Barrio Chic
February 4, 2010
When I walked past El Museo del Barrio, I was wowed by the formerly gritty museum’s new bold yellow Plexiglass façade and, once inside, by the bright, airy modern café, with its huge arched windows overlooking the Central Park Conservatory garden. Part of El Museo’s $35 million renovation, El Café is
catered by Great Performances, the same company that brings you warming root vegetable soup at Wave Hill or artisanal cheese boards at BAM. [Read more]
Blossomed Anew
February 4, 2010
Despite the influx of taco joints and pork-saturated dishes flooding restaurants these days, there is still a place for those seeking respite from animal proteins. Situated on the restaurant-heavy First Avenue, between East 79th and 80th streets, Café Blossom recently opened up its third location at what used to be a chicken shop (Eastside Poultry Inc., which moved to 1564 Second Ave.). Now, the food is all vegan, all the time. [Read more]
Lost in the List
February 4, 2010
“I’ll tell you what you should do,” the well-dressed bar regular slurred after his fourth whiskey and water. “You need to get rid of that Merlot and pour a Cotes du Rhone instead.”
“Yeah, why don’t you just have six wines by the glass instead of four?” another regular asked, popping her head into our conversation.
“Also, your price for the Grgich Hills Fume is quite a bit more than the place down the street. You’d sell more if you lowered it a little.”
“I’m just saying this because my friend was in here last week and she’s a wine expert. She was just commenting on the list. That’s all.”<!–more–>
I’m sure they all mean well and are simply trying to help (read: convince me to put the wines that they—and only they—want on my list). However, I have a feeling that if I were to show up at their respective offices and offer my help in negotiating a contract for their client, or give them some unsolicited tips for their next PowerPoint presentation, they’d take offense.
I know wine. There’s little else I truly have any depth of knowledge in. And while a wine list at a restaurant may sometimes look like a haphazardly thrown together jumble of bottles that have nothing to do with each other, there’s always a method to the madness.
The first thing to remember when you are looking at a wine list is where you are. Are you in a trendy bistro in Soho? A steakhouse in the financial district? Or, in my case, a venerable standard American restaurant in the heart of the theater district? The wine is for everyone who comes through that door. In the case of my restaurant, more than 50 percent of those guests are not New Yorkers, and are not “in to wine.” Every third table asks for a glass of the “house Merlot.” Why, then, would it make any sense not to have one by the glass? For as much as I love the red wines of central Austria, you will never see one on my list. Because it will never sell. In a trendy Soho bistro, however, the clientele generally want more adventurous and esoteric selections.
I actually have a mission statement for my wine list: value-priced, quality wines from around the world, representing the best of both old and new world styles made from well-known varietals. If you look at my wine list, you’d see that every single wine fits that profile.
The by-the-glass list is another matter altogether. In many instances, the way the bar is set up can make it difficult to carry many wines by the glass. There simply may not be enough room. With a by-the-bottle selection, you need only keep two or three extra bottles on hand to avoid leaving the bar in the middle of the rush to retrieve more from the cellar. With by the glass selections, one must keep upwards of six to 10 bottles per seating, per wine. That’s a lot of space, and that can keep a by-the-glass list limited.
Speaking of space, it’s what usually determines a wine’s price. As with most products, wine adheres to the well-known “buy more, save more” philosophy. Almost all distributors give deeper discounts the more you buy at one time. That’s great—unless your wine room is the size of a Manhattan closet. Wine must be kept at a constant temperature and humidity, which means that building massive wine rooms (especially in an older structure) is very expensive. That means buying wine in smaller batches, which sometimes means higher prices.
These issues are just the tip of the iceberg. I haven’t even mentioned the hassle of setting up new accounts with distributors (you think your last credit check was a headache), dealing with delivery drivers who won’t show up when you tell them to, renewing liquor licenses… you get the picture.
So the next time you sit down and scoff at the wine list, remember where you are and that you aren’t the only one ordering wine that night.
