This place is kind of quirky. Along with very stereotypical burgers they also have a really good wine list. It might sound a little strange at first. How good of a wine pairing can that be, does anything really go with greasy burgers? Don’t knock it until you try it! Good food, amazing wine. A place to check out if you are in New York City.
I am not sure how to explain how amazing Babbo is. I honestly feel like a princess whenever I am there. The service is incredible. And the staff is so nice. Juan Pablo, one of my favorite sommeliers, works at Babbo. He originally worked at Lupa which is where we met (I used to frequent Lupa. Like, really frequent…) And now he works at Babbo. Good for him! At Babbo, everything just works. The lighting, the food, the wine, the service, the music. It is such an experience dining there, at least for me, as I don’t regularly eat in super fancy restaurants. I already look forward to my next visit, hopefully in October 2017!
Maialino, located near Gramersy park, has a very good wine list. There are many old treasure on the list but you can of course also find newer Barolos, some barbera and dolcetto. I am always impressed with the wines they have. The first time I ate there, in 2010, we had a 2000 Dolcetto from Bartolo Mascarello. And I would never have thought a 10 year old dolcetto could taste so fresh. Amazing. The last time I was there we had a 1994 Bruno Giacosa. At first it was a little funky but it opened up really well. Always a fun experience at Maialino.
Charlie bird is a fantastic place. The food is good and the wine list is great. They always have a good selection of both red and white. However, the concept that makes Charlie Bird such a good place for wine is their second wine list. This is a list, hand written, in a little red book. The selection in this book is insane. And one of the sommeliers there, Arvid, was just named World’s Best Sommelier. How cool!
I have been to Lupa more times than I can count and we always end up having good wine there. They have just the types of wines I like, the Barolo (dolcetto, barbera, nebbiolo and barolo) section is vast with many to chose from. Unfortunately they stopped carrying my favorite white, Ettore Germano’s Riseling “Herzu.” Despite this, the wine list is still pretty good!