This week Sam Sifton awarded St. Anselm (355 Metropolitan Ave) a deserved one star for the mostly delicious food coming off its grill but we were puzzled by his decision not to highlight the wine program, which is one of the most exciting lists for wine geeks to come along in some time. Sadly, the list suffers due to the lack of a sommelier and the fact that the staff has not tasted most of the wines. So obscure bottles from geeky producers such as Scholium Project (likely the city's largest collection of these wines), Radikon, Gravner and more get short shrift since there is no one to sell the wines. If you just want a glass, the short list includes a very good '03 Tissot Vin Jaune and a Damijan "orange wine," among other selections. But if you want to delve further into the list, you might want to do your research ahead of time.
Even shakier is The Cannibal (113 E. 29th Street) from the same folks as Resto. This hybrid beer store/restaurant is an odd duck and not entirely successful. The night we were in, the food was okay (pates and various meats) but not memorable while the staff was a mess. Food was misplaced, bers could not be properly described and the menus did not list what was on tap, a key issue when you're paying upwards of $10 (!) for a craft beer. Tastes were provided, which was appreciated, but if we have to ask repeatedly which beer we're drinking and the answer still remains a mystery, that's a problem. The wine program is better than expected but they were inflexible when asked if half-glasses could be combined into a flight (no button for open wine on the iPad?)
Oh and about those iPads. If it takes longer than the normal processing time for a transaction, fancy technology is not improving the customer experience.
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