Recently in Openings Category

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.

The latest culinary hotspot to land in NYC is Tertulia (359 6th Ave), an Asturias-inspired casual Spanish restaurant inhabiting the former home of the West Village's La Palapa. We slipped in early on night, barely avoiding the crush at the door, and found two plush barstools waiting. From this vantage point, we watched two women churn out tapas near the window while a line of people formed behind us. Note to New Yorkers - if you want a seat right now, get there early. Beyond the bar, the space is divided into two cramped rooms with an open kitchen in the back.

We were passing Empellon (230 W. 4th Street @ W. 10th) on night two and there was space at the bar, so we dropped in to try a few things. Here are our first impressions.

Nightlife impresario Frederick Lesort hasn't had the best few years - his Frederick's outlets on E. 58th Street and downtown closed and his hotel restaurant, Plein Sud, was beaten up by unimpressed critics including Sam Sifton, who called it "an awkward little bistro" while awarding it just a "Fair" rating in August.

Veranda (130 7th Ave), the new - and likely doomed - occupant of the former Sheridan Square and Tasca space, has decided to make a blatant play for the boozy masses this Friday night. For the restaurant/hookah bar's opening, Urban Daddy is reporting they will have an open bar from 9pm - 11pm on... Friday the 13th.

Someone should have told them this isn't the best day to open in a doomed space. Perhaps they'll break the curse, but then again, probably not.

Today is the day when the new SD26 shows its face to the world. Last night was the requisite opening party, thrown by Tony May along with Eater and the Food Network Food & Wine Fest folks. Generally these things are a disappointing affair - light on food, tough to get a drink, etc. But I'll tell you one thing, Tony May knows how to throw a party.

First a little back story - Tony May may not be a household name in NYC these days - San Domenico was on less-than-hip Central Park South and considered old-school - but the man is the godfather of Italian cuisine in America. He ran the Rainbow Room when it was relevant and then decided to introduce real Italian food to New York in a time when Italian equaled spaghetti with red sauce and meatballs. He brought over ginormous chef Sandro Fioriti 25 years ago for the first authentic taste of Rome and ran San Domenico as a glam Michelin-star type of restaurant. Michael White? Scott Conant? Andrew Carmellini? Mario? All these guys are kids playing in a sandbox Tony May almost single-handedly built (Lidia Bastianich gets an assist on this point too) and some worked in his kitchen, too.

Now Michael White works where San Domenico was, at the underwhelming though certainly stylish Marea. And Tony May headed down to Madison Square Park to open a very large new spot.

As per the usual, the room was full of media types and food luminaries - Morimoto, Payard, Marc Murphy, Cesare Casella, Joe Bastianich, the aforementioned Sandro, etc. - but the surprise of the night was the food (yes, we're a booze blog, and we'll get to that)...

Sometimes you come across something so inexplicable, you just have to go with the flow. After undertaking a Bastille Day-inspired booze crawl, we wound up in the West Village for one last drink... or so we thought. We had heard that Kurt Gutenbrunner had finally opened his wine bar, The Upholstery Store, a few doors down from Wallse - something we first caught wind of 4 or 5 years ago - and decided it would be our nightcap spot.

Sure, it was in Daily Candy but we figured it would be manageable. As you can see from the photo above, however, manageable was not the first word that came to our minds as we turned the corner onto Washington Street and saw a horde of people on the sidewalk.

We had a decision to make - soldier on or head home. As we were already fueled by booze, we made our way into the crowd...

Everyone in this town seems to have a shtick and Ward III, a new Tribeca cocktail bar (111 Reade Street), has one - "bespoke cocktails" - that was intriguing enough to warrant a visit the other night.

As we struggled to the bar, making our way past a parade of office workers celebrating their hard won freedom from drone-life, we were surprised at the size of the space and its generic look. While our fellow patrons busied themselves ordering rum & cokes and $7 Coronas - how sad is that with all the polished but ignored spirits bottles looking on from the shelves - we tried our hand with the bartender. There was no list at all and the bartender made a point of asking the non-beer, non-Ketel-on-the-rocks drinkers what "base" they wanted. We asked for something in the brown liquor family. The resulting drink, bourbon with fresh raspberries was okay but fairly indistinct. Much better was a gin and basil concoction. A rye drink, was also pretty good. (Cocktails $12 and up, depending on ingredients).

