Ayza Wine and Chocolate Bar

It’s undecided whether it was the inflated prices, laughably meager portions, or horrific service that made dinner on a beautiful Saturday evening at Ayza Wine and Chocolate Bar worse. After reading about Ayza in a NY Times round up of wine bars in Manhattan I wondered to myself… “Why haven’t I heard of it?” Strange. The article discussed the flood of average, uninteresting wine bars in the city. I should have known. Nevertheless, I rounded up some friends to try it out with me, after looking at beautiful photos of the space and food online. Maybe it was a hidden gem?

Well, of course it wasn’t. The beautiful outdoor seating I saw on the web site is mainly directly underneath a vent from the kitchen which spews hot, food-smelling air onto the helpless diners. Our waitress was a disaster. After perusing the menu I asked if she preferred the Gruner Veltliner (Graf Hardegg’s 2006) or the Albarino (Morgadio Rias Baizas 2005). I wanted something crisp to kick off the evening. She nervously offered to ask the bartender. That’s fine for a regular restaurant, I don’t expect the waitresses to know every bottle. But if you’re a wine bar, you best train people so that they know the menu. I opted for the Albarino of my own accord.

After she opened and poured our first glasses, it seemed we were on our own to pour the rest. Long spaces of time would occur with no wine in our glass, she’d pass by, and no refill. We repeatedly took the bottle ourselves to pour, as other waitstaff walked by without noticing the mishap. We ordered a cheese plate ($18) which arrived no less than an hour later and consisted of 5 tiny slivers of cheese separated by 5 olives and no bread. I wish I had taken a picture of this thing! All we could do was laugh. Was I on boiling point again? A hummus appetizer was similar, a tiny ramekin of spread with 4 tiny pita toasts.

The manager came to our table and asked how things were going. I was frank, and explained the issues. He apologized disingenuously, then defended her saying she was under the impression that we were waiting for our entire party to arrive to bring the cheese. (A couple of friends were late) Had this been true, I would have acquiesced, but I had asked the waitress on two occasions if the cheese plate was ready. Obviously holding off on it was not our intention.

He made up for it by bringing some additional cheese and bread and doting on us when we ordered our second bottle, the Gruner, which was delicious. I still got the feeling that he didn’t get the problem though, and was merely placating me. Oh well. That will surely be my last visit to Ayza Wine and Chocolate Bar (cheesy concept anyway).

Following our dinner, I Googled Ayza and remembered I had heard of it, it was featured in one of Eater’s beloved “Adventures in Shilling” columns, in which they point out restaurants that deceitfully advertise themselves on restaurant review web sites like Chowhound and Yelp, disguised as regular consumers. No wonder.

Ayza Wine and Chocolate Bar: 11 West 31st Street
Cuisine: Wine Bar, Mediteranean
Average Entree Price: $15-$21

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Terroir Wine Bar

For a city with a lot of everything, Manhattan falls surprisingly short in the wine bar department. So I was thrilled to hear that Marco Canora and Paul Grieco (owners of Hearth and Insieme) were opening Terroir: a casual, East Village wine bar. The focus is wines that “sing a sense of place”, as Grieco says. He has even suggested that the summertime menu will exclusively feature Mosel Rieslings. Regardless of how it manifests itself, it sounds like there’s a clear passion behind the venture.

Terroir is tiny at 500 sq feet, so prepare to get cozy. It consists of a communal table that seats around 20 and a small bar top with space for a few more. It’s almost too cozy with barely enough room to squeeze past other diners to find a seat along the wall. Claustrophobics need not apply. There is a kind of casual warmth to the environment though which makes it worthwhile.

I love Terroir’s avante-garde approach with wine lists akin to middle school trapper keeper notebooks. Words like “macerate” were scribbled graffiti-style on the face of each one. Though I doubt anybody was there to read, the list also contains quirky explanations, a la Hearth. Our waitress was bubbly and attentive. Friends and I shared a bottle of Prosecco followed by a Cabernet Franc Le Breton, Schneider Vineyards 2005 from North Fork, Long Island. The wines on the list are about as atypical as their presentation. Instead of standby regions like Napa Valley and Tuscany, you’ll see regions like the Loire Valley and parts of Austria well-represented. The sense of terroir, is what connects all of them.

The menu features plates of cured meat and cheese, along with bruschetta, salads, and larger main courses. A calamari salad with chick peas delivered elegant smokiness, dotted with parsley and lemon for a refreshing bite. A bruschetta slathered in tomato with a cracked egg and a duck ham panini with hen of the woods mushrooms both packed extreme flavors. The rumored “balls” section was left out, to my chagrin.

Though Terroir was expected to feature bottles in all price ranges, there was nary a bottle of red for under $40. I had some issue with this, though I generally had a lovely evening. Terroir is a welcome newcomer to the thirsty Manhattan wine bar scene.

Terroir: 413 East 12th Street @1st
Cuisine: Wine Bar/ Italian
Average Entrée Price: $14

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Bocca di Bacco

This newby Italian wine bar in Hell’s Kitchen had both hits and misses with OK food and struggling service. I wanted to love Bocca di Bacco with its vast menu of wines by the glass and a long elegant bar at the front with an impressive Enomatic system. At Bocca di Bacco one can order a $28 glass of Brunello or a $7 glass of Tocai Friulano, the country’s many wine regions are well-represented. On our first visit we sat at the bar, sampled some decadent cheeses (the names of which I forget) and a couple of glasses. We left very pleased and eager to return for a complete dinner.

