The perfect food and wine pairing is like the fateful meeting of destined lovers, best celebrated with a tiny mock wedding presided over by a curmudgeonly pepper mill with a heart of gold. Combine cuisine and wine the way nature intended with today's deal: for $15, you get $30 worth of seasonal cuisine and seasoned sips at elle, Wine Country Restaurant.

More than 125 varieties of vino (30–40 served by the glass, $6–$19) reside in elle, Wine Country Restaurant's wine cellar, providing proper accompaniment to fresh, seasonal fare that changes three times a year and showcases many organic and locally sourced fruits, veggies, and herbs. Wet your esophageal whistle with some elegant gulps of fine fermented grape juice paired with a plate of pan-seared crab cakes ($12) or fried brie topped with spiced green-apple chutney and roasted garlic ($11.50). Wild mushroom risotto ($18.25) that has been simmered in red wine and accented with truffle oil and parmesan crisps keeps you close to the grapey goodness in between quaffs. If you are feeling creative, rearrange the layers of oven-baked lasagna into a triumphal arch of house-made sausage, mushrooms, eggplant, and fresh mozzarella inside your stomach. Entrees such as cinnamon-braised Portuguese short ribs ($22) and dijon-crusted New Zealand rack of lamb ($30) indulge the desires of taste buds bitten by the travel bug. All pastas, risottos, and most entrees can be ordered in full or petite portions.

Elle, Wine Country Restaurant's elegant interior of warm woods, amber lighting, and walls of obsidian bottles gives your choice of cuisine a handsome stage for its elaborate edible performances of Shakespeare's histories. And if it's one of those rare days in Tucson when it is not raining men, catch a breeze as you shoot the breeze with a friend out on the spacious patio. Spend a delightful evening catching up with the aliens who abducted you over wine and a delicious, homegrown dinner at elle, Wine Country Restaurant.

This Groupon cannot be used in combination with any other offers or for happy-hour specials. Reservations are recommended.

Reviews

Though reviews on the food are polarized, diners love the wine selection and elegant atmosphere. OpenTable diners give elle, Wine Country Restaurant an average of 3.6 stars, while Yelpers and Citysearchers give it a three-star average.

• The food is thoughtfully prepared (and the bar menu is to die for, with its cheese plates, sandwiches, appetizers and salads), and the service, especially in the bar, is phenomenal. This is a place where the servers remember your likes and dislikes and are attentive. – OpenTable.com user who dined on 06/30/2010
• The remarkable wine selection is backed up by a very knowledgeable staff. They shamed me and my boxed wine palate. – Samson H., Yelp
• We were pleasantly surprised with the genuine warmth of everyone with worked there. The wine list is impressive, the appetizers are creative. – Audrey L., Yelp