Sesto Senso

So, we like to go to the bar at Ephiphany and have for years, so we were interested in trying out Sesto Senso, their newest offering. Originally conceived as a wine/​carpaccio bar, I’ve heard that they very recently expanded beyond an «upscale bar bites» type of menu to include entrée offerings (Italian and Californian cuisine).
We went on a Saturday night on a holiday weekend and man, it was mostly empty – there were maybe 6 other people there. The thing is, this place doesn’t deserve to be virtually empty. It’s an elegant space with clean lines and a bar area in addition to table seating. The music was present, but mostly unobtrusive. The wine selection is fine, but it’s great if you are willing to purchase a bottle. The wait staff was knowledgeable and helpful in choosing a wine, even offering me a quick taste of 2 different wines so I could choose one to order by the glass. We ordered some of their food; the husband got a scallops and prosciutto plate, I got a salad with potatoes and chorizo, and we shared a cheese plate. The scallops were really good, but for one that had a pretty noticeable fishy taste. My salad was very nice with an excellent contrast of textures between the greens, the potatoes, and the thinly sliced, semi-​crispy chorizo. The cheese plate was also good, but was a bit heavy on the sharp/​blue cheeses.
Now, to a slightly annoying event that, in part, caused me to lower the rating. They have, in addition to their menu, a little flyer-​ish handout that discusses their featured wines by the glass. Their offerings were especially attractive to me because they were contrasting SB area and European wines of the same varietal. I tried to order 2 separate wines, one red and one white, and they were out of both. The server was appropriately apologetic and explained that the featured wines had been very popular, so they were sold out. I don’t like that when it happens, especially since he didn’t warn us ahead of time. Why hand out the flyer-​ish thingy if you don’t have most of the wines? This is a small issue, but for some, it can be indicative of whether or not they return. For us, we’ll go back, at least to try their dinner offerings. Oh, and they have a happy hour during the week, and it really is only an hour – sometime like 5:30 — 6:30 pm M-​F. The deals looked good though (on aforementioned flyer thing), so it may be an option if you want to try the place without spending a good amount of money.
Oh, and a quick FYI. Sesto Senso is in the Vons shopping center in Montecito. It’s in the back near the French Bakery, so it can be hard to find.