It’s been said that the modern wine bar was popularized in London and made famous in San Francisco, but in the last decade New York City has become the wine bar capital of the world—bar none !I don’t know which city the experts say is most famous for socializing, but the “Orange” here will bet the grove that it’s the Big Apple !

New York Wine bars and cafes are absolutely great for meeting people and are packed solid after work and well into the early morning. They offer a medley of wines that will convince any oenophile he’s died and gone to vintage heaven. You may order by the usual bottle or glass or have fun with half bottles, quartinos (1/3 of a bottle) or a flight of samplings (2 ounces.) Some have international offerings while others specialize in specific regions. All have expert sommeliers that complement their offerings with Faulknerian descriptions.

Having previously succeeded (barely) at pulling off a 24-hour cognac marathon (Chasing Cognac in NYC—the previous issue), I knew I needed a back-up buddy to take on Wine Bars, in case the chase became a “crawl !”
I asked my Broadway actor pal and wine aficionado Joel Leffert to join me. “Sounds like fun,” he answered. “Just remember, though this may be the ‘city that never sleeps,’ I do !” I agreed, having learned the hard way that I can still jump as high, but not as often !

We decided to spread this great chase over two days, weaving throughout Manhattan to seek out wine bars in all their forms, from tiny, dimly-lit, old world havens to sleekly modern, ultra-upscale salons. Whatever shape they take, they all glisten like pearls in the city’s vast oyster bed of wine bars.
We could fill this whole magazine describing these myriad jewels. Here are just a few notables that I call the “Sweet Sixteen.” Like kids in a candy store, Joel and I packed them into two glorious nights of running around, walking, and yes, even a little crawling !


Stop 1 - Friday : 4:30 P.M
MORREL WINE BAR AND CAFE
1 Rockfeller Plaza

        Our first stop is this regal 2-level beauty. This place gives new meaning to the word upscale. Rockefeller Center is a major destination in New York, both as a business center and a magnet for tourists and shoppers. Not only does Morrell offer the largest wine-by-the-glass list in the city, it’s in the heart of midtown Manhattan, has a fine holiday view of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and a relaxing outdoor café that’s great for people viewing.

The wine list has over 20-pages of international wines (over 2000 bottles) with 150 by-the-glass selections and the serious but unpretentious menu is made for pairing with whatever wine you choose. If you get confused just ask the resident “wine geeks” for help. Nikos Antonakeas, the manager director since its inception, is an affable guy who flows easily among the packed bar crowd, whether talking to a high profile celebrity or simply a regular customer enthused about wine. He’s seen many changes in his patrons’ palates over the years.

Says Nikos: “Wine bars have convinced restaurants that if they want to be competitive they have to upgrade their half-bottles and wines by the glass. If they don’t, they’ll lose customers to us. These days, people know good from not-so-good wine. Wine bars have helped them to learn.”
The dinner crowd is starting to pile in, so Joel and I grab stools at the bar to plan our evening as Nikos ambles away. Excited by the night ahead, we gently sip our first selections of the weekend — a glass of Chablis for me and a Gruner Veltliner for Joel – as we share a tasty plate of tuna carpaccio. Says Joel, “I love this job.”


Stop 2 - Friday : 6:00 PM
VINIVINO
211 West Broadway in Tribeca

        It’s Friday evening in midtown Manhattan so forget about a cab. We stroll over to Times Square and catch the #1 train to Franklin St. We’re moving faster than I like, but the city’s energy is contagious. Everyone’s on the move. Many are going to Tribeca, the home of great restaurants and clubs sprinkled among the beautifully refurbished buildings of this old industrial area.
VinoVino is more than just a wine bar. Its narrow first floor storefront is divided into two even narrower spaces. On one side is an elegant little wine shop with 300 International bottles artfully arranged for sale. On the other side of a long glass partition is the wine bar. New York law insists that owners Jay and Ashley Donayre keep these two businesses separate, but the same love of wine unites them.

VinoVino calls itself a ‘Tribeca Enoteca.’ The traditional Italian enoteca was a gathering place for people to relax and sample local food and wine. Creating the perfect Big Apple version was a recurring theme, some might say obsession, throughout our weekend.
Jay (who was born in Peru where his grandmother made wine) and Beverage Director Peter Botti have assembled some 30 wines by the glass but if you want something different just hop next door. The wine shop is full of rare gems and for a $15 corking fee you can bring it ‘through the glass’ to the bar.

