I’m going to La Sirene for the 1st time tomorrow. How are the stems? Do we need to bring our own?
Craig, you absolutely need to bring stems. Also it is CASH only. Make sure you have the cassoulet if it is still on the menu.
Had reservation for 4 last night (out of town guest) . As we were seated and started pulling out our 7 wines we were told while it is BYO night, the limit is a bottle per person. That’s a new policy, fair enough, it’s just I wish they mentioned on website or when I confirmed with reservation person that it was Monday No Corkage night. So we made a couple of choices and opted to go with 5 bottles, and pay the $25 corkage on the extra bottle. In the end, the sommelier waived that charge. I will say the wine service was very good, he consulted about glass choices for the whites, which was thoughtful. The new policy is still a deal, just good to know when planning.
Went last night, they have remodeled and expanded… took over the Ivo and Lulu space. Room is nice and on a nice night (temp in the 70’s) it was great with the windows open. Food was very good,
And the stems really do SUCK. These would fit well in a pizza place. Service very sweet but perhaps a tad clueless… all in well worth the freight ($80 before tip, 2 apps 2 mains)
Went to La Sirene with out-of-town guests about 3 weeks ago. Loved and welcome the additional 3 inches of seating space per person. Food (and cassoulet) was as good as usual. Owner/chef Didier was excited about upcoming addition/changes to the menu sometime in August. Stems still sucked, and my advice is to byo-stems if you care.
Just saw this on eater: Ciano is waving corkage on Sunday and Monday nights through Labor Day. Haven’t eaten there yet but I’ve heard it’s good and since I live nearby I’ll be sure to give it a try.
Highly recommend Ciano.
Also, I noticed when I was there on Monday that the previous sommelier (I think his name was Brett Feore or something close to that) is no longer there. The guy that acted as sommelier was perfectly nice and capable, although when I asked for a wine to be decanted, he double decanted it back into the bottle rather than serving the wine from the decanter. There is a separate thread discussing the advantages and disadvantages of decanting vs. double decanting, but historically when I asked for a wine to be decanted on a Monday night at Apiary, it was served from the decanter. To be clear, I am still a huge fan of Apiary on Monday nights (if you can handle a little noise). The food is delicious and the service (both wine and food) is above average relative to other restaurants where you would not be charged corkage.
I’ve updated the first post.
A reminder… the more information that you provide, the easier it is on all of us. Please provide a link to the restaurant where possible.
In that case, you should remove Alto and Lotus of Siam (both are closed), and add The Modern (restaurant) $45 corkage and 1 bottle limit that is not on their list.
Also, if I’m not mistaken, ALL the Wolensky Group restaurants (S & W, Maloney & Porcelli, Quality Meats, etc.) upped the corakge to $50 with a 1 bottle limit.
Lotus of Siam is still open btw…
Please advise when you’re 100% positive. 
La Sirene expanded? That’s awesome!
BTW, Szechuan Chalet on the UES has some great food (very clean and not heavy/greasy) at good prices and $5 corkage. Call ahead to confirm and BYO stems.
Szechuan Chalet
1395 2nd Ave (bet 73rd & 2nd)
(212) 737-1838
It’s been a few years since we’ve been back, but had a spur-of-the-moment dinner 2 weeks ago at La Nacional Tapas Bar and Restaurant, an old-school Spanish serving quite a few Spanish expats in Chelsea NYC (14th between 7th and 8th Aves.) in a dimly-lit, informal club-like environment with photos of bullfighters and soccer teams on the wall. We didn’t order any of their supposedly good Paella dishes, but liked our White Asparagus with Crispy Chorizo stater and our Pollo al Ajillo and Pescada en Salsa Verde were quite good. BYO was as $15 per bottle. I advise BYO stems.
Hitting up Mishima again tomorrow with a bunch of bubblies. Still as BYO friendly as ever, but BYO stems.
Good to know, if this is the one on Lexington and 32nd.
It’s near enough my neighborhood and it’s the only Japanese that I know of in the area that’s BYO friendly.
Yep, ask for Vivienne, she’s awesome. Chef has some fantastic fish and the price points are very friendly.
1/2 off for the radiated fish.
It’s made Michel the man he is today.