Unfortunately, thanks to the concept, we can't order these drinks again since they don't have names and aren't on a list that we know of. Also, the crowd was of the "who cares it's the weekend variety," and they could care less about fancy cocktails. Together with the high ceilings, bare walls and loud music, the atmosphere wasn't what you'd call serious cocktail drinking friendly. A guest who asked for "something raspberry" was was met with a borderline sneer and an impatient "request" that she pick a liquor base first. Really? Customers at a newly opened place are supposed to be familiar with the peculiarities of ordering? And as serious about the cocktails as the bartenders?  We think they might have to reconsider who the customer is likely to be and encourage those who are at least showing interest rather than sneer at them.

The website promises "New York City's Finest Eats," which is either tongue-in-cheek or a pretty outlandish thing to say since they are serving bar food a block from Bouley. The sliders were fine, but nothing to write home about. Other food options right now include a mac & cheese and a sizeable quesadilla.

We understand it's a hook but "bespoke cocktails" is not even something so original - we often tell a bartender what we're in the mood for and a good one can come up with something. Our bet is the bespoke cocktail angle will get downplayed real soon. The real question is whether this place will attract the NYC cocktail crowd, no sure bet given the location and a generic, somewhat impersonal interior that flies in the face of the speakeasy trend.

While we profess to be stuck in the 80s, the folks at Kingswood have time warped back to the 70s for their new lounge Baddies, now open in the former private event space beneath the restaurant.

The space is black and red, decked out with black ostrich leather sofas and white cowhide chairs. The cocktail list is a throwback as well - think White Chocolate Russian, Tequila Sunrise and a Strawberry Daiquiri. And they've thrown in a Manhattan - made with Bulleit Bourbon and Dubonnet - to lure the likes of us into the basement. Just might work.

Baddies NYC
20 Greenwich Avenue
Cocktails  $12 - $13

Opening today is the Japanese Culinary Center (JCC) at 711 3rd Avenue (E. 45th), which will be a showcase for Japanese cuisine and products. Operated by New York Mutual Trading, the center is open to both professionals and the public. A big draw will be the sake gallery - 130 sakes and 40 shochus will be available for sale. We'll keep our eyes peeled for the inevitable sake tastings and let you know.

*Seems the press materials were misleading - sakes & shochus are available for order by restaurateurs and wine shop owners only. (Updated 4/25/09)

Stone Street quietly got a new drinking establishment on St. Patrick's Day - The Dubliner (45 Stone Street). This pub has taken over for the late Brouwers of Stone Street and comes to us from the same owners as Beckett's across the way. Early verdicts on Yelp are not proving too kind so far but it is early folks. Question is, do NYC need yet another faux Irish pub and does that particular street need yet another place that serves $7 beers? The jury is out but we just might know the verdict.

The Dubliner
45 Stone Street
212-785-5400

Thrillist, Eater, et al posted yesterday about a new speakeasy - yes, narrow space, downstairs, unmarked door, yada yada - called Raines Law Room (48 W. 17th Street) and immediately a couple of skeptics weighed in. Seems some people are tired of speakeasies and we can understand that - everything from tiny PDT, the world's most promoted speakeasy, to Woodson and Ford, the open but not basement joint on Bleecker Street, has started to grate on folks. These days, people want to drink and they kind of prefer places that a) they can get into and b) they can find.

One of the bartenders hastily leapt to the spot's defense, promising "it's not like any other bar in town." Now it's arguable that was even necessary since only two commenters initially posted their skepticism and it was hardly the usual Eater vitriol. Of course, the bartender's response opened him up for further criticism and a good bit of hole was dug, though he was certainly diligent and fair in his comments. However, it might serve folks working at speakeasies to be a little less sensitive to internet comments.

From our perspective, the place actually sounds intriguing and we don't mind the concept - assuming they have a policy of actually letting people in. We'll let you know how that Old Fashioned tastes, it does sound like a delicious version.

