Goat salami. Smoked duck and wild boar charcuterie. A roasted turkey sandwich with prosciutto, avocado, Havarti and tomato-peach jam.

Domaine South's hallway-sized kitchen sure pushes out some interesting food.

A laid-back vibe and deftly curated wines are also building buzz for this downtown Huntsville restaurant.

Not bad for a business that began four years ago as a wine shop in a humble 500-square-foot space. Domaine South’s third and current location, address 103 North Side Square, is about double that size. Owner Kristian Denis outfitted the space with décor much more “cool aunt” than “stuffy grandmother.” Thrift store sourced pub tables. A wooden bench from Facebook Marketplace. Cookbooks are stacked in windowsills and local artists’ photos of France and Italy hang from wizened brick walls. “It looks like my living room,” Denis says. On a recent afternoon at her restaurant, she’s wearing a vintage looking ring and bracelet. The stereo is playing a mix of Sam Cooke and Sly Stone R&B songs.

Denis draws inspiration for Domaine South's cuisine and atmosphere from her childhood in Germany, where her dad, who served in the U.S. Army, was stationed. "My parents were really into food," she says. "Really into wine, into travel. They kind of dragged my sister and I all around Europe when we were growing up. There were always these great neighborhood restaurants that had this feeling when you walked in where you just wanted to hang out and stay. "

Redstone Arsenal was the last place her father was stationed. Denis came to visit and never left Huntsville. In the early '90s she waited tables at upscale eatery Richard's on the Square, then got into the wine business, first as a sales rep and eventually a partner at local retailer Wine Cellar. She went into real estate for a while. But after her kids grew up, Denis wanted to get back, vocationally, to what she loved: wine.

In June 2015, she opened Domaine South's original location on downtown's outskirts, near bar/restaurant A.M. Booth's Lumberyard. She started her retail-only business with two racks of wine. They also sold handmade gifts, like jam and greeting cards. Because of how that space was zoned, she couldn't host wine-tastings or even sell cheese. Still, some of Denis' customers from previous wine ventures found her again. The store developed regulars. About a year later, the business moved across the alley to a slightly bigger space where cheese sales and, after some laws changed, tastings were allowed. Domaine South stayed at that location for two years. But Denis yearned to run "a place where you could sit down and have a glass of wine and cheese plate anytime" and not just the two-hour window allowed for wine-tastings. She looked at a downtown space Big Oh's Korean restaurant now occupies. For multiple reasons, that didn't work out. Space on the opposite end of North Side Square became available, after convenience store Cup of Everything shuttered. Domaine South opened there in August 2018.

A BLT: DS sandwich at Domaine South. (Matt Wake/mwake@al.com)

As far as wines go, Domaine South focuses on Old World selections, particularly French and Italian. California and Oregon offerings mostly comprised of “small, family-owned vineyards with a focus on sustainability,” Denis says. Retail (to-go) bottle prices range from about $9 for a El Viejo del Valle Pinot Noir to around $100 for a Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru or Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon. If customers wish to consume a bottle onsite, a $15 corkage fee is added. By the glass restaurant offerings go from about $7 to $16, and there are happy hour deals too. Denis’ personal taste in wines includes Beaujolais.

Asked for an underrated varietal she cites gamay. “People who love pinot noir, when I turn them on to gamay they’re usually really into it,” Denis says. “Pinot noir is kind of like who you take home to Mom. Gamay maybe not so much - a little looser, but super delicious and easy to drink.” Denis insists she doesn’t have an elitist wine collection stashed at home. She likes trying different wines too much and isn’t “super patient.” That said, she is in possession of an early-2000s Sine Qua Non Syrah.

Morphing into a gourmet restaurant wasn't part of some master plan. "I thought this was just going to be a little wine bar when we opened, and it became evident pretty quickly it was going to be more than that," Denis says. " The fact it turned into what it is now was us listening to what people wanted when they came in and responding to it."

At first, the food menu was short and simple, scribbled on a white board. Black Forest ham and salted butter on a baguette from local bakery Canadian Bakin. A cheese plate. But by October things accelerated. “It was just getting busier and busier, and I kept adding things to the menu and (kitchen staff) kept being able to execute them really well,” Denis says. Domaine South now maintains a one-sheet two-sided menu that looks like it’s been copied on ’80s mimeograph. Sandwiches (including a glammed-up BLT with Conecuh bacon, tomato chutney, fresh mozzarella) are around $9 - $16. Salads (such as arugala, apples, walnuts and sheep’s milk cheese) $9 - $12. Entrees (like tortellini with oysters, asparagus and herb sauce) about $20.

What’s on the menu depends on meats and cheeses available from sources like Atlanta butcher Spotted Trotter. Because Denis changes the menu daily, “it’s easy to see what’s connecting.” The restaurant holds about 30 guests. An L-shaped bar seats seven. Out front, Domaine South created a charming little patio by sectioning off some sidewalk with waist-high wooden planters. The umbrella topped café tables accommodate another 16 or so guests.

Harding Leach, who works in real estate, is a regular at Domaine South. His go-to food items include a sous-vide flank steak sandwich and beef stew, and he and wife Cindy Luna also like to have a glass of rosé on the patio. “It’s a lively place,” Leach says. “People interact from one table to another table. We had lunch there earlier this week and got into about a five-minute conversation with two ladies at the table about where we like to go in New Orleans.”

A salad with arugala, Granny Smith apples, candied walnuts and sheep's milk cheese, at Domaine South. (Matt Wake/mwake@al.com)

Denis co-owns Domaine South with husband Mike Denis, a bearded banker who likes to play acoustic guitar around the house. Kristian's son Jake Brey is Domaine South's general manager.

They employ a staff of about 16. Shannon Pease, a server, says due to the close-quarters employees "get to know each other pretty quickly." Pease says Denis, "has a way of getting people excited about things you didn't know were possible to be excited about, like micro greens. The way she lights up about food and wine you can't help be excited with her."

Domaine South’s food is tasty. And Instagram worthy. Particularly the charcuterie boards, which customers compile like some gourmet-food equivalent of a Spotify playlist. Individual components are mostly in the $4 - $14 range. Denis has her staff try all the restaurant’s cheeses, proteins and wines, so they can help guests personalize food and wine pairings. The result is fine-dining-sized flavors in a flip-flops-friendly atmosphere. “Sitting around with your friends and having a great dinner party,” Denis says, “that’s what we want it to feel like.”

Domaine South is open 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Phone: 256-759-9952. More info: domainesouth.com.