Carpe Vino Not Just “A Little Place Up in the Foothills”
By Ed Murrieta, (Not rated)
Published November 19, 2013
Maybe it was Gary Moffat’s Chicago accent rising to be heard above the conversations — sounds of friends greeting friends at the bar, diners’ muted cries of “Oh, that’s good” — reverberating through the wood and brick bones of Carpe Vino’s Old West building at primetime on Friday night.
The owner of the wine shop and restaurant in Old Town Auburn sounded huffy even as he spoke about the national accolade Carpe Vino racked up for the third straight year, something no other area restaurant has done.
“Whether or not anyone recognizes it, we fill the place up,” Moffat told me last week over a bottle of Tangles Cabernet. “I’m not seeking more business. What I’m seeking is some respect. I don’t want to be written off as a little place up in the foothills.”