This is an intimate, convivial place. Jazz was playing in the background as we sat at the bar and ordered a plate of cold meats.

I settled in with a California Zinfandel while Joel went with a Negroamaro from Puglia.

A young, well-dressed crowd filled the long hallway and talked in hushed, excited tones as if they had suddenly been released from servitude and were about to embark on a night of guiltless pleasure. Well, it was Friday night in the big city.


Stop 3 - Friday : 7:15 PM
INOTECA
98 Rivington St. on the Lower East Side

        A quick cab ride and we’re on the Lower East Side. This area, in the shadow of the old Essex St. Food Market and surrounded by renovated tenements that housed a flood of European immigrants a century ago, is a hotbed of bars, clubs, boutique hotels and specialty shops.
Joe and Jason Denton are brothers and co-owners, along with chef Eric Kleinman, of ‘inoteca, a neighborhood anchor for the last four years. ‘inoteca is the wine bar that other restaurant folk head to after work. In true ‘enoteca’ fashion, Kleinman has created a roster of unusual small plates to pair with an all-star, all-Italian wine list of 700 bottles and 30 reds, whites, rosatos and bubblies by the glass.

Every Italian region is here for the asking.After learning the restaurant business from his uncle in San Francisco, Jason landed in NYC where he met future partner Mario Batali. In 1999, they teamed up with Joe Bastianich and chef Mark Ladner to open Lupa, the wildly successful trattoria in the village. Earlier, he and his wife Jennifer, had opened ‘ino, a tiny wine and panini bar on Bedford St., inspired by a similar place in Italy. ‘ino was so popular (and still is!) that Jason and Joe, who was managing it by then, decided to try a larger version, ‘inoteca.

Wine director Francesco Grosso grew up in suburban New Jersey and wanted to write, but the vino grandpa made in the basement got into his blood and he traded journalism school for the Institute of Culinary Education. He is always looking for something new, like the sparkling nebbiolo from Piemonte that Joel sipped while scarfing down his polpette meatballs.
I settled happily into a plate of truffled egg toast with a glass of Silvaner from the Alto Adige.

We sat at our rustic wooden table in the main room, with a fan turning overhead and looked out on busy Rivington St. The crowd was lining up at the cement bar and even the cantina room downstairs was filling up. It’s lucky the kitchen stays open till 3A.M., 7 days a week.


Stop 4 - Friday : 8:15 PM
JADIS
42 Rivington St. on the Lower East Side

        A few blocks over, we left the sun-drenched passion of Italy for the sophisticated joie-de-vive of France. Jadis, in its second year, is a rare French oasis in the New York wine bar scene. With its exposed brick walls, leather couches and candle-lit tables, the feeling here is comfy, château chic.
The wine list is International but dominated by small French producers from less-known regions like the Languedoc and the Loire. There are about 60 wines by the bottle and about 30 by the glass and carafe. The menu offers generous helpings of quiches, fromage, and charcuterie.

Joel tried his terrible French accent on our patient server and was about to get duck mousse in his face when Gerald Stinner, one of the owner/managers smoothed things over. Originally from Alsace, Gerald, a former wine salesman, says their goal is to create a low-key, unpretentious, French alternative to the many Italian enotecas. Joel and I say, “Viva la difference!”
We shared a heavenly plate of assorted charcuterie (country pâté, Bayonne ham, etc.) while we sipped our wines, a Faugeres from Roussillon and a Pic Saint Loup from the Languedoc. Sitting there with these French beauties, it was hard not to picture us on the Left Bank watching tourists stroll by. But it was time to use our letters of transit (metrocards) and move on. Well, we’ll always have Paris.


Stop 5 - Friday : 9:30 PM
AROMA KITCHEN AND WINE BAR
36 F. 4th St.

        This secret spot on an East Village side street may be no bigger than a postage stamp but exuberant co-owner and sommelier Vito Polosa (Alexandra de Giorgio is the other owner who also helps out ably) welcomes you with a smile and suddenly your side street is a strada in Rome.

The wine list includes over 80 all-Italian wines, divided by region, including an extensive “by the glass” program.