Raines Law Room
48 W. 17th Street, downstairs, unmarked door

We popped into the "soft opening" of City Winery last night not knowing what to expect. Eater and Grub Street had written it up, there were a bunch of good wine deals and there is a big PR machine behind it. What we found, was a bit of a surprise - a cavernous space (at most a third full around 8:30pm) and a big stage with a piano. There are cool looking barrels and bottles-as-decor, too. Granted it was the day before New Year's Eve and the location, two blocks north of the Holland Tunnel, is challenging, but we expected a much bigger turnout of oenophiles.

The first thing that strikes you about City Winery is the sheer size of the place. All blond wood, we can only imagine the acoustics when it is full. The main floor is the restaurant/bar/performance space with a small private room downstairs. Designed for maximum sightlines in relation to the stage, this unfortunately means that when there is no performance, your eyes are drawn to the emptiness of the stage. And with a room that large, you have to wonder how they will fill it when there are no performances.

The opening night was low key and all about the wines. And the deals were impressive: $5 Henriot champagne, $20 for a 1970 Francesco Rinaldi Barolo,  $15 Lopez de Heredia 1987 Rioja, $10 Olga Riffaut's 1989 Chinon - all well worth the price, even though there was significant bottle variation. The glass pours were generous and tastes were provided as well. This was easily the best place to taste old vintages in New York last night - how often does one get a chance to taste 20 and 30 year old wines by the glass? And at these prices?!

We heard from the forces behind the yet un-named space at 643 Broadway about their reservations policy:

"Reservations for party requests can be made at drinksat6.com. The minimum party size will be decided on per event."

So here you go. Bottoms up!

Update 1/21 - According to Urban Daddy, the name is confirmed as Woodson and Ford. Of course, we already knew that regardless of their protestations...

What is the best new bar you can't get into? How about a new speakeasy (name TBD) that opened in a Village basement. And no, you likely can't get in right now.

Places slipping in under the radar are a rarity in NYC. An unmarked basement location certainly helps. Limited operating hours, mostly on weekends, do too. Right now it is only an event space.

But if you do make it in - with the secret password (available via text) given to the doorman  - an underground world suddenly unfolds. The space is warm and welcoming, with nooks and crannies on either side of a long old school bar. Above is the requisite stuffed animal - a wolf's head peering down at the revelry. The decor (and staff) will be familiar to anyone who's been to Apotheke, Tailor or Clover Club - lots of wood, plush sofas, old-fashioned light fixtures. And there is an impressive amount a space, a welcome change from great but tiny places like PDT or Milk and Honey that but fill up quickly.

The cellar has a fascinating history. It was once Pfaff's Beer Cellar, circa the early 1800s, and hosted Mark Twain and Walt Whitman, among others. Later incarnations included a photo studio where Abe Lincoln's portrait was taken, a 1900s brothel, the infamous Infinity Disco where 21 people died in a fire in the 1970s, and the gay club Mr. Black Dance Den.

So what about the drinks? They are well-priced ($12 for cocktails) and well-balanced. We very much liked the eponymous Woodson and Ford (applejack, zacapa 23, benedictine, sweet vermouth, Fee brothers' whiskey barrel bitters). The Woodrow Wilson, however, would best be categorized as "interesting" since the flavors and booze - rittenhouse rye, amaro averna, champagne, demerara and orange zest - did not quite mesh. The floating ice cubes eventually melted and mellowed out the drink.

The bar also has a nice vittles menu. The mostly Spanish-skewing plates range from $7 to $17 (kumamotos are $3 a pop) and come from the Corner Shop Cafe upstairs. Patatas Bravas deep fried in duck fat and served with homemade ketchup, were scrumptious ($7) while Fabada, fava beans and spiced pork, was good but overpriced at $11. The cheese selection (a hefty $6 each) is commendable, with Mrs. Quickie's cheddar, Tuxford & Tebbutt Stilton and Uplands Pleasant Ridge.

After the jump, a look at the full cocktail menu plus other boozy details. We'll keep you posted on door policies and hours - we hear they might be opening on Mondays and Tuesdays as early as this week.

Woodson and Ford
643 Broadway, Downstairs