Lelabar (My New Fave Wine Bar)

March 4th, 2009

There are plenty of wine bars in New York, but when I think of a place that excites me, I always come up short. Some are cool but too crowded and small (Terroir), others are narrowly focused like Italian wine bars Bocca di Bacco and Gottino or Spanish wine bar, Bar Carrera. There is a phenomena in New York in which every new wine bar has a theme. It’s good to have focus, it must be difficult to be everything to everyone, but for me it’s limiting. I never start an evening craving exclusively Spanish wine. I’d much prefer a place where I can start the evening with a 2001 Rioja Reserva and end with a Gruner Veltliner. That’s what we found at Lelabar, a romantic West Village nook that I’ll now declare to be my favorite wine bar in New York.

Lelabar is perfectly intimate but large enough to seat about thirty people around its dark-wood oval bar. The wine list spans the globe between the usual suspects like France, Italy, Spain and the U.S. but also includes Israel, Argentina and Austria, for example. There is a handful of wines offered by the glass in each category and if you elect to buy at least 2 glasses of any wine served in bottles, they will sell you by-the-glass. We were told by Andrew, one of the bartenders, that the list changes every few weeks. No wine bar is complete without tempting small plates like Lelabar’s smoky, house-marinated olives in star anise, lemon and bay leaves or crisp fennel salad with black sesame and sea salt. The typical cheese, charcuterie, and pressed sandwiches are offered too. If beer is your thing, they have a nice craft beer menu as well.

Lelabar is not to be missed, but perhaps we’ll keep it our little secret? Prompt seating at such a precious place is something I’m not ready to give up!

Lelabar: 422 Hudson Street (between Leroy and Morton)
Cuisine: Wine Bar, Small Plates
Word to the Wise: Wednesday and Saturday nights they have $1 oyster specials. They close at midnight during the week but are open later on weekends. Recommended for small groups of 2-4 people.
Lelabar on Urbanspoon

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Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (3)

3 Responses to “Lelabar (My New Fave Wine Bar)”

  1. Ashley on March 9, 2009 10:26 am

    OOOOh, take me there! I want to go there!

  2. Ashley on March 26, 2009 2:37 pm

    and you are! Eureka!

  3. Erika Strum on March 26, 2009 2:46 pm

    hehe I can’t wait! And you get to come this time.

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