Boozy NYC

One Cool Sale at Astor

2010-08-16T16:40:03Z

Astor Wines & Spirits (399 Lafayette Street) has a great selection of cellar-worthy vintages, organic and biodynamic wines, and "delicate" bottlings in its "Cool Room." Today only everything in that room is 15% off - in store sales only. If you were saving up for that '96 Mouton-Rothschild, here's your chance. Sale ends tonight at 9pm

The American Drinker

2010-08-04T22:29:24Z

A new Gallup poll shows that 67% of Americans consider themselves "drinkers," the highest level in 25 years. Gallup says the number of drinkers remains "remarkably stable" but we have to disagree. The gap between the low of 55% and a high of 71% is pretty sizable. Interestingly, one look at the graph shows a real correlation between times of crisis and turmoil and high drinking rates. 1945 - 46 were highs - presumably GIs coming home celebrating but also coping with the toll of the war - as were the 1970s, which were economically difficult, not to mention reeling from Vietnam and Watergate. In the midst of the Clinton boom, drinking rates were lower, while with the arrival of George W. Bush, 9/11 and uncertainty, the rate hovered in the mid-60s. Not surprisingly, the current recession has pushed the percentage up though not to the 1978 peak. Not yet anyway.

The Drop By - The Summit Bar

2010-08-02T23:40:54Z

We'd heard a lot about The Summit Bar (133 Avenue C, NYC) but it always seemed just one block too far east. Finally, we braved the heat to make our way over to Ave C and we weren't disappointed.

Their signature drink, The Situation, has gotten lots of love from the likes of TONY and NY Mag so that was our first order. The drink, Afghani Raisin infused Rittenhouse Rye, caraway infused agave, fresh lemon, summit orange bitters, didn't disappoint in richness and depth. One of the best drink's we've had all year. Another winner was Breaking the Law, made with Illegal reposado mezcal, Dimmi Italian cordial, fresh lime, chipotle chili agave, Summit summer orange bitters, cucumber and topped with soda. The layers on both these drinks were impressive and obviously much care has gone into the list, especially the inventive infusions.

We didn't have time to linger but we'll be back... and soon. With a list full of classics and new creations, we're eager to try more.

Summer in a Glass and other delights at Clover Club

2010-07-21T20:58:00Z

Clover Club (210 Smith Street, Brooklyn) has really come into its own as evidenced by a recent exploration of the current menu.

Right at the top of the list is something that can best be described as summer in a glass - the Maria Sin Sangre ($11), a deliciously savory cocktail made with muddled cherry tomatoes, basil, silver tequila, medium dry sherry and lemon, pictured at right.

If savory isn't your speed, there are many very good cocktails - and more than a few featuring sherry. They make a good Martinez but we recommend the Pedro's Martinez ($12), 23 year old aged Zacapa rum, sweet vermouth, Pedro Ximenez and angostura bitters. This terrific drink has a great deal of depth and richness and deserves to be drunk slow.

Based on our recent adventure, we'll be back to Clover Club before too long.

Astor Tuesdays - Sake

2010-07-20T15:01:26Z

It's no secret we are fans of sake so we're excited that "Astor Tuesdays" - the weekly 15% off sale at Astor Liquors (399 Lafayette Street) - this week is devoted to sake and shochu. Astor's selection is the largest in the city with over 100 sake selections alone. This sale comes along very rarely so we recommend you stock up. As always, the sale is valid today only.

Wine in Supermarkets Back on the Table

2010-06-26T13:47:07Z

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.

The Counting Room

2010-06-23T16:00:00Z

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.

A Decided Lack of Joy

2010-06-15T17:22:18Z

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.

BeerMenus.com adds Deals

2010-06-14T16:01:06Z

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!

Enough with the Wine & Food Weeks

2010-06-10T19:49:46Z

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.

Anfora Wine Bar

2010-06-09T04:33:15Z

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.

World Cup Viewing

2010-06-08T02:24:17Z

The World Cup starts this Friday in South Africa and NYC is teeming with opportunities to cheer on various national squads. Here are some venues to watch the hopes and dreams of 31 nations die on the pitch (the 32^nd team wins, naturally).

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 6^th 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

Can perennial favorites Brazil pull it off? Esperanto (145 Ave C) has a bonus for the Brazil matches - get shots of cachaca whenever Brazil scores, which should be often enough to get you into trouble, especially when they kick some Kim Jong Il butt on 6/15.

Spain

Boqueria (53 W. 19^th & 171 Spring St) will show the 10am and 2:30pm games live (7:30am games will be aired at Noon, cancel that business lunch). For the first week, get a free order of churros & chocolate or bravas & beer at the 10am games. Cheer on World #2 Spain as they go for their first Cup.

