we dropped by the new counterpoint friday night, which was jammed with a mixed crowd of people who all seemed to be enjoying this new golden hill spot.  housed in the recently-honored mxd830 building, it’s a relatively small place, with the downstairs featuring a galvanized metal bar area.  the bar offers up a bunch of alesmith beers from brightly-colored taps, but it’s the wide-ranging menu of high-end imported beer that really impresses.  i can’t vouch for the wine menu yet but these guys seem to have put a lot of thought into their alcohol selection.

we grabbed the last couple of seats at the communal table upstairs, which offers views of the action below and a large metallic installation that stretches from the ceiling to the base of the north wall.  the dining menu options complement the beer and wine focus of the restaurant, with various salads, sandwiches and cheese appetizers to choose from.  jay had the cheese sliders (“delicious”) and my beet salad was refreshing.  also refreshing is the welcoming staff, from the bartender to the servers who carried our orders up the stairs.  counterpoint may be pretty hip but it’s no big deal if you’re not.

we’ll be back to sample some more of the separate beer, wine and food menus, but we might have to bring earplugs – one disadvantage of the open two-story layout is the sheer volume level when full.  a minor quibble for an otherwise bright new spot in golden hill.

- as i mentioned above, the annual orchids and onions architectural awards have been announced.  notable awards go to the robert paine scripps forum, station tavern in south park, the tower bar tower in city heights, the art produce building on university (next to cafe carpe diem), and the restored irving gill building in coronado, which i’ve added to my san diego gill map.  the only core neighborhood razzies go to vantage pointe and mission florence on washington in mission hills.  and don’t miss the comments section of the uptown interim heights ordinance for some fireworks.