This cozy nook has it all—romantic little tables, fine food with surprisingly big flavors and wine, wine, wine. And check out the private ‘farmhouse’ room, hidden downstairs, past the kitchen, way, way in the back.We shared a flight of four tastings from Vito’s ‘by-the-glass’ list : A Prosecco, Orvieto, Aglianico del Vulture and a Sicilian Syrah.

Says Vito: «There’s something very civilized about drinking wine. And what a great feeling one has when gaining more knowledge about them, sharing it and seeking new and exciting ones with friends, broadening horizons together.»


Stop 6 - Friday : 10:30 PM
WINEBAR
65 Second Ave. (at 4th St.) in the East Village

        The East Village is sizzling these days. Old tenements are being renovated and great little restaurants are opening up, but it’s still got lots of tattoo and T-shirt parlors, tiny dive bars and theatres, Ukrainian coffee shops and Italian bakeries. Plenty of atmosphere. And plenty of wine bars. From Aroma it’s a short stroll to Winebar, an aptly named former restaurant on busy Second Avenue.
Owner/Manager Raymond Azzi was born in Lebanon and drank lots of red wine growing up. He opened his own Mediterranean restaurant, OVO, ten years ago. But his passion was wine and he wanted a place where they came first so he opened Winebar two years ago in the same location.

The decor is dark and sexy, with tall, wood tables lit by candles and set against a wall of wine. On crowded weekend nights they fill up with a mix of local fans and East Village visitors. Raymond has seen many changes over the years. “The old OVO crowd was more homey, less well-to-do maybe, but very loyal.
There are lots of new faces now,” he says, “and a lot more wine people.” Winebar offers a full menu of ‘tapas’ style food, including flatbreads from their own woodstove, but Raymond is most proud of the list, limited strictly to Italy, France and Spain. He offers 30-35 bottles from each country with 10-12 wines by the glass.

His favorite region these days is the Ribera del Duero so we each had a glass of the dark Tempranillo and munched on warm flatbread. Desserts are also a specialty and Joel, a confirmed chocoholic, couldn’t resist the molten chocolate cake. It was tempting to relax in this warm, comfy Mediterranean cove, but the night was young and it was time to push off and seek new adventures.


        It’s a beautiful spring evening in the Village. Around the corner, on E. 4th St., is a row of old Off-Off-Broadway theatres that first flourished in the heady, avant-garde ‘60’s. Some, like La Mama, are still thriving, but others have died and gone the way of all gentrification. Everything gets recycled. All along Second Avenue, huge old palaces from the days of the Yiddish theatre, found new life as rock concert venues (the old Fillmore East) or grungy movie theatres and are now being ripped down for fancy condos.
Strolling along, Joel suddenly recognized a run-down building he’d worked in 30 years ago. “I don’t know what this was a hundred years ago, David, but in the 70’s it had three theatres. One in a beautiful old ball room and the other two carved out of the first floor. It was still run-down, hell, the whole street was a sleazy mess, but it was a hot-bed of experimental theatre.
I was acting in a terrible play called ‘The Ants and the Butterflies,’ that should have been called ‘The Ants and the Rats’. The dressing room was in the wet, freezing basement. One day, I left my leather bag overnight by mistake, and the next day it had a huge hole eaten through the side ! From then on, I dressed upstairs. Come on, I need a drink.”


Stop 6 - Friday : 11:30 PM
INVINO
215 E. 4th St. in the East Village

        We stumbled our way east into alphabet land, until we came to IN VINO, between Avenues A & B. This is a classic ‘enoteca’-style beauty. The owner, Luigi Iasilli, is from Basilicata, in southern Italy, and here he recreates a simple, rustic cantina from the old country. The cozy room has a large, wooden bar made from a split wine press, surrounded by comfortable wooden tables.
Coming in this late, on a Friday night, the place was humming. Manager/Wine Director Keith Beavers is obsessed with wine, especially Italian. He first worked for Luigi at his other New York restaurant, Max. They both favor little-known, boutique wineries. The all-Italian list has over 190 wines by the bottle, 25-30 by the glass, no Chianti and is always changing. “A wine list is a living thing,” says Beavers.

