When we were at I Cav last month the bartender poured us some Borsci with our tiramisu… what a revelation
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Given all of the talk of the rising cost to eat out here are two wonderful options that I managed to hit on my last two days of 2025 in NYC…
Stars Wine Bar - From the Claud / Penny team. Very small plates with a wine list that highlight wines under $100. There is also a bigger list with more expensive but fairly priced bottles. The food was excellent and extremely creative. The Chefs are clearly having fun with it. The deviled eggs were the best I have ever had! Only problem is that it is very small and it has already blown up. We got there at 4 pm on a Tuesday (it opens at 4) we were seated but it immediately filled up. I hope LEI Wine Bar and Stars are the start of a very positive trend. I never go to wine bars in NYC but both of these make me want to go small but creative food and diverse fairly priced wine lists. The idea of going to a wine bar for cheese and charcuterie and a small list never appealed to me.
Odre - I have mentioned this restaurant before. Reminds me a lot of Atoboy. I really don’t know how they do it. The Prix Fixe is $42 for four courses! They are corkage friendly. It is also also quiet earlier in the week and open on Monday. Highly Recommend.
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Have managed to miss this. Putting together hit list for 2026. Def will go.
Robert,
We hit up Odre a couple weeks ago and it was great. We did byo along with a couple glasses off the list. I love the new wine bars opening like Stars but it seems hard to just pop in since they are so small. Thanks for the reports.
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So happy you liked Odre!
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any current reviews of ops ev?
i remember some flurry of slight disappointment in the beginning but don’t recall seeing anything since
I went a month or so ago. I tried the bar pie which was fun but not my style. It is a good overall experience for a sit down meal. Not quite as good as the OG yet but its getting there. Definitely a good option in Manhattan.
My current favorite pizza in NYC is Chrissys but the waits can be long and there is no seating.
thanks robert
happy new year to you and renee
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was there for my only visit about 1.5 years ago. I was unimpressed. Will give it another shot at some point
They just opened in July? Are you thinking about the same place?
I was at the original location
a big thank you to @Robert_Dentice . just came home from an excellent dinner at odre based on his recommendation. easy to book at 7pm on a monday though all of the tables were full. excellent service and a very friendly chat with vivian throughout our meal.
i brought a bottle of negoce ganevat that was perfect with the food. very friendly with corkage (i believe $30 a bottle). we were able to compare the ganevat with a german chardonnay which was very nice of her. while i prefer my jura, the german chardonnay (maybe donnhoff ‘s’?) was quite a positive surprise.
food was delicious…particularly the abalone mandoo. that was one of the best seafood ‘bisques’ ive had in some time. after the 3 courses, that fourth course was quite substantial and i was unable to finish. very filling meal which i didnt expect for the price.
i may return again with my wife before they change the menu again in feb/march. highly recommend for the quality and price.
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So happy you liked it! Last week they were pouring the entry-level Bernard Huber Chardonnay by the glass. And glad to hear they were full on a Monday.
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went to i sodi for the first time in awhile. used to go often but its such a pain that i stopped. freezing night, some friends wanted to get together and i snagged a 7pm last minute resy so that worked. waiting for my full party to arrive, 2 girls were quoted a 3 hour wait at 655pm (they ended up getting in about 90 minutes later as they sat next to us).
just a perfect meal honestly. 1 friend is a vegetarian and we were able to share a bunch of stuff. highlights were the valeriana mache salad, the tagliatelle con cipolla and the rabbit wrapped in pancetta. all three are my usual go-tos but they were perfect last night.
we opted for one of their less expensive rosso di montalcino bottles from antinori since their list is quite overpriced.
service was perfect, nice buzz in the room…super pleased.
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Glad you had such a good experience, we love I Sodi I just wish you could do corkage there because of the overpriced list as you mentioned.
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We get the chicken and Rabbit delivered and it holds up extremely well! And free corkage : )
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Wow it is sobering when you see all of the closures in Brooklyn:
I had actually forgotten that Oma Grasso closed.
Robert, you’re just not eating out enough! 
You need to try harder in 2026 to help keep the restaurants open. 
Happy New Year!
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Fantastic lunch today at Estela. Room was empty - super quiet time after the new year. Wow was it delicious. We had never been so we went with some of their classics: endive with walnuts, anchovy, orange essence, and ubriaco rosso cheese, and the ricotta dumplings with mushroom brodo and pecorino sardo. These were both amazing! We also shared the cured pork belly with garbanzos and pear and it was mindblowing. We mopped up every last bit of each plate with sourdough bread. Lovely plating and great service too. Super cheffy, just a delight to experience. Would return in a heartbeat.
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Tried for The Four Horsemen for an early dinner last night - got there at 5:05pm and there was a line over thirty people long. I suppose one of these days I will finally be able to go, but it was not meant to be.
We pivoted to Fradei, which had a 5:30 available on Resy and which I was happy to go to as it had been a while since our last visit. Very nice meal, everything is still in order here. As usual their house-made pasta was a standout: squash mezzalune with blue cheese, hazelnuts, and sage brown butter. The crab toast was also fantastic. $50 corkage.
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