like many places on Washington Ave with high ceilings, it was louder than I would have liked for dinner but I quickly got over it.



The food was good. Between everyone at the table we tried a couple of appetizers (calamari and cheese plate) and four different entrees (filet, strip steak, scallops, and one of the pizzas). Everyone enjoyed their dinner. I do think it will get even better. They've only been open for two weeks now. The prices are $10 for pizzas, $12-15 for a couple pasta dishes, $30 for steak, $25-28 for some seafood choices. The appetizers were from $9-13.



The manager(?) Jeff Read came by and gave us his card and asked us to please contact him with any comments, suggestions, complaints. I think he made our server nervous by standing and watching while she served the wine. The wine list has probably 20-25 wines by the glass and then many pages of wines that can be bought from their connected market. Those prices do not include the $8 corking fee.



The outdoor patio is awesome. They have two large projector screens that had the baseball game on. You don't really feel like you're outside because the patio has a roof and space heaters.



Overall, I had a really good time and enjoyed the atmosphere. The bar area was packed and I didn't see any open tables in the restaurant. The patio wasn't that crowded but I'm not sure how many people knew it was there. If you didn't already know then you'd have to venture to the restroom to find it.

I just found a pic of the patio area on St. Louis Front Page. Looks beautiful.

Here's that pic:

What is "Washington Avenue above Tucker"?

Since Tucker is 12th, I assume he means Washington above 12th St...e.g. 13th, 14th?

Doh! Didn't even occur to me that "above" could refer to street/address numbers.



They have powerscrubbed the cobbled segment regularly in non-winter months, I guess they just don't bother scheduling when it might be too cold (and the time of year when salt trucks make it even more necessary).

... not to mention that Copia is on Washington "below" Tucker.

... no one ever said it was above Tucker.