The Nose Wine Cellar

Stephan, the owner of "The Nose", often has an interesting collection of cheeses, prosciutto, and chocolate to offer, but he also lets you order dinner from any one of the neighboring restaurants.

Mostly, "The Nose" is a place to go for wine -- the selection of French, Californian, and Italian is unrivaled in Pasadena, with very little mark-up over what you'd pay buying directly from a vineyard. He also has some ice wines, Port, and more exotic wines from all over the world.

Stephan is always teeming with recommendations, facts, and opinions about wine -- it makes for a very enjoyable and educational experience.

The Nose is a little hard to find, buried inside of the "Arcade" alley between Oak Knoll and El Molino on the south side of Colorado next to "El Portal" (a mexican restaurant headed by a former Caltech Atheneum chef) -- but it's worth finding, and the ambience is very cozy, warm, and modern.