Ideas are really pouring - CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK - Los Angeles Times

Wine bars are sprouting up in Southern California like mushrooms after rain. In West Hollywood, BIN 8945 Wine Bar and Bistro, which may be the most serious of the bunch, has opened near the corner of Santa Monica and Robertson boulevards. Think of it as the little wine bar that could. It has just seven seats at the bar, 18 more inside and 20 on the sidewalk patio out front. But the wine list encompasses more than 400 selections, and it goes deep into various wine regions, even deeper into vintages.

For wine buffs, this is going to be a little bit of heaven, where you can find classy white Burgundies and sought-after wines from the Rhône, wines made from obscure indigenous Greek grapes, or Rieslings from top Austrian and German producers. Cult California wines are sprinkled onto the list too.

And the food? Well, it's Caribbean- and Mediterranean-inspired, gutsy and delicious. Chef Matt Carpenter grew up on these tastes; his parents are both Caribbean. He attended the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and cooked at the wine-driven restaurants Eos and later Bacar there. At one point he was also sous-chef at Josie in Santa Monica.

Carpenter's menu is lighthearted and fun. Start with a plate of charcuterie or cheeses. The oyster and raw bar menu offers oysters on the half shell, perfect with a Chablis or Champagne. Or you can have them fried and served with remoulade sauce and Cuban mojo. A daily ceviche and a tuna tartare round things out on the raw front.

I loved the flaky beef-filled empanadas and the spicy glazed shrimp. Pan-roasted mussels come with coconut-curry sauce spiked with Italian sausage. The chef goes to the trouble to cure his own salt for his brandade, which is served with rafts of grilled bread. Tabletops aren't that big, so the best strategy is to order in flights, dancing back and forth among the small plates, slightly larger plates and even larger plates.

Meanwhile, wine director and owner David Haskell, whose father is a big wine collector and contributed many of the older bottles, will match dishes with wines. He's an enthusiastic presence on the floor, comfortable with people and ready to talk wine in an engaging and unpretentious way. A native Angeleno, he has worked at Guy Savoy in Paris, at Le Cirque and Aquavit in New York, and at Aubergine in Newport Beach.

Because it's West Hollywood, BIN 8945 (which takes its name from the street address) gets a wonderfully crazy mix of folks. The see-and-be-seen crowd naturally commandeers the sidewalk tables, while inside the rockers cling to the barstools and couples on a date gravitate to the quieter corner tables.

As soon as the wine aficionados discover this place, it's going to be hard to get a table. I can see it now: tables covered with bottle after bottle as enthusiasts do their best to drink their way through the eclectic cellar.

Fun.

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BIN 8945

Where: 8945 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood

When: 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesdays through Sundays

Price: Oyster bar, $8 to $28; small plates, $9 to $11; slightly larger plates, $12 to $18; even larger plates, $26 to $29; desserts, $4 to $8

Info: (310) 550-8945