| rev:text
| - Made reservations, arrived on time, and seated promptly, although we politely refused the two top directly next to the front door, which would have provided an Arizona summer heat blast with every entry and departure. There really isn't a dedicated hostess area, so people easily congregate right by an occupier of the aisle seat of that table as well. We were much more comfortable toward the back, although the tables are pretty close together, and a two top moderately cramped for table surface area. I know space is money, yada, yada, yada, but I'm not a fan of listening to the conversations of adjoining tables, and I'm less verbose with a dining companion in this situation. Service was polite and pleasantly provided. I don't respond well to the multiple water choice upsale, so it was delightful to have regular water in a generous container automatically placed on the table. Refills were handled with unobtrusive aplomb by what looked like a very young auxiliary staff. I have an extensive wine background, so I tend to be very critical of a restaurant wine list and pricing. Regrettably, very few restaurants regardless of their real or imagined reputations do wine with much thoughtfulness. Cafe Bink is slightly above average with their selection, but can't quite elevate above the ho-hum. If only anyone could tell their rep no when they suggest some piece of crap that they have egregious margins on. We got off on the wrong foot when I ordered an Arneis that they were out of. I wanted to order a full bottle of white wine, my wife and I like the grape because it is versatile, and it was in our price range for this particular dining experience, $50. Know your stock, people. I doubt very seriously that we were the first people to order this wine to find it MIA. I was annoyed because I knew my backup wine was a super poor value, a $25 retail Sancerre on the list for $75! I'll spare you my rant on even double retail wine pricing, but that is at least tolerable. Three times retail pricing is nothing but a rip off. Thankfully, at least the wine was an excellent example of the grape. Most waiters overfill your glass and the constantly try to top it off quickly in hopes you will blow thru the bottle and order more. I always make it clear I can pour my own wine, thank you. I felt the waiter was extremely understanding about this, which I greatly appreciated. As I mentioned earlier, the service was exemplary. Ok, so what about the food you say? It was quite good, and reasonably priced. Cafe Bink is the scion of the nearby fine dining, Binkley's. Chef Kevin has achieved a deservedly superb reputation for his skills. We had the beets, gazpacho, mussels, fish and chips, and eggplant Parmesan. All were skillfully prepared and presented. The spacing between the mussels and entrees was a bit long, but not distracting. Final tab: $62 for food + $75 for wine = $137 + tax and gratuity. $175. We were absolutely thrilled with the food. Five stars in this genre, casual gourmet. The space is somewhat cramped, the wine overpriced and lacking some imagination in the by the glass mode, so I knocked a star off. Will we return? Maybe for lunch, but it's a 30 minute drive, and in a remote location making it a very expensive Uber/designated driver situation, so probably not. There are closer branches to us, but the Scottsdale location is not open for dinner at this time.
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