Not much has gone right for New York State since David Paterson became our hapless governor, however one legacy he may yet leave behind is finally allowing wine sales in supermarkets, if today's New York Post is to be believed. This would be a welcome development and really change the wine-selling landscape. Let's hope that the state's budget crisis lets this finally happen.
June 2010 Archives
One of this year's best new bars is actually two bars. But that's okay, because if you can't decide between wine or cocktails, now you can go somewhere to have both - The Counting Room (44 Berry Street, Williamsburg). As little as three or four years ago, there was nowhere to drink anything decent in the 'Burg but now there is an amazing selection of places for every taste, everything from Hotel Delmano to Rye to Loreley Biergarten. And with the arrival of The Counting Room, you have real sophistication, in the form of an adventurous winelist and creative cocktails, which so far have proven to be the best in the area.
The winelist features interesting wines from small producers around the world. Those in the know will find many gems here - especially since most bottles can be opened and bought by the half bottle. That means the by-the-glass list constantly changes based on what other people order. Some great choices on the list include a 2006 Movia Ribolla and the 2007 Guitian Godello. Check the chalkboard for nightly wines open by the glass.
The cocktail program is run downstairs in the cavernous basement, which provides a bit of a logistical issue. Technically, you need to go downstairs to get a cocktail, which is awkward if you're with wine drinkers upstairs. However, if you get the owner serving you at the bar, she'll make sure your order is placed. But the servers themselves are much more likely to direct you down than make an effort to take your cocktail order upstairs. The policy should be that if you're sitting upstairs, service staff get the drinks from downstairs, not you. Telling customers to do differently when you have waitstaff is awkward, to say the least.
Regardless, the cocktails have proven to be very good and it's a credit to the mixologists that there is a lot to choose from. Our favorite was the Arbitrary Nature of Time, a boozy mix of Wild Turkey Rye, Campari, cherry heering and two types of bitters, mole and orange. Salt & Ash pairs both mezcal and tequila with a lapsong suchong vermouth to equally good, and smoky effect. Another tequila drink, Karmic Delight, was a fizzy delight - tequila, Plymouth sloe gin and egg white. If you're looking for something lighter and more refreshing, try A Lazy Spring, Beefeater gin, rosemary-infused Blanco Vermouth, honey, lemon and black peppercorns.
There is a small food menu of items prepared at the upstairs bar. We enjoyed the "Green Eggs & Ham" Deviled Eggs ($3) while the bag of croutons will do in a pinch. The menu also includes sandwiches such as a tasty Grilled Cheese and the Pork & Philly, but your best bet is to eat before coming to booze.
Some might consider opening on the wrong side of Williamsburg - closer to Brooklyn Brewery than Bedford - to be gutsy, even fatal for a bar of The Counting Room's class and style, but we only hope that in time the crowds will find this terrific new spot. In the meantime, pull up a stool and tell them BoozyNYC sent you.
Night of Joy (667 Lorimer Street) sits on a forlorn East Williamsburg corner in the shadow of the BQE. It also stands in the shadows of the city's great cocktail bars and that's not a good place to be.At first glance, Night of Joy has some things going for it - a large space, friendly prices ($9 cocktails), lack of crowds and a roof deck. However, stepping into the somewhat schizophrenic, dimly lit space, with its Victorian front, long bar with cushy high backs and rear room with pool table, hopes for something interesting start to fade. The disjointed atmosphere - part lounge, part hipster hangout - just does not gel.
