Wine plays a major role at Pres a Vi, a hot new restaurant that draws a hip after-work crowd during the week. It is in George Lucas' brand-new Letterman Digital Arts Center in the Presidio, a decommissioned U.S. Army base. The parklike setting offers a stunning view of the Palace of Fine Arts and the Golden Gate Bridge. Apparently Pres a Vi is the first of a cluster of new restaurants to open in the Presidio, just across Lombard Street from the Marina District.
We visited it on a Sunday afternoon for a late brunch after enjoying some time in Central Park and visiting The deYoung. Our friend Judy (AKA Diva) suggested it to us. Judy knows her food so we were ready to go . . . then the clincher, she had 'insider information': her nephew works in their sister restaurant in Walnut Creek and had good things to say about it. For outsiders like us, this new small-plates restaurant was also an excuse to roam the 23-acre Presidio campus.
The big, airy space has a broad, barrel-shaped ceiling and a strategically placed walk-in show cellar displaying some of the offerings from the 500-selection book. The wine menu is a large card detailing 16 different three-wine flights, which can be ordered as 3- or 6-ounce pours, lists three dozen small-plate options. We were seated by the wine cellar and I'll admit to drooling over it; talk about a playground for adults.
Chef Kelly Degala -- who grew up in Hawaii and trained in Italian and French cooking -- brings an international flair to the small-plates menu. Because the restaurant is twice as big as his suburban property in Walnut Creek, he's transferred his base of operations here, and orchestrates the chaos behind an arched opening framing the kitchen.
Also because of its size -- there is a 40-seat lounge with a 38-seat bar area, three dining areas, private 
dining rooms, an open kitchen, a glass-enclosed wine room and an outdoor patio that seats 40 -- the restaurant is like no other in San Francisco. The host station looks more like a hotel concierge desk, with its red-shaded lamps, curved facade and conservatively dressed greeters.
We knew as soon as the bread basket arrived that we would adore this place. It was full of a variety of breads, flat breads, oat cakes, and other delicacies. It was accompanied by a bowl of chilled sweet butter topped with smoked sea salt and a bowl of basil infused olive oil. Each of the different breads was perfectly made and served to whet our appetites for more without quenching them (as if that would EVER happen!)
There was a lot to choose from on the lunch menu, which offers more than 30 savory items, plus daily specials. Because the restaurant is a 'small plates' menu we ordered a number of things and shared. We tried a green papaya salad with grilled chicken, the famous duck buns, wild mushroom ravioli, and an ahi tuna melt. The food was all incredible!
"Small plates" is something of a misnomer. Degala's eclectic menu takes the concept up a few notches as it touches on many of the ethnic cuisines that we love. Actually, Degala puts normal amounts of food on really big plates, which gives him the scope to make them look enticing.
The "duck buns" packed shredded Peking duck, predressed with hoisin sauce, watercress and cilantro, into four of the traditional chewy white buns and lined them up on a long rectangular plate.
None of these dishes we tried topped $11, and most others cost less than $15.
Desserts, all priced at $8, were big enough for two or three normal appetites. You would expect to pay much more for such generous servings in a restaurant that looks this good and achieves this kind of quality in taste and presentation.
The big wine list cuts as wide a swath through the wine world as the menu does through the culinary arena. Markups are less than double retail in most cases, and there are plenty of choices for less than $50, such as Casa Lapostolle Merlot Rapel Valley 2005 from Chile ($25) or Viña Cobos Malbec Mendoza El Felino 2004 ($36) from Argentina.
The restaurants' names reflect a worldly wine sensibility. Perbacco, literally "for Bacchus," is an Italian exclamation for something that's unexpectedly good. Pres a Vi plays on the Presidio location, and, according to the restaurant, the phrase loosely translates in the Catalan dialect to "swept away by wine." The two sentiments easily applies.
When we return to San Francisco, we will look frward to being swept away once again.
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