USA

Americans are certainly not discriminating with their sports - cars driving around in circles, overweight men smashing into each other, that sort of thing - but football (aka soccer) has never caught on here. Perhaps this year will be the turning point since the Red, White & Blue got to the finals of a tourney before getting throttled by Brazil. Options include fratty Village Pourhouse with its numerous TV screens and Southern Hospitality with 14 screens and drink specials.

Other Options:

Newbie Sunburnt Calf (226 W. 79^th) will show all games live including the 7:30am matches. $2 buds will help ease the early morning pain. Some of the BR Guest restaurants including Wildwood BBQ (225 Park Ave South) will open 30 minutes prior to the first game and serve special breakfast menus. Double Crown (316 Bowery) will have a do-it-yourself Bloody Mary bar, the ideal way to start a long day in front of the tube. Or just hit up Nevada Smiths (74 Third Ave), the NYC go-to spot for all things football related.

The Manhattan Project - Perilla

2010-05-14T18:37:21Z

Recent booze crawls have turned up a dearth of Manhattan-inspired cocktails, so we were excited to stumble across one recently at Perilla (9 Jones Street). We've been to Perilla a number of times and continue to be impressed by a lot of what they do - the winelist is varied and interesting, the drinks good and the seasonal menu generally strong. Now long past TV chef hype, the restaurant has turned into a great neighborhood spot.

We prefer the bar to the long, confined dining room and found ourselves there on a recent warm night. Perilla's version of the Manhattan, called "Our Manhattan" ($12) wasn't exactly what the season called for but we couldn't help ourselves. It's made with Jim Beam rye, Vya sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur and brandied cherries, making for a rich, nicely balanced drink, if a bit heavy for warm weather. It's great as an aperitif or as dessert in lieu of more solid post-dinner options. And it goes great with duckfat popcorn.

Terroir Lands in Tribeca

2010-05-11T02:28:30Z

Tribeca has gone from up-and-coming to plush and stuffy in a matter of two decades, so it was something of a surprise that Paul Grieco and Marco Canora decided to open an outpost of their hip winebar, Terroir Tribeca (24 Harrison Street) in the land of millionaires, Euro-bankers and moms pushing expensive strollers.

Terroir 2 brings Grieco's signature "wine is cool" sensibility downtown with good effect. The room is well appointed, the bar long and easy to saddle up to, and of course the wine selection is top notch. While a lot of people seemed to be ordering the wine in tetra pak and we hear tell of Finger Lake riesling on tap, we were keen to explore the extensive by the glass list. One of our favorite trends was on hand - the 3 ounce pour - making it easy to try many, many wines (our weak spot). The winelist offers choices for everyone, from the adventurous to the old world connoisseur. We ventured to the wine geek side and were rewarded with excellent by the glass choices such as the Cotes du Jura Nature Berthet-Bondet 2007 ($14.25), La Mothe Pechigo ($11.50), and the Domaine de Montbourgeau 2001 ($16). Also recommended are the Hermann Wiemer Riesling ($13.50) and the nicely balanced Alfred Gratien NV Champagne ($18). Interesting red options by the glass include the Morgon from Domaine Louis Jadot ($11) and the 2007 Givry from Chofflet-Valdenaire ($15).

The entertaining winelist contains all the usual Grieco-isms including "Who Needs a Drink?" starring the Pope, Vladimir Putin and Us (because street fair season has started!) as well as longer pieces on celebrities, obscure and otherwise. Our favorite is the ode to Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, a member of the International Football Hall of Fame. He had a way with words too and the list includes several famous quotes from him - our favorites being "Italians can't beat you but you can lose to them" and "If I wanted you to understand, I would explain it better."

Canora complements the wine selection with hearty, damn-the-season meaty fare like sage leaves wrapped around sausage, oxtail risotto balls, meatball sandwiches and a few larger "Big Stuff" dishes thanks to kitchen space more than double the EVill location. We definitely dug the "Big Stuff" items - Bev's Famous Pork Blade Steak (right) and the Colorado lamb.

Tribeca has had its ups and downs in the past few years (Chanterelle closing, endless Bouley shuffling), so we can only hope that Terroir's arrival is a sign this neighborhood is going to loosen up and start enjoying life, the way it should.

California Wine Dinners

2010-05-10T11:30:57Z

California winemakers gone maverick are featured at two winemaker dinners this coming week.

Tony Coturri's wines have grown on us over the years and he has become the preeminent American organic winemaker. This Tuesday 5/11, he and the Organic Wine Journal will be hosting a nose-to-tail suckling pig dinner at Resto (111 E. 29th St). The meat-acular will be paired with several terrific Coturri wines including the 2006 Estate Zinfandel. $75 excluding tax & tip, reservations at 212-685-5585.

On Thursday 5/13, Steve Edmunds of Edmunds St. John will be hosting a dinner at Belcourt (84 Second Avenue) together with Chambers Street Wines. Four courses will be paired with eight (!) wines, all made in the Rhone style with minimal intervention. $75 all inclusive, reserve by calling Chambers Street Wines at 212-227-1434.