Marche Bacchus French Bistro and Wine Shop

We paid $12.99 for a bottle of wine when we had dinner at Marche Bacchus. Heck, we've paid more than that for one glass of wine on the Strip.

Well, OK, it was $22.99 when you add the $10 corkage, and that $12.99 is about average retail for Pennfold's 2006 Koonunga Hill from South Australia, a wine that's 78 percent shiraz and 22 percent cabernet sauvignon. But think about this: Since the standard restaurant markup is two and a half to three times retail, that bottle would've cost us somewhere in the area of $32 to $39 at most restaurants in town. And if we (or, rather, the boss) had bought a more expensive bottle of wine, the savings would've increased exponentially, since a $50 bottle would be $60 instead of $100 to $150.

That's because Marche Bacchus has a huge retail wine operation. Wines are available by the glass, but if you want a bottle, you can wander over to the rows of cases and cases of wines of many types and many price ranges and choose the one you want, with the help of a staffer, if you'd like. They'll bring it to the table and do the pouring and only charge a $10 corkage. It's a practice that originated with the former, original owners of Marche Bacchus, and I was pleased to see it continued by the current ones.

So how is Marche Bacchus faring in other ways? Well, the patio right on the big lake in Desert Shores seems to have been expanded somewhat, and there's a new fireplace, although we stayed indoors because it was a little breezy. There's also live jazz on Wednesday and Friday evenings, live Spanish guitar on Sundays and piped-in jazz the rest of the time.

And the food? Well, reports from the front were that it was down somewhat for a while as the new folks found their footing. It appears they have, however, and as it turns out, this is again a great place to spend an evening.

Cheese still reigns at Marche Bacchus because of its affinity for wine, so an artisan cheese platter ($17) was a natural choice. It arrived on a long plate in a variety that was most appealing, accompanied by sliced pears and apples, a square of fig paste and walnuts, all of which also have quite an affinity for wine. The cheeses weren't labeled, the server who brought them didn't provide an explanation and our waiter stumbled a bit when asked, so I don't have an exact listing for you, but they included a brie, a blue, a goat and a few others, all of them imbued with multiple flavor notes, although we thought the brie was chilled a little too much.

Beef tartare ($18) was very good, the meat mounded into attractive little ovals, tented by lightly toasted brioche and accompanied by a raw egg yolk in a cup, just in case the meat wasn't rich enough. Seasoning was subtle -- which is a good thing, because you want to get the flavor of the meat -- but I have to confess to missing the customary capers. The menu had promised pine nuts, but if they were there, they were so finely cut that the expected crunch was absent, and their flavor was undetectable.

Rack of lamb ($37) carried the more assertive flavor that stems from New Zealand origin as opposed to Colorado and was medium-rare as ordered, which left it nice and juicy. A sort of gratin of zucchini, eggplant and tomato added a Provençal note that equaled the lamb for earthy depth.

A special of pork chops with a relish of apples, endives and walnuts and brie cream sounded wonderful, but what we ended up with was the pork chops on the regular menu ($28). I had told our waiter I wanted the special and repeated it, but something told me I wasn't connecting; I guess I should've waved the flier in his face or tried a flying tackle or something else to be sure he got it.

At any rate, the pork entree I did receive was excellent, the thick chop (which seemed to carry the depth of the pork of my youth, rather than the "other white meat" too-neutral stuff we usually get now) complemented by the coarse-ground mustard sauce that topped it.

On the side were a few spears of crisp-tender asparagus and probably the best mashed potatoes I've had since dining in a Joel Robuchon restaurant, which makes me wonder if this kitchen staff knows Robuchon's secret.

Despite the mix-up and the slight cheese stumbling, though, service throughout was quite good, our waiter pleasant and helpful.

A dessert of flourless chocolate cake ($10) was chilled and more of what I would think of as a chocolate pate but that made it no less appealing, the rich fudgy squares resting on streaks of sweetened raspberry puree. And it was, as our waiter had suggested, quite nice with the last of our wine.

Yes, Marche Bacchus continues to be a bright spot on the locals dining scene. And with pleasant weather to come, I can think of few more attractive spots to spend an al-fresco evening.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@reviewjournal.com.