Verve causes a buzz in Columbia City

There are plenty of things worth noting about Columbia City's new Verve Wine Bar and Cellar. Some of them are on the finely executed menu, such as the truffled spring-onion puree, a warm ramekin of organic white onions drizzled with truffle oil; or the savory ratatouille crepes filled with sautéed summer squash.

Others are on the walls: gallery-worthy pieces from local artists complemented by the austere design and understated, blond wood booths. The clean, airy space makes you feel as though you could sip away several glasses of riesling and enjoy increasing mental clarity with each one.

Most noteworthy about Verve, however, is what it means for what's outside its walls. Since its April opening, the buzz has been largely about Verve's heralding of Columbia City as the next Ballard. In fact, co-owners Cynthia Sisk and Kate Bond modeled their enterprise on Portalis, Ballard's beloved wine bar and retail store. Verve, the first such establishment in Columbia City's quaint business district, is an attempt to announce that the Rainier Valley is no longer just up and coming -- it has arrived.

If a recent Saturday evening is any indication, though, the customers have not. A few wanderers strolled in to browse the artwork and the selection of retail wines, but even fewer sat down to drink them. While nearby mainstays specializing in barbecue and Ethiopian cuisine packed in the neighborhood faithful, the small-plates-and-wine formula did not.

It might help if the menu actually offered wine flights or pairing suggestions. If there were more than half a dozen each of reds and whites available by the glass, Verve might be a place where the newly gentrified would want to sit and expand their appreciation of the vine. But with many neighborhood dinner spots featuring not only more numerous wines but also more substantial meals to soak them up with, there's little incentive beyond novelty to wine it up at Verve on an average night.

Tuesday nights, though, Verve goes above and beyond, hosting tastings of beer and wine from around the world, plus wine dinners and winemaker lectures. The wine bar's focus on high-quality local art also makes it a mandatory stop on the neighborhood's First Friday art walks.

So while Columbia City is definitely on the map, it may take the arrival of the light-rail station, expected to connect the Rainier Valley to downtown in 2008, to deliver the population that will signal that Verve's time has truly come.