Bocca di Bacco began to miss the mark on our second visit. Our waitress was inconsistent, disappearing for long periods of time, and returning confused, unaware of what course we were on or what we might need. A gooey wild mushroom “funghi” bruschetta with melted cheese on top and (I think?) truffle oil was rich and earthy though a scallop entrée that we shared as an app tasted far too much like the sea to be fresh. Pastas like gnocchi in osso bucco sauce and a Bolognese were passable though textures were often over cooked and under seasoned.

Bocca di Bacco is owned by the same proprietors as Roberto Passon, a wildly successful neighborhood joint nearby. Unfortunately it seems like a lot of the talent was lost in the transfer. If you want a nice glass of vino and a cheese plate, go to Bocca di Bacco, but eat dinner elsewhere.

Bocca di Bacco: 828 Ninth Avenue @54th Street
Cuisine: Italian
Entrée Price: $15-$20

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Peasant Wine Bar

I stopped in at Peasant Wine Bar, the subterranean space underneath the restaurant of the same name, on Friday night. I really dig the vibe at Peasant- dark and sexy, with stone floors, ceilings, and walls. The low wooden tables are communal and adorned with tall candlesticks, heaping bowls of olives, and breadsticks. Service was friendly though our waitress had her moments of being missing-in-action. This meal had no agenda, so weren’t bothered. The small and simple menu offers up appetizer plates such as bocconcini wrapped in speck, prosciutto with melon as well as full portions of pizza, pasta and steak/seafood entrees. We ordered a richer rose which I’m unfortunately forgetting the name of. It was a great complement to the variety of food we were about to have. My friend and I shared the meat and cheese platter which arrived with a generous portion of proscuitto, bologna, salami, and speck as well as aged parmesan, aged goat, and a rich blue cheese. Following the platter she had the spicy baby octopus with chillis and I had the tripe marinara with Parmesan. Both were good, not great. Her octopus was overpowered by the chilli, seemed like an odd combination. All in all, come to Peasant for a unique space but don’t expect to be wowed by the food.

Peasant Wine Bar: 194 Elizabeth Street
Cuisine: Italian

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Casellula Cheese and Wine Cafe

Casellula is the brain child of proprietors Joe Farrell and Brian Keyser who had one simple goal: allow people to enjoy artisanal cheeses, wines and freshly prepared small plates in a casual environment. After working in some of the top kitchens all over the world, they decided to break away from the stuffy mold (no pun intended) to start a café built on passion rather than attitude. Casellula is brand spanking new- having just opened this May- but is already filling its tiny walls with the cheese heads of the city. After reading Casellula’s site complete with a “spread the curd” blog and bios of the wacky people involved, I knew I was in for a special experience.

Casellula is very quaint and rustic with a handful of tables, a dark wood bar and a tempting cheese case. Smells of grilled cheese and smoked bacon from the open air kitchen travel freely throughout the room. My one complaint about the atmosphere is the acoustics are very poor. On a Tuesday night at 7PM the place was full and we were yelling to hear each other- a cramp in Casellula’s style. Our waitress Perri was more than willing to help us select cheeses from the selection of 35 frequently changing options. The list is grouped by characteristics: Fresh, Bloomy, Pressed, Washed, Blue and Flights. We ordered five cheeses for the table to share- an ashy aged goat, a smoked gouda, a mild camembert, a Cayuga blue and a podda classico. The cheeses were accompanied by condiments such as pesto, pickled ramps, and figs to marry with each. With Perri’s help, we ended up with a great variety.

The wine list left a bit to be desired- too brief for a café that calls itself a “wine and cheese café” in my opinion and overpriced. They did have some very exotic offerings from Hungary and Macedonia but I would have appreciated some more modest options as well. I am hoping they will expand on the wine in the future.

Following the cheeses we had a mac and cheese with fol epi, comte, chevre, lardons and caramelized onions to share for the table. This was mind blowingly delicious- by far the best mac and cheese I have ever had. The trio of cheeses were perfectly creamy and sharp and the caramelized onions added a unique honeyed sweetness to the mac. Entrees around the table were: pig’s ass sandwich with ham, cheddar, fol epi, pickles and chipotle aioli; fig flatbread with proscuitto, pecorino and micro greens; wild mushroom flatbread with laura chenel chevre and herb salad; and rogue creamery smokey blue flatbread with applewood smoked bacon and hard cider apples. The sandwiches came in overflowing piles of melty goodness with greens on the side. Though mere sandwiches from meets the eye, the attention to detail on every dish did not go unnoticed. The bacon on my smokey blue flatbread had the most intense smokiness and I loved the contrast of the sweet cider apples with the other flavors. Absolutely sublime.

I will be running back to Casellula as fast as my feet can take me and I recommend that you do the same. Added bonus: they offer a Monday night summer series of cheese classes for continuing education. Who’s comin with me ?

Casellula: 401 W 52^nd and 9^th Ave
Cuisine: Wine and Cheese, Small Plates

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