This is the third year for In Vino and Keith has already seen the changes. “There are new people with more money to spend and a greater love of good wines. They’re more discerning and they’re looking for a smaller, more intimate experience.” Luigi and his wife developed the menu to match the wine.
They offer a variety of antipasti, carpacci and pasta and enough larger secondi such as lamb or salmon to satisfy any craving.I chose a Rosso di Montalcino from Keith’s favorite district, closed my eyes and pictured the rolling hills of Umbria as the earthy taste of the Rosso spread across my tongue. Keith says, “People come here to find solace in wine.” I, for one, was feeling very consoled.


Stop 8 - Saturday : 12:30 PM
10 DEGREES
121 St. Mark Place in the East Village

        A five-minute walk brought us to 10 DEGREES on St. Marks Place near Tompkins Square Park. Aviv Kastoriano, the owner/manager, was born in Israel and worked there as a bartender/manager, then tried Chicago and New York “I always wanted to open a bar,” he says. “I live the nightlife.”
If you come alive at night, St. Marks Place is for you. This is one of the busiest streets in the Village and there’s lots of competition for a new wine bar. Aviv tries to offer something unique- a cosy, clubhouse atmosphere.
A real hangout. A few years ago, a place like this might not have worked. But there’s a savvier, slightly older crowd now, says Aviv, that appreciates wine and the chance to savor it in a cool, intimate setting. 10 Degrees, by the way, refers to the proper Celsius storage temperature of wine. Keep it cool, baby.

The tall front door opens onto a sleek, u-shaped bar with large windows giving a great view of the street. It’s a popular date place and was filled with couples and small groups of friends. On weekends, a DJ works, but it wasn’t too loud to talk. Everyone was clearly having fun. The wine list is International, offering 90 by the bottle and 20 by the glass as well as unusual beers and a full bar. A simple menu of cheeses, cold cuts, paninis, and salads complements the wine.
We found a table in front and watched the party on St. Mark’s while we sipped our wine and nibbled our cheese. When Joel tried to “sip” his cheese I could tell it was time to call it a night ! With the Big Apple slowly turning into the Glistening Grape, we need to save our energy for tomorrow’s round two !


Stop 9 - Saturday : 4:00 PM
GOTTINO ( Enoteca Salumeria)
52 Greenwich Avenue in the West Village

        I’ve been to restaurants so new that the paint had just dried, but Gottino is still drying ! Joel met me in the West Village, where I live, for Day 2 of our wine bar caravan and I pointed out Gottino’s shiny new store front. I had seen the construction going on, but was surprised to find a new wine bar growing right under my nose ! Such is life in the changing city.

Nestled in between two red hot restaurants, Morandi (the first Italian restaurant of Baltazar owner and French food and wine lover Kevin McNally) and Gusto, I predict Gottino is a real charmer in the making.
Co-owner Caterina Berbotto is from the Alba region in Piedmont and this personable young lady knows her wine. A mutual friend introduced her to co-owner Michael Bull, who has a gourmet food background, and Gottino is the result.


Stop 10 - Saturday : 5:00 PM
OTTO  ENOTECA PIZZERIA
1 Fifth Avenue @ Eighth St. in the Village

        This was our chance to see the wine bar idea as it takes shape. All the ingredients are here : the planned menu with its small plates of bruschetta, stuzzichini and tramezzino. The growing wine list—15 whites and 15 reds by the glass—with more to come. The pretty little room itself with its exposed brick interior and rear garden patio. We’ll be back in a few weeks to see the result.
A short walk east near New York University’s Washington Square and we’re at a pizzeria. A pizzeria wine bar ? Think again.
This amazing show by celebrity chef-restaurateur Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich is packed solid with attractive, fashionable twenty and thirty-somethings but also with an older, upscale crowd looking for that “special” experience. This intriguing place, reminiscent of an Italian railway station, is a true must see.

Otto showcases over 700 of Italy’s top wines from all 21 regions by the bottle, quartino, or glass along with antipasti, house-cured meats, artisanal cheeses, and an array of original pizzas. Come here to sip, snack or feast !
On a Saturday night the wait to get in can be long. With Joel and I having only this night to complete our chase, we certainly picked the wrong time to visit Wine Director and friend Peter Jamros. So swamped was he that he seemed to use octopus hands plus his usual multi-tasking skills to juggle it all safely.
On top of that, Peter finds time to teach wine classes for those wanting to know more about this nectar of the gods. Joel and I exhaled to give ourselves more room to fit into this packed, popular place and to clear space around us for the food and wine we were about to have. Otto is one of the key places behind the Big Apple’s wine bar frenzy !


