Salto Wine Bar

Salto is the most polished of the new-wave wine bars that have opened in Corfu Town over the past decade. The restaurant occupies a small corner building in the fashionable Spilia district — the part of the Old Town that runs down toward the fish market and has become the heart of the island's younger restaurant scene. The interior is a narrow, low-ceilinged space of whitewashed walls, an open kitchen against the back, and a fourteen-seat bar counter that faces the pass.

The menu is short and rotates frequently — eight to ten small plates and three or four larger sharing dishes, changing according to what's landing at the morning fish market and what's come up from the family farms in central Corfu. Octopus tempura with black-sesame mayonnaise is the house opener. A herb-encrusted rack of lamb with wild-green pesto is the signature sharing plate. Smaller plates — charred aubergine with yoghurt and wild oregano, Corfu cured meats, a single perfect slice of aged kefalograviera cheese with honey — round out the ordering.

The wine list is where Salto distinguishes itself. Greek producers dominate, with a particular focus on the newer indigenous-variety revival — Robola from Cephalonia, Malagousia from Imathia, Xinomavro from Naoussa, and the small Corfu producers from Agros and Sinies. The by-the-glass selection changes weekly and is unusually deep for the Ionian; flights of three Greek whites or three Greek reds are standing menu items.

The bar counter is the best single seat in the Corfu Town for a solo diner. The kitchen is directly in front, the sommelier is always available to discuss a pour, and the pace is deliberately unhurried — dinner at Salto is an evening's work, not a quick stop.

The bar counter at Salto is Corfu's most comfortable solo-dining position. The kitchen treats single covers with the same attention as a group of six, the sommelier will build a glass progression through your reading or your thinking, and the room is lively enough that you are never conspicuous and quiet enough that you can still hear yourself.