Great meal at Hearth, haven’t been in over a ?decade?. Was quoted $50 for corkage and receipt showed $40. The vegetables they use as ingredients were really good… fresh, packed with flavor, great seasoning… recommend the chicori salad. I had the ‘burger no bun’ which was excellent (subbed in greens for fries, which I think was a good call)… lots of flavor here with the onion and herbs used… also recommended. Felt it was all reasonably priced as well. I recall seeing '14 Jamet Cote Rotie for $175 on the list.
Red Peony is a new Chinese restaurant at 24 West 56th Street (in the old Joe’s Shanghai space - and they still have soup dumplings). They are eager to host wine dinners with no corkage, at least until they receive a liquor license. Stemware is thick wide bowls, adequate but not suitable for your finer aged Burgundy. Ask for AJ and mention my name, or PM me and I will set it up.
Going for lunch in a week and a half. Haven’t eaten at a Chinese restaurant in at least five years. A few Champagnes and German Rieslings will be consumed.
Food better be good!
Pasta Eater, on East 17th Street. No corkage, decent glassware, excellent atmosphere, $20 entrees of freshly made pasta.
Noreetuh in the East village has free corkage on Sundays
Enjoyed a meal there one Sunday a few years ago. Careful wine service and nice glasses. Massive wine list.
Any suggestions for casual lunch for one on the UES. Wine doesn’t really matter. Any good Mexican?
Made a reservation for tomorrow based on this, thanks! Looks like Burgundy is the way to go? Young barolo too dicey?
Let me know how it goes, since I am considering an offline there in the new year
I expect to update this thread by the end of the month.
If you can, please post a link to the restaurant you’re writing about.
Recommend any fuller bodied white, chard, vouvray, dry rielsing, or not tannic Pinot. Young barolo is just what I would avoid. Food is similar to Japanese.
Noretun already on your list without a link. Here it is–
http://www.noreetuh.com/ No cork on Sunday
Had dinner last night to celebrate a friend’s engagement. Ambiance is cozy and hole-in-the-wall (e.g., polaroid photos of guests on the wall). Food is packed with flavor… the flavors can be very disparate between dishes (seawood/japanese, lightly seasoned fish, sweet/n/sour fried chicken, simple grilled ribeye, street-food like spicy/fatty fried rice w/ spam, thai peanut sauced salad). Desserts are simple, e.g., grilled/bruleed pineapple, coconut ice cream sundae, etc. Very gluten free friendly (gluten free fried chicken!).
Brought a Ferrando Carema White which paired well with certain of the appetizers (e.g., ribeye), but not really with the entrees we ordered (which were either too seawood or spicy); that said, there was duck, mushroom risotto, and other light nebbiolo friendly fare that was not ordered.
Kept thinking champagne could work with the food, but I don’t drink whites/champagnes. A bunch of empty German riesling bottles on the bar.
Stems and decanter were fine, but not fancy. They brought out a larger bowl for the nebbiolo (simple machine made/glass). Apologies but forgot to inquire about additional stemware types and multiple stems; was not packed on a Sunday so I imagine they would have extra stems, and definitely friendly/casual folks to ask via telephone. Not particularly cheap (we paid $60/head all-in, but perhaps with more discretion we could have gotten away with less). I would go back… the food was well prepared, packed flavors and some dishes were excellent. Can make a red work, but then limit yourself from the majority (?vast majority?) of the menu.
White and Red Burgundy has worked well for me in the past at Noreetuh. And Jin loves Burgundy.
James, a cute little spot with solid food in prospect heights has $35 corkage. For me, more of a brunch or date spot.
Yakitori Torishin, West 53rd Street. $40/bottle.
Pros: The food is excellent.
Cons: Four different people repeated to us that corkage is $40/b. The first set of glasses were good, the next were not. Service is surprisingly spotty and the opposite of what I encountered in Japan, meaning that here, it’s not reserved and careful, rather, it’s in-your-face, somewhat tacky and full of mistakes. Perhaps this is why Torishin lost its Michelin star in 2019. When this opened in its original location on the east side, it was casual, full of smoke, fun. This new location is glossier, tries to be more upscale, but its flaws are apparent.
+1, so sad it left the UES.
Barbounia in Murray Hill $50 cork fee. Fun vibe/nice space, would struggle to come back at $50/bottle cork.
Claudette in West Village $35 cork fee. Nice cozy vibe, excellent cooking. Would go back.
The misinformation isn’t always price. Omitting 2 bottle limit or even that it’s allowed to be told no has happened to me.
Also, while I’m also fairly price insensitive to corkage fee, the ones in some of my circles often are.
a few to throw in:
king, absolutely excellent southern italian food made by british women (don’t laugh) in soho…corkage is a whopping $50. wine list is solid, albeit overpriced.
houseman, under the radar gem near the holland tunnel with a great steak frites…$30 corkage.
prune, the classic east village bistro…latest corkage is $30.
“prune, the classic east village bistro…latest corkage is $30.+”
Website now says $35 per 750 bottle.