<a href=”mailto:josh@pennilessepicure.com” target=”_blank”>josh@pennilessepicure.com</a>
What I Found in My (Pita) Pocket
January 28, 2010
“You’ve got to try Pita Joe,” Pete told me, week after week.
Pete Blumenthal and I have spent years after school on the P.S. 75 playground, sometimes talking about our kids, but mainly talking about food. And while I trust his instincts, I wondered what could be so special about yet another falafel joint.
Well, Pita Joe is not your “average Joe” of falafel joints. For one thing, it’s a strange mix of German, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Indian tastes stuffed in whole wheat or white pitas. [Read more]
Wine, Au Naturale
January 28, 2010
“So this wine was made from grapes that grew… out of the ground?”
My friend Jon stared at me blankly after he said this, as if issuing some kind of challenge.
“Yeah,” I snorted. “Of course.”
“And it fermented? Naturally?” [Read more]
Plus-Size Barbecue
January 21, 2010
What with the wildly popular Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in Madison Square Park each summer, and relatively new barbecue joints in nearly every neighborhood, barbecue joins burgers and Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches at the top of New York City’s most esteemed foods. And to think that a mere decade ago there were only three or four restaurants serving barbecue in Manhattan. Due to the city’s strict smoke emission regulations, starting a barbecue restaurant is a dicey—and pricey—prospect. It took the venerable Danny Meyer a good year to get Blue Smoke right. [Read more]
Chinese Firecracker Bang for the Buck
January 13, 2010
Never mind the indifferent to unfriendly waitstaff, the run-down décor and refrigerated soda cans on display. Never mind that they charged me 40 cents to take home the crispy noodles that arrived the moment I sat down—those eggy noodles that send you right back to the 1960s as soon as you dip them in duck sauce. The lunch deal here is just too good to pass up. [Read more]
Bitchy Brew
January 13, 2010
In the ever-changing world of wine, there are few constants. But every once in a while, you stumble on a wine that makes you remember why everyone makes such a fuss out of the stuff in the first place. I have found such a wine, and it has made me re-obsessed with a grape that I had all but forgotten.
First, the grape: Grenache, or Garnacha if you’re in Spain (we’ll get to that later). It is thought that this grape originated in the area of northern Spain/southern France around the Pyrenees. It traveled further inland in Spain and farther north into France, as well. It is now grown worldwide, but the classic versions of this grape remain the wines of the Languedoc region of France, where it is made into red and rose, the southern Rhone, where it is used as a major blending grape, and throughout northern Spain. [Read more]
Lighten Up
January 8, 2010
January brings a slew of New Year’s resolutions, like the perennial mantra to eat healthier. Since wan lunchtime salads quickly lose their appeal, consider these local eateries offering delicious dishes that also keep your waist small.
Ozu (566 Amsterdam Ave., near 88th St., 212-787-8316): This Japanese restaurant focuses on vegan dishes that eschew refined sugars and showcase fresh produce and whole grains. The pocket-sized eatery has only 26 seats, but dishes out huge portions. Kabocha, a Hokkaido squash similar to butternut, appears throughout the extensive menu. In an appetizer, the steamed pieces are smothered in a seitan sauce so delicious it ought to come with a spoon. Steamed kabocha, carrots and sweet potatoes, or a generous romaine salad with a tangy beet dressing, accompany the entrées. [Read more]
Savory Specialties, Syrupy Sweets
December 31, 2009
In New York City you have only to think of a restaurant specializing in poached eggs or the cuisine of Papua New Guinea, and Chowhounders will soon be telling you the cross streets. Dream of a café selling myriad types of baklava? Your culinary prayers are answered with the opening of Midtown’s Güllüoglu.
Long known as a purveyor of baklava imported from Turkey, Güllüoglu is a sleek, sophisticated café with aerial images of Istanbul on the glass tabletops. Make it past the displays of baklavas and other desserts oozing cream and honey, and you’ll see a wide array of authentic savory specialties. [Read more]