Stop 11 - Saturday : 6:30 PM
RIPOSO 46
667 Ninth Ave. in Hell's Kitchen, west of Times Square
        Joe Summa, like many New Yorkers, is ‘an actor as well as… He’s made lots of TV commercials and had lots of fun, but as owner/manager of this tiny, theatre district wine bar he’s come closest to living his dream. After 10 years at the original Chelsea Grill, the owner, Phil Alotta, approached him with the idea for this intimate (600 sq. ft.) haven from the hustle and bustle of Ninth Avenue.
“We let people relax”, says Joe. “We look for value wines. A $10 wine that tastes like a $20 wine or a $20 one that tastes like a $40 one.” The International list features 120 bottles, 20 by the glass.

There are also unusual beers on tap, such as Old Speckled Hen from England and Mother’s Milk from Kingston, NY. But the wines come first—wonderful, unpretentious ones to match the tasty, comfort food.We shared the fabulous prosciutto and arugula flat bread and fought over the last piece (Joel won).
 I had a lovely glass of Nero D’Avola from Sicily while Joel swooned over the La Yunta Torrontes from Argentina. There are plates of cheeses and cold meats, crostinis, and paninis, as well as a weekend brunch menu.
The marble-topped bar is surrounded by high tables. The long windows open on the street and let the world in on warm nights. Family photos dot the exposed brick walls. This was prime pre-theatre time and the joint was SRO. If Riposo was a play, I’d say it’s clearly destined to be a long-running hit.


We filed out with the theatre crowd and headed to the Upper East Side. As we attempted the fine art of hailing a cab, we heard a mellifluous voice singing Broadway show tunes.
The man on the street waving down a cab was my dear friend Gerry Vichi—the veteran comedian/singer who’s co-starred in countless Broadway productions.

After giving Joel and I bear hugs, he told us he had just signed to play the hilarious role of “Feltzig the Producer” in the Tony winning Broadway hit musical “The Drowsy Chaperone.” “This calls for a celebration drink!” I offered. “Just one?” Gerry countered. Gerry lives on the Upper East Side and as we shared a cab these two hams went into their act for me.
Joel had just finished a play where he was Sigmund Freud obsessed with a young, nubile patient.
His Viennese accent had us in stitches as he described making love to his couch. Then Gerry took over and even the driver had to actually stop at a red light to recover.Before we visited a popular wine bar near Gerry’s home, he insisted we take a quick look at his latest painting. Cherubic Gerry is a painting machine—mostly abstract expressionist.
With a glass of wine or a cigar in one hand, his brush in the other, he works into the wee hours of the morning. Some of his works have sold for thousands of dollars while others he gives away to his many friends. The latest piece he unveiled to us was a nude portrait of a young, leggy Broadway showgirl he’d performed with—on stage, that is !


Stop 12 - Saturday : 8:30 PM
UVA
1486  2nd Ave. on the Upper East Side

        New York City has a way of transporting one to some other time and place. Uva (“wine” in Italian) does just that, with its cosy wooden tables and crystal chandeliers, an eclectic blend of rustic chic.
Add in the outdoor patio in back and the banquet room downstairs, and it’s no surprise that Uva, with its stellar wine list, has won many awards —including a 2006 Wine Spectator award for excellence.Uva is a magnet for the under 30 crowd, with beautiful, young people everywhere.
The young owners, cousins Massimo and Patricia Lusardi definitely have a pulse on what’s hot in the area. Without question, to them wine bars have “legs”—they are no passing fancy. The 200 bottle list is diverse with 60-65% Italian, 25% California and 10-15% international. There are some 50 wines by the glass, including a Pillitteri Ice Wine from Canada that Gerry insisted on trying.

Eating some of Chef Claudio Meneghini’s superb appetizers was an added treat. Joel, Gerry and I shared the chiodini mushrooms (wild mushrooms shaped like little snails) and Prosciutto di San Daniele (sweet prosciutto from Friuli.)
After we selected our drinks, we sat with the owners and talked a little theatre and a little wine.Patricia and Massimo grew up in the restaurant business, their parents owning the famed Lusardi’s, a few doors away.Says Massimo : “New York City is perhaps the most cosmopolitan city in the world, with its many ethnicities. Wine bars are a natural for this diverse crowd.”It seemed very natural to us.




Stop 13 - Saturday : 9:30 PM
WINE & ROSES
286 Colombus Ave. on the Upper East Side

        A quick crosstown cab through Central Park took us to Wine & Roses, a recent addition to the Upper West Side. Jennifer Klein, the owner/manager, has worked in the wine and food business for 15 years, most recently as co-founder of Jane & Goldies sourdough chips. Opening a wine bar was a new challenge, a way of exploiting her love of wine and a chance to learn more.
Now she’s taking courses at the American Sommelier Association and, with help from husband Todd, has transformed this old storefront into a communal home for all West Side wine lovers.

The single room has high ceilings, exposed brick and restored detailing. The U-shaped, marble-topped bar is surrounded by high tables and comfortable stools. The tall windows fronting the street look out on sidewalk tables in warm weather and give the place a distinct European flair.
Noted consulting sommelier, Elmer Contreras, helped Jennifer assemble a list of 150 choices by the bottle and 25-30 by the glass as well as bottled beer and sake. All regions are represented. Says Jennifer, “The fun of such a list is discovering new areas and little-known wines.”

I was intrigued by a Refosco from Friuli, while Joel went American with a Russian River Zin.The tall, lovely Jennifer plans the menu as well, picking what will pair well, like the delicious Swedish meatballs in phyllo dough (Joel loves meatballs!) Salads, pasta, cured meats and paninis round out the menu. This spring they plan to offer special food pairings and wine flights. Things are looking up for the West Side.


Stop 14 - Saturday : 10:30 PM
BARCIBO ENOTECA
2020 Broadway (at 69th St) and the Upper West Side

         Proving that good ideas are contagious, it was a three minute walk to our next destination. Marc Romeo and Lawrence Bonderlich are the two managing partners of BARCIBO ENOTECA, a brand-new wine bar just around the corner. Lawrence is also the owner/manager of BIN 71, another one at the corner of Columbus and 71st St. We were starting to feel cornered.
Lawrence comes from a restaurant family, (His father stays involved as the chef at BIN 71.). Lawrence cites Mario Batali and Daniel Boulud as mentors. He designed BARCIBO as another true Italian enoteca, a place to come for a drink or a snack.
A place to bring the family or just hang out. BIN 71 is popular, but tiny, and has a global wine list, while BARCIBO spreads over two levels, has tall marble-topped tables with cushioned stools and sports an all-Italian list with many unusual bottles among the 120 choices.
They offer 35 by the glass, plus a full bar with unique bourbons and ryes. The imaginative menu has tasty “tapas” style appetizers such as tuna carpaccio w/pesto and sweet sausages w/ broccolo rabe, as well as paninis and risottos or larger courses such as roast lamb shank with ricotta gnocchi.

I was getting a little peckish by now, so I tried the wonderful lamb with a glass of Barbaresco while Joel went with the sweet sausages and a Montefalco Rosso. Lawrence lives on the West Side. He says, “Wine bars are hot right now, maybe because we don’t have enough fine restaurants.” Marc was an actor and bartender before teaming up with Lawrence.
He feels that, “Wine bars are still an untapped resource for New Yorkers.” BARCIBO is a friendly, harmonious place. The only argument we heard was between the two otherwise friendly owners. But after all, it was spring training and Marc is a Mets fan, while Lawrence roots for the Yankees. Look out !


        It was time to head downtown, to the Flatiron District, but every cab was full. Then I saw a guy I knew across Broadway in the same predicament. But as it turned out the gods were smiling upon us, at least one in particular—Bacchus, the god of wine !This laid back and cool guy was Sean Hanley.
Who is Sean ? He’s the sales manager for Acker, Merrall & Condit Company—a gorgeous wine shop that also is the largest Independent Fine & Rare Wine Auction House in the World ! We’re talking approx. $47 million in 2006, in addition to having a stunning wine store nearby on 72nd St., just off Broadway.

