May 11, 2022

Brix Wine Bar, the latest addition to the Sioux Falls food and beverage scene from the owners of R Wine Bar & Kitchen, is ready to open.

It’s located at Washington Square, 330 S. Main Ave., in the space that used to be Wine Time on Main.

Owners Riccardo and Marybeth Tarabelsi have kept the furnishings largely the same, with a little rearranging and a couple of additions.

“It will be fun to see what niche we’ll fill at this location,” he said. “This might be the place people come for a glass of wine or bottle before or after dinner or before or after a show.”

Because they aren’t sure of the demand for food, the menu will start with charcuterie prepared at R Wine Bar, a caprese salad, a flourless chocolate torte and Tuscan truffles, which were the featured appetizer at R Wine Bar for the recent Downtown Restaurant Week. They’re small goat cheese balls garnished with pistachio and pine nuts.

The wine menu is an international list, but the approach by the glass is minimal by design, Tarabelsi said.

“We have four whites and four reds, and that’s it,” he said. “We’re predicting we’re going to sell more bottles than glasses because the bottle list is diverse.”

Almost every country that produces wine is represented, with prices ranging from a $9 glass to a $1,000 bottle, “and everything in between,” he said.

An early menu favorite is a chocolate and wine experience that pairs four 2-ounce pours with four different chocolates.

There also will be a few local craft beers, soda and flavored San Pellegrino on the menu.

Other unique additions to Brix include a custom cribbage board for the coffee table, which “I think people might find a fun thing to do,” Tarabelsi said.

The decor also includes a signature Vespa scooter, which reminds Tarabelsi of his native Florence, Italy.

There will be one parked at the couple’s next offering, Maribella Ristorante, when it opens later this year a couple of doors down at Washington Square too.

“Vespas remind me of my childhood growing up in Florence, and my favorite part of those memories is Italian Vespa drivers are crazy,” Tarabelsi said. “They go up sidewalks and through alleys and zooming all over, so it’s a fun memory and fun to see them parked at our properties.”

He plan to open the patio at Brix by June 1. Maribella is making progress with construction, and eventually the two establishments will have the same hours.

For now, Brix is open from 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and from 4 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.