The drink list is short and lacking in information - only the ingredients and booze are listed, not the maker, which in retrospect should have been a clue. It turns out they are not using the top shelf stuff in their drinks - hence $9 cocktails - and the results were, for us, universally disappointing. The drinks are also heavy on herbs - beet and dill vodka anyone? Not for us. We started with a Basil & Lime Gimlet made with Mr. Boston gin. The drink was one-dimensional and would have benefited from a gin with more character. The Jalapeno, Black Currant and Tequila was slightly out of balance and too spicy to fully enjoy, though with ice dilution it became more bearable. Rosemary, Bourbon, Ginger and Lemon was a bit soapy and the Evan Williams bourbon surprisingly got lost. Another spicy drink, the Cilantro Bloody Maria, made with tequila, mostly tasted muddy. Something added an unpleasant note and we suspect the Worcestershire sauce, though we can't be sure. In addition to the cocktails, there are local beers and a short, affordable winelist with selections priced at $8 by the glass and $30 by the bottle.
Night of Joy doesn't have it together yet in the way that nearby Hotel Delmano or The Counting Room does. A little less pretension and higher booze standards would go a long way in rectifying that. Otherwise, that blinking neon out front light may not be illuminating the night much longer.
Tasting Table lets us know that the "group buying" deal trend continues with BeerMenus.com, now offering deals like $10 for $20 at Rattle N' Hum. The site has beer lists for over 700 establishments and seems intent on offering its readers half off beer specials on a regular basis, so we say bravo to them!
Really, Malaysian food week? Vinho Verde wine week? Sud de France Week? On top of Rioja Week, Riesling Week, Alsatian Wine Month and more. Folks, we just have to say enough is enough. Right now, there is too much of a glut of these promotions to mean anything - and we are wondering if folks back home would think it so great that tons of marketing dollars, mainly from the financially teetering EU, are being used to line the coffers of various NYC websites and publications with endless promotional ads.
If you don't believe us, here is what Vinho Verde week is advertising on Grub Street: "It's finally here! For the first week of summer, top restaurants and wine stores in NYC will highlight the refreshing virtues of Vinho Verde by offering tastings, discounted selections and special pairing menus."
In other words, they're doing what every other wine week does. Woo Hoo! Glad it's "finally here," we don't know how we get along those other 51 weeks a year. Oh yeah, by drinking Rioja, Riesling, Belgian Beer, etc.
Spare us.
If you don't believe us, here is what Vinho Verde week is advertising on Grub Street: "It's finally here! For the first week of summer, top restaurants and wine stores in NYC will highlight the refreshing virtues of Vinho Verde by offering tastings, discounted selections and special pairing menus."
In other words, they're doing what every other wine week does. Woo Hoo! Glad it's "finally here," we don't know how we get along those other 51 weeks a year. Oh yeah, by drinking Rioja, Riesling, Belgian Beer, etc.
Spare us.
The wine bar craze continues unabated with the arrival Anfora (34 8th Avenue), from the guys who brought you Dell'anima. Open just a few weeks, Anfora is theoretically a kind of homage to what was the main wine vessel for many centuries, though in reality it's just a name for a sleek, almost souless wine bar that can best be described as a work in progress. At worst, one could say it's suffering from the 7 Deadly Restaurant Sins:
#1 Off putting atmosphere - walking into Anfora
can seem like stepping inside a rather stinky sock. On our visit, the smell of the ubiquitous grilled cheese sandwich permeated the air and was borderline offensive. No, we did not try the grilled cheese.
#2 Wine Infanticide - yes, we understand that a lot of wine is sold to restaurants too young. But wine bars really need to make sure the wine being served is ready to drink. Certainly most any red from 2008 is too young. It's nice to see a Sicilian Nero D'Avola in the anfora style on the list but it's too young. Ditto for the Bierzo "Petalos" Descendientes de Palacios 2008 (a 2006 is listed on the website but not available). Neither of these wines are anywhere near ready to drink. The list contains a lot of great winemakers and leans heavily on a favorite producer of ours - Lopez de Heredia. Unfortunately, they seem to have some of the less interesting vintages. The Gravonia from 2000 wasn't giving much and is certainly not on the level of the great, slightly oxidized 1999. Their 2000 "Tondonia" Rosado was better but again somewhat muted.