It turns out Sean had a car service and offered to take Joel and I wherever we needed to go. During the ride, Sean gave us his take on the wine bar phenomena.“I love wine bars,” he exclaimed. “They’re the place where I wind down after work, meet up with friends and catch up on things.
And I like to eat one of their light meals while sipping on something by the glass. Not just any wine, but often great ones, without having to purchase a whole bottle.”Sean knows his wine and it’s a pleasure to go to the Acker store just for the “Sean Experience !”


Stop 15 - Saturday : 00:00 AM
METRO CAFE & WINE BAR
32 East 21 St. in the Flatiron District

        This three-year old café and wine bar is the place to come to sample lots of the fermented grape. They have over 90 wines by the glass neatly standing in two huge cruvinets behind the bar. What a wonderful sight ! They are arranged in 22 different flights of 4 wines apiece based on region or type and for a fair price you can try a 2 oz. taste of each or order a full glass or the whole bottle.
 Overseeing this massive wine list is Wine Director Bobby Wong. He’s known the owners of Metro, Daniel Ko and Alan Chin for 23 years. Over those years he worked up the restaurant ladder. Never in the kitchen, though. “I can’t cook a lick,” he says.

Metro’s wine list is very creative. They search for bottles not usually seen in stores. “We look for limited production wines. Our people deserve to try something unique.” The prices are also very friendly and with a list as large as this it’s easy to match something with your food. And here Metro is truly exceptional.
Besides the usual plates of salads, pizzas and cheeses, Metro has a full dim sum menu and their kobe burger has been rated one of the top 10 burgers in NYC by Time Out magazine.

This is the Flat Iron district, a business area where more and more people are choosing to live. The after work crowd is more sophisticated these days, Bobby believes. “80% of our customers are female. Professional people, who want an easy, convivial place to relax.”
Metro has a long, black stone bar in front of those impressive cruvinets and with 175 seats on two levels, it’s one of the bigger wine bars in town.Yet the atmosphere remains low-key. We booked one of their flights, loosened our taste buds and fell into the easy spirit of this unique place.


Stop 16 - Saturday : 01:00 AM
WINED UP
913 Broadway (near 21 st St.) in the Flatiron district

        We thought it only natural to wind up our weekend at Wined Up, just down the street from Metro. Wine Director/General Manager Mina Belhaj-Rouas, calls this brand new wine bar on the second floor, a natural extension of the restaurant, Punch, below. The owners, Stephanie Guest and Will Tracy, wanted a comfortable place with a lounge vibe where people weren’t pressured to eat.
Keep it accessible, but different. Expose people to unusual wines and give them a good selection of ‘tapas’ style foods to pair with. Mina is from Belgium where her family is in the restaurant business. She’s studying for her master sommelier degree and her passion shows in WINED UP’s global list —350 bottles, with 35 by the glass.

The wines are grouped in playful categories such as ‘Drinking Alone ?- followed by a list of half bottles, or ‘Fondues Are Fun’- with a selection of wines that complement this house specialty. The room itself is beautifully designed, with high, sloping ceilings and a curved, white stone bar. One white brick wall is lined with wine and the other sports a collection of old corkscrews and a trellised arrangement of thick vines.
The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly.The after work crowd is here to talk, listen to subtle music and wind down with some tasty wine and nibbles.

This is a changing neighborhood (aren’t they all in Manhattan ?) and part of that change is the increasing knowledge and appreciation of fine wines by the general public. Wined Up, like so many of the wine bars we visited this weekend, is a direct outgrowth of that change. As manager Kimberly Ryan says,“People are so open to new wines now.
It’s fun introducing someone to a lovely wine they might never have tried a few years ago.” It was early Sunday morning now and the warm glow in our cheeks from the many glasses of wine was mirroring the coming dawn.


With a final chorus of “New York, New York, it’s a Wonderful Town … ”, Joel and I headed our separate ways.The next day, over a quiet brunch and several glasses of pure H2O we checked the scribbled notes from our weekend trawl. A page here and there was stained with memories, but clearly readable was the heart-felt passion of all those who run these Sweet Sixteen wine bars.
Their labor of love is a gift to all New York wine lovers. Joel and I felt somewhat guilty over omitting other popular wine bars. So many are out there that our Sweet Sixteen could easily be the “Fabulous Fifty.” And the movement is growing. By next year this article might be titled : “Two Thousand and One —A Wine Bar Odyssey !

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