A Chic, Ultramodern Gathering Place

When the sun goes down and you feel like hanging out with your friends, there’s a new restaurant concept in downtown Woodstock that may just be your ticket.

Wink is the new place for a girls’ night out, a date night dinner, happy hour with classic cocktails and signature drinks, live music and a dance floor ready for you to showcase your moves.

Ultramodern and oh, so chic, Wink’s crisp, clean lines, metallic bar tops and cool colors belie the warm and friendly atmosphere you will find there.

Billed as a late-night dessert restaurant, it delivers much more than you would expect. The designer desserts are from the award-winning Alpine Bakery in Alpharetta, and that alone should be enough for you to rush right over with all of your friends and family.

I selected the most popular dessert, the 6” Stiletto: one layer each of red velvet cake, carrot cake, yellow cake and devil’s food cake separated by chocolate icing, cream cheese icing, strawberries and pastry cream, cocooned with whipped cream and then brightened with rainbow sprinkles ($7.67). I could not eat this mile-high dessert in one sitting, so share with another sweet-toothed companion.

At the bar enjoy signature drinks such as The Tara, made with 13th Colony Corn Whiskey from the only legal distillery in Georgia; or the Winktini: or the Wink for Pink—a Drink with a Cause, where portions of the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.

You can feast on charcuterie and cheeses: 11 small plates of  prosciutto, sopressata, mortadella and coppa meats and goat, cheddar, manchego, mozzarella and camembert cheeses served with French baguette, spicy mustard, mayonnaise, crackers, berries and sweet fruit preserves. These range in price between $6.72 and $8.42.

I chose to enjoy the Spanish manchego (cheese made in La Mancha, Spain) cheese plate, a firm and pale-yellow sheep’s milk cheese that has been aged for six months ($6.89). This is one of my favorites. It has a nice, firm bite and a slight briny taste with layers of lanolin and roast lamb.

There are currently four unique salads on the menu together with other noshes like hummus, proscuitto-wrapped deviled eggs, shrimp ceviche, crab dip and lettuce wraps ($6.79 to $11.86).

I have some inside information that new additions to the menu will make their debut before the year’s end, so it may be an exciting time to venture there and celebrate with live music and champagne toasts on New Year’s Eve.

An impressive list of red wines, white wines, dessert wines and reserves by glass and bottle for most selections. All of the reserves are available “by the bottle,” as well as the Black Bubbles Shiraz—a sparkling Shiraz that I tasted a year ago and found to be an exceptional garnet-colored sparkling wine with flavors of blackberries, black cherries and a hint of anise. This one is festive and perfect for a special occasion.

Wink’s calendar includes Wednesdays for wine tasting and live jazz music; Thursday Ladies Night with $5 martinis and live music; Friday Happy Hour specials, DJ music and dancing; and on Saturdays a live band to keep you dancing through the night.

Dinner is served from 6 to 9 p.m., then stay for fabulous desserts, live music, fun drinks, friendly people and lively conversation. It’s a keeper!

Wink is at 380 Chambers St., Woodstock. Phone: 678-383-6332. On the web at www.winkwoodstock.com.