#3 Lack of Info - too many places these days have staff that don't really know anything about the wines. These servers have been told to pour you a taste without actually talking about the wine. It's ok, we actually like to hear something about the wine before you run off to get us a taste.
#4 Not user friendly - the trend among wine bars to pour half-glass or 3oz tastes is welcome since that means we can experiment and mix and match. Anfora has decided to stick with full glass pours and that's too bad. Less for us to try.
#5 Taking our glass away without asking. Ask. Always.
#6 Glassware more important than customers. Note to restaurateurs - dishes should be done in the back so we don't have to compete with glasses for the bartender's attention. A distinct lack of available glasses during our visit meant staff was busy polishing instead of interacting.
#7 Make sure your food matches the wine. Anfora has several spicy dishes that are not wine-friendly - spicy stuffed peppers that don't say so on the menu kill the palate and don't work with wine. Also suspect, spicy shortbread and curry egg salad.
Anfora has a ways to go before it makes the league of the city's best. But the owners may want to take a cue from their restaurant two doors over - the winelist is more interesting and diverse than Anfora. That's a surprise considering this is a winebar.
#1 Off putting atmosphere - walking into Anfora
can seem like stepping inside a rather stinky sock. On our visit, the smell of the ubiquitous grilled cheese sandwich permeated the air and was borderline offensive. No, we did not try the grilled cheese.#2 Wine Infanticide - yes, we understand that a lot of wine is sold to restaurants too young. But wine bars really need to make sure the wine being served is ready to drink. Certainly most any red from 2008 is too young. It's nice to see a Sicilian Nero D'Avola in the anfora style on the list but it's too young. Ditto for the Bierzo "Petalos" Descendientes de Palacios 2008 (a 2006 is listed on the website but not available). Neither of these wines are anywhere near ready to drink. The list contains a lot of great winemakers and leans heavily on a favorite producer of ours - Lopez de Heredia. Unfortunately, they seem to have some of the less interesting vintages. The Gravonia from 2000 wasn't giving much and is certainly not on the level of the great, slightly oxidized 1999. Their 2000 "Tondonia" Rosado was better but again somewhat muted.
#3 Lack of Info - too many places these days have staff that don't really know anything about the wines. These servers have been told to pour you a taste without actually talking about the wine. It's ok, we actually like to hear something about the wine before you run off to get us a taste.
#4 Not user friendly - the trend among wine bars to pour half-glass or 3oz tastes is welcome since that means we can experiment and mix and match. Anfora has decided to stick with full glass pours and that's too bad. Less for us to try.
#5 Taking our glass away without asking. Ask. Always.
#6 Glassware more important than customers. Note to restaurateurs - dishes should be done in the back so we don't have to compete with glasses for the bartender's attention. A distinct lack of available glasses during our visit meant staff was busy polishing instead of interacting.
#7 Make sure your food matches the wine. Anfora has several spicy dishes that are not wine-friendly - spicy stuffed peppers that don't say so on the menu kill the palate and don't work with wine. Also suspect, spicy shortbread and curry egg salad.
Anfora has a ways to go before it makes the league of the city's best. But the owners may want to take a cue from their restaurant two doors over - the winelist is more interesting and diverse than Anfora. That's a surprise considering this is a winebar.
Live games start early, so we recommend taking a few weeks
off - no one's gonna miss you...
Germany
LES Biergarten Loreley (7 Rivington Street) serves up
beer, sausages and all things German with live showings of the 10am and 2:30pm
games (plus early Germany games). Expect rabid German fans and "soccer rolls"
featuring the foods of participating nations.
Italy
The Azzurri storm back to defend their title and Scuderia (257 6th Ave) will
share the experience with the world - on an outside screen.
France
Can Les Bleus regain their form sans Zidane? Try Cercle Rouge (241 W. Broadway) or Felix (340 W. Broadway) for all things sacre football. Just don't be surprised if there is a lot of lamenting about how the last Cup went down.
Brazil
USA
Other Options:
