Appolo Vineyards has opened AV Cellar & Wine Bar at Tuscan Village in Salem. This veteran owned wine bar offers a selection of signature & regional wines including red, white, sparkling, rose, & dessert wines, Rockingham beers, and non-alcoholic drinks. For food, they offer a small selection of small plates & shareables including charcuterie, burrata, seacuterie (tinned fish), whipped ricotta, meatballs, antipasto bites, crudite (raw veggie plate w dip), and marinated olives.
There is seating at the wine bar and table seating, and the separate wine cellar near the entrance.
I stopped by AV Cellar & Wine Bar for food recently. I took a seat up at the bar and given a menu and ice water. I was not drinking on this visit. I ordered the Charcuterie Plate ($20 plus tax) and the Meatballs ($14 plus tax). Customers started arriving after I ordered my food.
The Charcuterie plate has an assortment of cheeses, 3 Italian deli meats, gherkins, toasted focaccia bread, fruit jam, & grapes. The 2 Meatballs were good sized, soft firm texture smothered in marinara sauce, whipped ricotta & parmigiano. The food was very good, even without the wine. Also, the customers sitting next to me ordered a wine flight (4), burrata with bread, savory whipped ricotta with roasted cherry tomatoes & balsamic reduction & olive oil, and the popular meatballs.
After I was done, I was able to settle up on the tab & pay with card through a Toast handheld device, which was $36.89 with tax and before tip. Overall, I like this place, which is small and seemed less hectic than most other restaurants at Tuscan Village. read more