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The old-world style Casablanca Restaurant, across from the Boardwalk (101 Main Street, second floor) bears more than one or two analogies with the good ship Titanic. Whereas the Titanic sunk below the surface, the Casablanca is only slightly lost in the fog. It has now resurfaced loudly and clearly with fog horns blasting, thanks in part to their exuberant and charismatic new sommelier, Uruguay-native Javier Abreu. All restaurants go through phases, upturns and downturns, and if you have not been to the Casablanca recently, as I had not, you owe yourself a visit.Since we are preoccupied with wine in this space, we will go directly there. Casablanca has what may be not only the biggest, and possibly the best, wine list in town, but also the most reasonably priced, especially when it comes to impossible-to-find classics. The restaurant lists more than 400 wines but the cave inventory exceeds more than 2,000. One hundred thirty-five wines are priced under $50. The restaurant resembles a fine old luxury liner. That illusion is extended by what looks like a three-sided Captain’s deck with giant picture windows that look out over the ocean to Pacific Grove (and beyond) plus a flight deck of crisp, white-linened tables anchored by brass railings. Casablanca may have the best view of any restaurant in Santa Cruz. The Casablanca, replete with attached motel, is flanked with a tiled deck that looks down on the wharf, the volleyball courts and the Boardwalk Abreu is one of a limited number of certified sommeliers in the country. Many un-certified wine stewards will respond to the name “sommelier” without acknowledging the distinction. This is similar to many good cooks responding to the name “chef,” whether entitled or not. Abreu attended school at Johnson & Wells in Florida, is a member of the U.S. Sommeliers Association and plans to receive his Master of Wine qualification. In addition to his ever expanding section of bio-dynamic and organic wines of the already stalwart wine list, Abreu has added a most unusual twist to the Thursday evening wine tasting flight plan. Many wine bars offer a flight of three to six good wines, but Abreu has added a jaw-dropping lure by including on each flight a mature, vintage wine from the restaurant’s massive cellar. The night we visited we were offered: a 2004 Muscadet, a 2005 Morgon, and, shockingly, a 1996 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon. Recently the flight included an ’88 Caymus with an ’89 Caymus planned in the next week or two. These wines, if you could find them at all, say, in a San Francisco wine bar, would cost $25-30 a glass. Most interestingly, for winter storm watchers, Abreu plans a weekly wine tasting club whereby each participant would bring a bottle of wine (no corkage fee) to be shared with others. The wine bottle labels would be hidden inside paper bags so, as Abreu explains, “We would taste the wines ‘blind,’ just like in a wine school. That way, each of us can learn to identify wines by their bouquet, nose, and taste, and to define wines without knowing in advance the varietal or the brand.” Interested parties should email Abreu at:
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, or call him at the Casablanca, 426-9063. Captain of the Casablanca, Chef/ General Manager Scott Cater is on his second tour of duty with the restaurant. “I began building a wine list in the ’80s with an eye to the future” he said. For the Casablanca, the future is now.
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