Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro, 2 stars

Location is what Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro has going for it, being the only upscale, independently owned wine bar and bistro in an up-and-coming community starved for upscale, independently owned anything. But is being the only game in town enough when you're not at the top of your game?

Scene: Owners Jim and Susan Moody have poured beaucoup bucks into their pretty place, as evidenced by the massive wood-carved bar, baby grand-style player piano, fireplace and leather chairs, which together create a sense of homey elegance.

Food: The tapas menu features bruschetta, savory tarts, oysters, crab imperial and appetizers, as well as cheese plates, labeled "artesian" instead of "artisan." At happy hour, two bucks are knocked off these selections. Three-course Early Bird dinners (offered from 4-6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 4-8 p.m. Sundays) include one glass of red or white wine, soup or half-salad and an entree (chosen from daily specials) for $22.

Meanwhile, the regular menu - rife with groovy ingredients - suggests more skillfully executed trendiness than the kitchen can deliver. Best bets include Caprese bruschetta (satisfying even if the bread isn't great, $10); arugula and spinach salad, jazzed up with roasted figs, candied pecans, sliced pear, candied beets and goat cheese ($14) and a juicy grilled steak small plate, served with caramelized onion and Boursin cheese ($12).

The kitchen is out of the roasted corn salsa that's supposed to accompany pan-seared scallops, so the kitchen improvises, creating a creamy sauce with shiitake mushrooms and red bell pepper. It's tasty ($12). But there's precious little creaminess to crab imperial, stuffed in dry button mushrooms ($14) and nothing memorable about truffle-infused goat cheese bruschetta, topped with baby beets ($10). Neither blackening nor goat cheese cream sauce can disguise less-than-fresh salmon (served with Swiss chard and good roasted fingerlings, $18).

And a tasteless plank of boneless, sautéed chicken breast, mounted over a bed of fettuccine, florid with portobellos, roasted red peppers, asparagus tips and yellow squash - the whole ungodly assemblage awash in port wine-marinara - is the worst dish I've eaten in a long time ($18).

Drink: Obviously, the wine's the thing, and you'll find about 35 by-the-glass selections. Although the extensive list is global, its focus is California and West Coast wineries, with most bottles falling within a $24-$50 range. Tuesday's Tastings offer 2-ounce sips for $2 each.

Lowdown: These folks are working hard to be an indispensable part of their community, offering live music (Friday and Saturday nights), Sunday champagne brunch, salsa dance classes and Girls Night Out (including free mini spa treatments). Unfortunately, the food is hit-or-miss, and worse - continents shift faster than this kitchen can crank it out, even when the dining room is nearly empty.