Vertical Wine Bistro Gets Pimped

Where o' where has David Haskell been hiding? Word on the street was Pasadena, now here are the details. Haskell has teamed up with producer Gale Anne Hurd to spiffy up her 3-year old Raymond Ave. wine bar/restaurant Vertical. Haskell has signed on as director of operations and "wine pimp" and will introduce new California-inspired menus for both the wine bar/lounge and the dining room. Naturally, the wine bar area will feature a selection of smaller plates, cheeses and charcuterie, with the full monty (multi-courses) available in the main dining room. In addition to a menu revamp, the restaurant itself will get a makeover. The interior of the bar/lounge and dining room is getting a wardrobe change to create a warmer, sexier atmosphere, and the open air courtyard on the ground level will be re-outfitted to look like an English garden (soon open for lunch and champagne brunch). No shocker, there have also been tweaks to the 400+ wine list and Haskell has expanded the by the glass offerings to nearly 80 selections.

Also coming into play are the wine flights. Haskell plans to offer five flights nightly with the option of a personally customized tasting experience based on one's personal vino preferences. And if that wasn't wine-centric enough, Vertical will introduce a series of weekly and monthly wine events begining in November with Wine Wednesdays (tasting/pairing class headed by Haskell) and monthly wine dinner beginning soon there after. [EaterWire]