RESTAURANTS • First Person
In the depths of winter, wine bars are where I want to be drinking — and eating. Fortunately, New York City is riding high on a recent wave of excellent options, small, no-nonsense places with interesting lists and let’s-order-everything menus.
Tolo, new in Dimes Square, is a paragon of the form and a welcome place to catch up with an old friend, as I did last week. The marquee of the space’s longtime inhabitant , Ming’s Caffe, still tops the storefront, and the decor is a touch underbaked, a common motif among the city’s wine bars. A metal door opens into a low-lit room perfect for a date. On this night, the room started quiet and mostly empty, but by 7:30p, it was packed and loud.
The restaurant (is a wine bar a restaurant? Ask again later!) is the first from chef Ron Yan, who ran the kitchen at Parcelle Wine Bar around the corner. At Tolo, he’s partnered with Parcelle to offer 300 bottles. The ample list is welcome, but the lower stress move is the nightly by-the-glass pour, in white and red. On the night I was there, a chardonnay from northern Patagonia and a red Mercurey were both fantastic. The food is very good, too, both the smaller plates like oysters with a touch of Szechuan oil and little rice noodles with XO sauce, and the slightly larger plates like sweet and sour fish and a Hong Kong-inspired take on fried chicken.
A few nights later in Bed-Stuy with another old friend, I pondered a different question: Can a pizzeria be a wine bar? The newly opened Bar Birba — from the team behind (FOUND subscriber favorite) For All Things Good — resoundingly answers yes. The staff knows its wine, pouring multiple samples for our table throughout our meal, and the small pan pizzas are excellent, particularly the Mannaggia (nduja, ricotta, mozzarella, red onion); one order gets you two square slices. The decor is simple, maybe even divey — in other words, very wine bar — and reservations seem unnecessary.
After Bar Birba, we walked the three blocks to Place des Fêtes (above), my favorite wine bar in NYC. Despite the Parisian name, the food leans Spanish, tapas-style, and the vibes in both the front and back rooms are impeccable. Perched at the back bar, we completed the night in style with a few more glasses of really good wine and small plates, including a special of squid stuffed with andouille. Wine bar winter, a top five season. –Lockhart Steele
→ Tolo (Dimes Square), 28 Canal St., Reserve.
→ Bar Birba (Bed-Stuy), 340 Franklin Ave., Reserve.
→ Place des Fêtes (Clinton Hill), 212 Greene Ave., Reserve.