Wine & Spirits - February 2020 - 13

Williams's West Village boîte
is the sort of place you might
feel liberated to order a glass
of wine before noon, sitting at
the marble-topped bar with
a perfectly executed omelet
or a croque monsieur; you'll
definitely feel compelled come
dinner, when the small room
feels like a party in someone's
great-aunt's house, mismatched
chairs against exposed brick
walls, and plenty of Bandol and
Châteauneuf-du-Pape warming
the atmosphere. -T.Q.T.
42 Grove St.; ilovebuvette.com

7
Camperdown Elm
Sommelier Nacho Monclus has
teamed up with chef Brad Willits (formerly of NYC's Lupulo)
to offer casually delicious food
and a lot of great drinking in
Brooklyn's Park Slope. Take, for
example, the fried chicken, or
the double cheeseburger, one of
the juiciest indulgences on the
menu. Or the wine list, rich in
lesser-known Spaniards as well
as bottles that extend the restaurant's new-American vibe
into the Loire for Raffault's Les
Picasses, Jura for Tissot's Poulsard, Chile's Itata for Parra Imaginador, or the Sierra Foothills for
Dirty & Rowdy's Mourvedre.
-J.G.
441 7th Ave. (Brooklyn);
camperdownelm.com

PHOTO OF CÔTE BY GARY HE

Clay
Here's a true neighborhood
gem, where chef Gustavo Lopez
serves up consistently great
dishes of locally-sourced fare.
It's hard to find a bottle above
$100 on Gabriela Davogustto's
tightly curated list, focused on
Italy, Spain and California, supplemented by Andrea Needell
Matteliano's cocktail and amari
offerings. The service is personal,
down to the soundtrack curated
by a local DJ. -S.J.
553 Manhattan Ave.; claynyc.com

9
Coast and Valley
With Coravins and a willingness
to pour any of their 125-plus
bottles by the glass, Eric Hsu and
Stephanie Watanabe offer a welcoming way to explore the current Left Coast wine scene in this
light, open space in Greenpoint.
Explore Sonoma Coast pinot
noir with a flight, or check out
new wave producers like Vinca
Minor and Martha Stoumen.
The food takes its cue from California, too, via small plates with
sunny flavors, like ricotta with
roasted grapes or lemongrassscented vegetable curry. -A.B.
587 Manhattan Ave. (Brooklyn);
coastandvalleywine.com

10
Compagnie des Vins
Surnaturels
A branch of a Parisian wine bar,
Compagnie has become ground
zero for wine geeks of all levels
to convene over glasses of wine,
served blind or otherwise. Guess
the mystery glass of the day and
you'll win the entire bottle; dive
in eyes wide open and you may
find yourself in France's Côtes
Catalanes or the Loire Valley,
or drinking saperavi from NY's
Finger Lakes. Feeling lost? They
offer wine "boot camp" every
Sunday. -T.Q.T.
249 Centre; compagnienyc.com

11
Cosme
Daniella Soto-Innes and Enrique
Olvera offer Mexican cuisine
with a contemporary twist in this
sleek Flatiron space. The wine
list highlights Spain's of-themoment producers, like Daniel
Landi (Comando G in Madrid),
and extend into France, Italy and
Austria; the cocktails are lively,
spiked with housemade infusions, like guajillo chile Tequila
or kumquat shrub. Don't miss

the collection of agave spirits,
from Tequila and mezcal to
sotol and raicilla. -R.D.T.
35 E. 21st St.; cosmenyc.com

12
Côte
For $54, the butcher's feast
is the best value you'll find in
Manhattan, a sampling of beef
cuts dry-aged in house and
plenty of banchan; Victoria
James's wine list leans French,
and has deep large-format selections (Sauternes in mag!), as
well as a section of Special Club
Champagnes. -C.W.
16 W. 22nd St.; cotenyc.com

13
Di An Di
There are few restaurants that
serve both great pho and wine
to match its deeply aromatic,
umami-rich flavors. Greenpoint's Di An Di has you covered. The wine list skews to
the natural-side, with complex
whites, skin-contact ambers and
translucent reds that complement the Vietnamese flavorings.
Get on the mailing list to find
out about their wine dinners as
well. -A.B.
68 Greenpoint Ave. (Brooklyn);
dianddi.nyc

WINE & SPIRITS

FEBRUARY 2020

http://www.ilovebuvette.com http://www.coastandvalleywine.com http://www.camperdownelm.com http://www.compagnienyc.com http://www.cosmenyc.com http://dianddi.nyc http://www.claynyc.com http://www.cotenyc.com

Wine & Spirits - February 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - February 2020