Marc Vetri’s mini restaurant empire is getting more tech savvy by the week. Along with the top toque himself, most of the chefs and high-level staff involved in the lauded establishments are regularly active on Twitter. A snazzy new website for the family of eateries was rolled out late last year. And now, when diners are seated at tables at North Broad's Osteria, they will be presented with both food menus and iPads.

The iPads – Osteria currently has a stock of five, beverage director Steve Wildy tells us – are pre-loaded with a customized wine list app from Tiare Technology. After choosing a general category (white, red, sparkling or orange and rosato), patrons can browse the available wines by either region or price. Tapping on a vintage brings up detailed information, such as the label, tasting notes and information about the producing vineyard.

If you wish, you can click to add a wine to your “consideration list,” a running list of bottles you can talk over with the sommelier before making a final selection. Or, just use the wealth of info provided – much more than is possible on a paper wine menu – to make your own informed decision. The app also presents virtual beer and cocktail menus, and can be updated by management on the fly as new options become available.

So what do customers at this rustic, high-end dining room think of this new-fangled way to order beverages?  “So far, we’ve only received positive comments,” Wildy reports, agreeing with our sentiment that browsing an iPad is much more classy than furtively Googling vintage information on your phone, hidden beneath your table. Osteria’s iPads are sheathed in an elegant leather case, and, when closed, are almost indistinguishable from a traditional wine booklet.

“We may introduce iPad beer lists at Alla Spina, too” Wildy tells us, referring to the about-to-open gastropub located a block south of Osteria, “We’re going to serve a lot of Italian craft brews people might not be familiar with. The app will let them explore away!”

Photos by Danya Henninger