East Village Wine Bar Crawl
Sometimes a wine bar owner has to get out to check the scene. Here’s a quick review of some bars visited recently on an October Tuesday night.
Terroir
Terroir is just down the street from Pata Negra. Terroir is an entirely different wine bar, corporately stocked and fitted. Terroir offers a great happy hour. Free sherry from 5 pm to 6 pm and six dollar limited selection for glasses of vino. This is a great deal because normally the wines by the glass can be pricy. I used to know the staff here, and since they’ve gone, the feeling is more corporate and less convivial. For food, I sampled the funky beef balls, crunchy without much substance or sauce, and the beet risotto balls, nice with a tinge of gorgonzola. Paul Grieco is an ambassador for Riesling, so if this is your grape, Terroir is your home.
The Beagle
Heard about the Beagle from my fellow JET, el capitan, and decided to give the bar a whirl. Chic wallpaper wraps the wall of this charming space leading to a small bar where there is a serious cocktail program in place. The London Buck was refreshing and El Guero had some elegant weight to it. Opted for the trifecta, duck fat, woodland pork, and rillettes, and a quail to boot. Tasty and proper. Will return.
Edi & the Wolf
This is my second attempt at trying to get into this place. Since it wasn’t amateur hour (Thurs thru Sat, 7 to 11 pm) I mosied right up to the bar. The place is kind of like an Austrian fairy tale winter wonderland. You can be transported. Great selection of zweigelt and blaufrankisch, etc. Really nice service from the bartender and two hefty plates of spaetzle and wiener schnitzel (a bit salted) knocked me out for the night. I did manage to squeeze in an apple strudel. Will Return.
