I am a bit behind in mentioning this, but I (WineChap’s Editor) have a column on Eater called “
Decanted.” Once a week (Tuesday to be exact) I write a review of a selected restaurant’s wine list. This is all original content for Eater. The categories differ and it is generally a bit shorter than what you’ll find on WineChap. For example, on Eater you’ll find a very special category called “WTF?” wherein obnoxious wines are ridiculed, primarily for my own self-gratifiation. Many of these lists do not exist on WineChap just yet, so it’s a great chance to get a snap shot of what you’ll eventually see reviewed on the site and iPhone app in the near future. Here is a look at the first 7 columns
posted with a link through to the full column on
Eater.com.
‘Best New Restaurant’ Marea Pimps Populist Wine Playlist
Fresh off last night’s JBF christening as “Best New Restaurant,”
Marea, the latest swoosh by Michael White and Chris Cannon, secures this duo’s role as emissaries of all things haute-Italian in NYC. But this status is due to more than White’s well-known samurai skills behind the line. What is lesser known is that Cannon himself is a wine expert who intimately understands the genesis of a list.
Click on, dear reader…
Ma Peche’s Wine List Stays True to Momo’s EVill Roots
In both the size of the former Town space, as well as in the décor’s subtle attempt to nudge Chang’s brand of reclaimed wood minimalism toward elegant, we are reminded that we’re not in the East Village anymore. But that doesn’t mean we’d call
Má Pêche a Midtown restaurant. All doubts on such an assertion should be directed toward the wine list, which makes no attempt to turn down its volume for the power lunch crowd.
Click on, dear reader…
Getting Around The Red Tape of Faustina’s Wine List
Faustina, Scott Conant’s follow up to Scarpetta, gets a well-chosen list of mostly Italian wines that reads about as smoothly as the dining room’s layout. Okay, so we had to get one jab in, but overall we’re going to avoid the played-out lambasting of the room and its perilous bathroom journey, because honestly, it isn’t all that bad. And the wine list, despite its haphazard organization, is really very good.
Click on, dear reader…
The Loehmann’s of Italian Wine Lists at ‘Inoteca Liquori
By God there’s a garage sale going on up on 24th Street! Deep decks of Italian relics and outer-regional geek ornaments await those who dare come within 10 blocks of Mercury Bar. What we’re saying is,
‘inoteca liquori hoards the Loehmann’s of Italian wine lists—all the back vintage Barolo you could drink, unique verticals like Antiniolo’s impossibly classic Gattinara, and perspective-changing rarities from producers such as Terlan and Movia that date back to the 60s, all sporting anorexic mark-ups.
Click on, dear reader…
Looking For Inspiration, Value In Kenmare’s Wine List
After The Beatrice Inn closed earlier this year—narrowly avoiding the descent into becoming a complete parody of itself—owners Paul Sevigny and Nur Khan decided to clean up the party, take it above ground, and venture into the world of proper restaurants. For their first foray,
Kenmare, they snagged Joey Campanaro (of Little Owl and Market Table fame) to man the kitchen, and Tracy Gribbon, manager of said Owl, to captain the wine program.
Click on, dear reader…
How To Avoid Getting Fleeced At Chelsea’s Colicchio & Sons
The 10th Avenue aircraft hangar formerly known as Craftsteak may have lost the steak shtick, put Tom Colicchio back in his whites, and added a star, but the wine list remains much the same. To be fair, sommelier Matthew MacCartney hasn’t had much time to de-steakhouse this list, but the selection isn’t the issue here. It’s quite adaptable, in fact, creating a fine balance between New and Old World, between geek trinkets and the recognizable. What requires repentance, however, is
the wallet-whipping pricing and the somewhat pedestrian by the glass list.
Click on, dear reader…
Revealing Value Wines, Crowd Pleasers, and Misses at Pulino’s
Restaurateur
Keith McNally and Wine Director Chris Goodhart—the match made in imperialist restaurant heaven—land face first into yet another pot-o-gold with Pulino’s. The brief wine list wears the Goodhart stamp well, falling somewhere between the unbridled homage to Italy found at Morandi and the casual American bistro list at Schiller’s.
Click on, dear reader…
Tagged as:
colicchio & sons,
decanted,
eater,
faustina,
Inoteca,
kenmare,
ma peche,
marea,
pulino's
