From The Seattle PI  June 30 2006

Sure, it's another wine bar, but this one carries some fine-dining credentials as well. Chef Kristen Ratcliffe and owners Jeffrey Dorgan and Dana Hannon all hail from Cascadia, and their hands-on work here makes Smash feel like a smaller place than it is. Dorgan provides an especially one-on-one touch, serving as personal sommelier to every customer. He'll either drop off a glass with a succinct summary of its contents, or linger as long as diners want to discuss oakiness or fruitiness or finish. There are some 60 wines by the glass, plus plenty of matched flights, and a menu of New American nibbles. The menu was by-the-books in the beginning -- not a problem if you like the sounds of "duck and shitake spring rolls" or "Yukon Gold tater tots" -- but has been subtly modified since, with more of a creative stretch. We liked the clarity of Ratcliffe's flavors, how lemon-thyme sorbet and mint ice cream immediately evoke the summer garden, and olives ($5) transmit just a whisper of chile and citrus. Please click here to read the full review.

From www.gayot.com

Smash Wine Bar & Bistro launched in Wallingford during April, billing itself as a place "where wine and food collide." The bistro’s crisp and understated environment is a clever disguise for a sophisticated list of wines by the bottle, glass or flight (a selection of three different three-ounce pours). Wine director and owner Jeffrey Dorgan and chef Kristen Ratcliffe both hail from Cascadia in Belltown. The offerings on the small plates menu, including snacks like rosemary-salted marcona almonds and a duo of hummus and red pepper sauce accompanied by spiced pita, go down nicely with wine. Heavier plates such as a duck and shiitake lumpia, Oregon lamb skewers and Penn Cove Manila clams with chorizo also coordinate attractively with pours. For those with a sweet tooth, the vanilla bourbon brulee and a strawberry-rhubarb crisp topped with a buttermilk thyme sorbet make a refreshing ending.

From Seattle Post-Intelligencer  May 3 2006

Cheesiness be praised We didn’t think things could get much better when Seattle restaurants started offering cheese plates as regular menu fixtures. But we have to salute the idea of "cheese flights" (think wine flights), a term we first heard at Wallingford’s new Smash Wine Bar & Bistro. Smash offers either "flights" or three cheeses, individual tastes of cheese or a create-your-own-cheese-board selection. (There are 12 cheese choices, along with 30 options for wine pours, a separate martini menu and a modestly priced food menu developed by former Cascadia sous chef Kristen Ratcliffe, who heads the Smash kitchen.) The place is owned by Jeffrey Dorgan former wine and spirits director at Cascadia, and Dana Hannon former bar tender at Cascadia.

From The Seattle Weekly  May 31 2006

Located in Wallingford. Primarily serves Pacific Northwest. Fat, creamy gnocchi are the ultimate comfort food, and at Smash Wine Bar & Bistro, they’re doubly fine washed down with flights of wine. The house-made potato pasta blobs are served with spinach, grappa, bleu des causses cheese, and pine nuts. Oh-my-gawd, they’re good going down. Also of note at the simply decorated wine bar: bruschetta with mushrooms, artichokes, asparagus, and gruyère. The menu of small plates and bites of various sizes is slated to change frequently, and you can order goodies appropriate for any level of hunger, ranging from a handful of Marcona almonds to a serving of pork tenderloin with spring pea polenta and orange butter. Jeffrey Dorgan, formerly of Cascadia restaurant, is wine director (and co-owner, along with Dana Hannon), and his list offers many themed flights (e.g. the Rhone Ranger) and wines by the glass. And, where there’s wine, there’s cheese; Smash’s cheese flights will also make you go “mmm,” especially the “Triple My Cream.