WINE WITH A VIEW >>>

"Wine bar" has always seemed like a contradiction in terms to me. Don't get me wrong, I love wine and drink it avidly - perhaps with more avidity than discernment. It's just that putting the word "wine" before "bar," threatens to undermine the whole vivid set of expectations we have for bars. If I may quote from It's a Wonderful Life, when Nick the bartender verbally slaps George Bailey in his alternate universe: "We serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don't need any characters like you hanging around." THAT's a bar.

Morso, which opened Friday, May 21, at the head of Gig Harbor's bay next to Water to Wine retail shop, doesn't label itself a "wine bar" as part of its name or paste it in its printed materials, yet it feels like a wine bar. First, it serves wine cocktails such as Chambosa, Morso Fresh, Belly of the Bay and Bay Breeze - all ringing in at $5 a pop. The last two taste similar to a vodka peach and vodka cranberry, respectively, yet are wine based. Second, its bar resembles a bar as it installed an Enomatic on the back bar, which dispenses wine directly from the bottle in one-ounce pours while keeping the freshness intact with inert argon gas. The bottles could have been uncorked for weeks yet maintains that freshly opened taste.

And that's where the "bar" references stop. Morso, which roughly means small plates in Italian, is a handsomely decorated restaurant with a knowledgeable friendly staff, innovative gourmet cuisine with a spectacular view of Gig Harbor, especially when they open their huge patio. Owned by business partners Steven Lynn (Water to Wine owner) and Stephanie Huddleston, Morso is a casual drop-in wine bar that serves wine discoveries paired with flavors of the season. Locally acclaimed chef Jeff Bishop (Il Fiasco, Brix 25, Merende) leads the kitchen that serves beautiful crostini, cheese, salads, flatbreads and meat dishes. The small plates are priced between $5 (crostinis) and $14 (fish dish), but the preparations will change regularly. A "kitchen notes" sheet arrives with a menu, which diners select what they desire with checkmarks. For example, if you check the $13 duck, you'll currently receive "slow braised duck leg, creamy French lentils, sweet marsala-crimini pan reduction." That preparation could change at any moment according to seasonal choices, what arrives "fresh" or Bishop's mood. I'm hoping the $12 steak salad option - "Tender flat-iron steak cooked to perfection, peppery baby argula, friend quail egg, Worcestershire vinaigrette" remains on the menu until my next visit.

I give props to Morso bartender Ben Hollander, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America just outside Napa, Calif. All the owners, managers and Chef Bishop were on site the night I visited, yet they sat back and let Hollander explain the wine, food and business, which he did magnificently. Hollander knows his wine, and can talk food and wine pairing with ease, in a professional, yet relaxed manner.

Morso

5-10 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 5 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, 5-9 p.m. Sunday
9014 Peacock Hill Ave., Gig Harbor, 253.530.3463

LINK: More on Morso and Water to Wine in our Restaurant section