Tis Me Michelle

Love the concept. Love the aesthetic. Love the name. I wish I loved it as much as the Gilmore Girl, that I’m pretty sure is not the namesake. The hot new wine bar has been buzzing on the socials, and I was super excited to have a girls’ night here. Let’s get right into the review…

The Parking: They have a small dedicated parking lot right in the back. Two of us were able to find a spot in the lot. I appreciate any dedicated parking in this area, so this was really nice. Otherwise, there is some street parking close by. Some competition with Tori Tori visitors as well.

The Vibe: Absolutely gorgeous. They’ve done an excellent job with the decor and creating a slice of European and Mediterranean chic vibe in the heart of downtown Orlando/Mills. I could see people enjoying the patio as we continue into the spring and summer. It’s very much giving a clean girl, social media aesthetic.

The Meal: Being a wine bar, I was happy with all the wine. My friends seemed happy with their options, too. We each had two glasses. The prices were not terrible, pretty on par with most places these days, averaging between $14-16/glass. I started with a glass of the Rodara, a Cabernet Franc. It was an interesting glass, in a good way. Not an overly heavy red, but on the dry side with a peppery hint. Then I asked for a recommendation and was pointed towards the Domaine du Petit Pérou Tu m’tiens au Jus, which was fine. It was another light-bodied red wine, but no interesting flavors of note that I picked up on. I did get a sip of my friend’s first choice, the Giusti Asolo “Extra Dry” Prosecco. A nice crisp, refreshing sparkling wine, perfect for the warm weather. My other friend had one glass of red and one white and loved both. So overall, the wines were a hit.

The food menu is limited and on the pricy side. We didn’t know what to get. Not because everything sounded great, but rather, we didn’t know what we wanted to spend the money on. They had a cheese board and a charcuterie board. All of us wished they had a combined option for a reasonable price, but the only option was to get them both separately, which would have cost over $50. We settled on just the cheese board that included two types of Gouda and a Blue Cheese. I do love a Gouda.

The one Gouda was really good (an orange one with a nice nutty flavor). The other one I didn’t like much at all and didn’t have the usual Gouda flavors I’m used to. Blue cheese overall isn’t my favorite. There were also some olives, pistachios, craisins, and a few cracker-type things, plus honey and jelly on the spread. Not bad, but I don’t know that it was worth $26.

My friend and I bought into the hype of the Blue Crab Cannolis. Almost all of the reviews we saw highlighted these. For $20, you get three small cannolis. The concept and vision were there, but the flavor and execution were lacking. The description of this item is ‘Fresh Florida blue crab infused with house-made whipped ricotta and smoked trout roe’. It seemed more like the opposite, ricotta with a slight infusion of crab flavor. There was only a tiny bit of crab, and the shell wasn’t even fully filled, a huge gap in the middle of each cannoli. I honestly would not recommend either of these items. My friend ordered a flatbread that I got a bite of, which was a better option, in my opinion.

The Experience: With all the socials and reviews I had seen, I had high hopes. Especially knowing the folks behind Death in the Afternoon are behind this new concept. Given all the hype, I expected there would be a wait. We arrived about an hour after opening and put our names down for a ~35-minute wait. There was a bookstore across the street, so we killed some time. The wait time came and went. We decided to drop back to check on the status before trying a different spot. When we got back, the hostess said that we had passed our callback grace period. This was odd because we hadn’t received any notice that our table was ready. And the website linked from the original text, verifying we were on the waitlist, hadn’t been updated either. They may be working through some kinks in the system. Once we let the hostess know we didn’t receive a message, they were quick to get us seated.

From there, the rest of the service was relatively slow as well. I’m sure the staff was backed up with all the traffic coming in and out. But there was a point where one of my friends did not get their food (the flatbread), and it was not until we finally asked about it that it came out. At this point, the other two of us had finished our cannolis for a while. We were still hungry and were planning to go to another spot, but we waited so long that we decided to call it a night.

As of now, I would recommend Death in the Afternoon 10000x over Lorelei. Maybe because I just had my second fantastic experience at Bar Kada, which is comparable in price point, I am disappointed. Bar Kada specializes in Sake, the way Lorelei is a wine bar. With each Sake I received on both occasions, the servers at Bar Kada provided so much detail and really curated a wonderful experience. I expected a comparable wine experience here. My friend had asked if there was a wine flight, and our server mentioned the bartenders wouldn’t be happy about that. It was definitely a joke, but for a wine bar, it was a totally valid question and a great idea to consider.

Overall: I really wanted to love this spot. I cannot tell if others had a similar experience. The customer base looked very modelesque and bougie, so I’m not sure if I just didn’t fit their vibe or if they were simply just busy. The space is beautiful, and I absolutely love Death in the Afternoon, so I think there’s still potential. With all the competition in this area alone, I think Lorelei would need to step up their game in terms of experience and offerings. Not that they are lacking in clientele these days. I would recommend sticking to a glass of wine and heading over to Tori Tori, Death in the Afternoon, or one of the many other wonderful options nearby for food.

Rating: 6.1

Address: 737 N Thornton Ave, Orlando, FL 32803