Otto Wine Bar
Address: 37 Tsar Ivan Shishman Str (in the green house)
Tel: 987 53 87
Open: Mon to Sat, 15.00 to 23.00

The first snow brings to my memory mementos of childhood. I believe that almost everyone who grew up in not-so-developed Bulgaria remembers that autumn would come in with certain smells, tastes, flavours, sights and feelings. I always associate falling leaves with the smell of burning coals for the heaters in most of the houses in the neighborhood where I lived back in the 1980s. I can never forget the taste of baked bread with butter, white sirene cheese and lyutenitsa at Sunday breakfast, while outside it was snowing and snowing. There was something special about waking up late on a snowy Sunday, being able to enjoy the cosy bed and just to snuggle up for half an hour more.

The people behind Otto Wine Bar have managed to capture this special autumn feeling and materialise it in their little piece of heaven. Otto is not just a wine bar or a classy restaurant serving more than 100 types of wine. To be precise they have in their cellar exactly 340 different wines from far and beyond, focusing mostly on the Old World, but with a few from Australia, California and South Africa. The very personal but unostentatious care of the staff, aka the waitresses and manager, makes Otto more like a place of an old friend of yours.

We were greeted by a cheerful and bright woman who happened to know quite a lot about wine. Violeta, as is the name of the manager, was always there, ready to provide us with her professional advice. Her sweet and smiling face truly stands forth for the whole atmosphere of the wine bar.

It was after the first few sips that I managed to get the true feel of the place. I still don’t know what it was. It wasn’t only because of the Riedel glasses, or the amazing ceiling made of hanging wine bottles, or the vases with ivy in them…Or it was all that combined that reminded me of my childhood.

After a while I was surprised to sense that the interior (three rooms on two levels, with the lower level being the coolest in temperature, and also where a small bar is found) lacked any pretentiousness or ostentatiousness. Even though all the decorations and furniture looked expensive, it took me a while to realise that they all have been chosen with taste. Something that sadly is not relevant for most of the restaurants and bars in and around Sofia.

After asking if we would be ordering wine by the glass or by the bottle, Violeta recommended a red Kamernero (2004 Barrique Reserve, unfiltered) from Kanov Vineyard, which was a true find. It comes in limited number of bottles that are produced under the close watch of a wine enthusiast, Mr Kanov. I wasn’t convinced that this would be the best choice among all 340 different types of wine, but I was pleasantly surprised. Wonderful purity and delicacy mark the entire wine experience from the first whiff to the last sensation provided by the wine’s finish, and it was seamless and delightful at every point in between. It came in at a reasonable price of 27 leva and was worthy every stotinka.

In addition to its interior and atmosphere, Otto won my admiration with its almost endless wine menu. It has many, many pages, all bound together in a little book. No matter what type of вино you would like to enjoy, they’ll most probably have it. I bet it on one of those magical fried onion circles that I was lucky to have!

I am very cautious when ordering food that comes with anything close to onion or garlic. Not that I don’t adore onion and garlic, it just a precautious measure for my colleagues. So when I saw those onion rings on the menu I hestitated. I knew that this dish would be the ultimate test. And Otto passed it with flying colours. After eating a whole plate of delicious fried onion rings, I didn’t needed any breath freshener. I believe that the invention of a sulphurcompound-less but still tasty onion is the most important invention in cooking after the baked bread with butter, sirene and lyutenitsa on a Sunday morning.

I feel obliged to mention the steamed fillet of pangasius with sauteed potatoes, which we ordered on another occasion. It has been a while since I have tasted fish like this – every single bite of it would melt, leaving a rich aftertaste of pinot blanc and cream. It is uncommon to comment explicitly on the side dishes, but those cubed potatoes sauted with butter were examples of how to prepare them – crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside.

In the end, Otto has proven to be a really nice place to spend a few moments away from the busy daily routine. Its relatively central location makes it a perfect place for impressing a client, escaping after work or just savouring a bottle of wine with friends.