2020 offers new vision of wine bars

One of my favorite culinary passages comes from M.F.K. Fisher’s “strengthening prescription for monastic supper” detailed in her book, “An Alphabet for Gourmets.” This restorative offering simply consists of crusty sourdough, ripe blue cheese, sweet butter and a bottle of Chianti or Tipo Red. Sometimes such a humble repast is just what the doctor ordered when one desires nothing more than the unfussy and comforting.

2020 Food + Wine Bar, named for its street address in Longmont’s Prospect community, offers a drinks-and-dinner experience very much in line with Fisher’s call for elegant simplicity. While the contemporary ambience here easily lines up with the neighborhood’s New Urbanist environs, there’s also a warm coziness at play, evidenced by intimate lighting and cushy seating.

The staff is informed, but it’s also low-key and free of the pretense that sometimes rears its head in wine bars. The menu is refreshingly brief, encompassing such nibbles as olives and hummus to more substantial cheese and salumi platters. Light entree salads and pizzas complete the bill of fare.

Cocktail selections embrace the classics with multiple martinis on tap. Other retro quencers such as Old Fashioneds, touted on the menu as Don Draper’s fave, and Moscow Mules served up in copper mugs also are available. Domestic craft brews, including City Star’s Bandit Brown, dominate the beer selections, and true to the spot’s name, wine is available by the glass, flight or bottle.

A $4 bowl of warm mixed nuts was the first to arrive at the table. These were far better than anything that comes out of can featuring a top-hatted and visually impaired legume. Peanuts actually were conspicuously absent from this top-shelf mix combining cashews, walnuts, pistachios and Marcona almonds. The warmth made the nuts’ flavor bloom, as did the impeccable but minimalist seasonings of salt and olive oil.

My dining companion and I went whole hog on the $16 salumi platter of five cured meats. While Italy’s prosciutto di Parma has become something of a cliche, extraordinarily thin slicing and correct serving temperature allowed us to fully appreciate this meat’s flavor subtleties. The plate’s star was the tartufo from San Francisco Bay area purveyor Fra’ Mani. A whiff of truffle, which underscored the meat’s complex flavor, made this salami a standout.

Matching the charcuterie was a $17 plate of five cheeses. Highlights included the Barely Buzzed cow’s milk selection, rubbed with complex espresso and floral lavender. Connoisseurs of the pungent will embrace the ash-ripened Bonne Bouche goat cheese, which was delightfully runny and tangy. Yes, some might question how difficult it can be to throw together a charcuterie or cheese plate. But each platter distinguished itself through eye-catching presentation, appropriate garnishes such as dried apricot and full-bodied whole grain mustard, and flavors that excelled in complementing one another.

On the lighter side, a $7 spinach and roasted beet salad came dressed with a balanced balsamic vinaigrette. Orange segments contributed sweet and tart highlights, which enhanced the dressing, and the baby greens were of unmatched freshness. Beets and walnuts added body to round out this dish.

Pizzas here feature Neapolitan-style crust offering something for everybody, including pleasingly pillowy edges dotted with spots of char. While some Naples pizzas are soggy in the center, the crust maintained both thickness and a crisp veneer throughout.

A $12 special topped with Italian sausage, greens and yellow pepper easily matched any other gourmet pizza one might find elsewhere. The anise-scented sausage happily lacked the oversalted and overprocessed flavor that has become the norm for this ingredient. Roasted greens contributed nutty notes to a creation carrying just enough spicy heat. Of the three vintages in the $12 Giro D’Italia flight, I found the Bella Vita Montepulciano and De Forville Langhe Nebbiolo too tannic for this pie. Happily, the Racemi Pietraluna Negramaro was a fine match.

The $12 mushroom pizza was wholly satisfying, spotlighting cremini, shiitake and portobello. Creme fraiche tempered these earthy elements, making for a flavor evoking the luxury of French duxelles. While my first bite tasted overseasoned, I quickly realized this perception came from aromatic rosemary rather than salt. This herb ultimately succeeded in serving as a welcome counterpoint to the pizza’s richness.

The understated approach at 2020 is unquestionably a successful one, and it won’t break the bank. Some eateries entirely miss the point of the joys of simple dining. But this wine bar wholeheartedly embraces the humble pleasures of a decent red, fine cheeses and salumi, as well as chef-crafted pizza.