Cabin Pressure

REVIEW: Jet Wine Bar

by Adam Erace

Drew Lazor

Tarmac delays. Baggage charges. Body scans. In today's era of air travel, why would Penn archaeologist Jill Weber outfit her wee wine bar, Jet, with an airplane theme? "I wanted to represent the concept of a truly global vineyard," explains Weber, whose travels have introduced her to wines in exotic locations like Syria, Turkey, Armenia and Norway.

Snug as a coach cabin, Jet's street-level bar so captures the carefree terminal zeitgeist of the 1950s and '60s, you half expect a Catch Me If You Can Leo DiCaprio to hurry through the door with a gaggle of leggy blond stewardesses. It's rendered in chrome accents, resin surfaces and violet lights that make the room glow like a mosquito lantern in the night. Aluminum bar stools surrounding the bowed bar and four chairs in the front window counter bring the total seating to a trim 16, with standing room at the votive-lined drink rail and an 18-seat lounge tucked in the basement.

Jet serves cheese, charcuterie and snacks designed by consulting chef Matt Zagorski (late of Rouge) to complement the bar's by-the-glass stars: 12 reds, 10 whites, three roses and three sparklers, all reasonably priced between $6 and $15. "I tell reps to bring me the most unusual wines in their portfolios," says Weber, a request informing a list that includes a fizzy Cremant de Bourgogne "reminiscent of cream soda," a honey-banana Soave that "drinks like a rum" and Greek Retsina toned with pine, lemon verbena and thyme. The voluptuous Febre Montoya Torrontes is worth ordering for its nose, a summery honeysuckle bouquet, if not for its rubbing alcohol finish.

For food pairings, appeal to your bartender. Mine hooked up a glass of earthy Gamay that wrangled the sweetness of the zaftig squash soup, a great dunk for round little rosemary scones — other flavors include apricot and intriguing espresso-fig — baked for Jet by Rittenhouse café Nook. The chili, though quite tasty, could use a boost of heat, as could the strange carrot sticks "spiced" with cayenne, paprika and lime. They were like something you'd find in a Mexican kindergartner's lunchbox.

On the sandwich front, skip the skimpy speck-and-sottocenere — so little filling, the baguette easily muffles the ham's juniper-smokiness and the cheese's truffle essence — for the Jet Special, moist slabs of smoked pork-and-beef meatloaf on pumpernickel slathered with grainy mustard. It's uber-American for a place with such global ambitions, but while traveling, a taste of home is never unwelcome.

(adam.erace@citypaper.net)

Jet Wine bar | 1525 South St., 215-735-1116, jetwinebar.com. Lunch and dinner Sun.-Thu., 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m., bar till mid.; Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-11:30 p.m., bar till 1 a.m. Snacks, $3-$5; sandwiches, $9-$12; salads, $8-$9; meat and cheese, $3.50-$18.