Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - 42

Ruffian
The best seats in this tiny East Village spot are at the bar, where you
can talk to whomever is working the
counter. It may be Patrick Cournot,
who opened the place with a couple
of former cooks from Tabla, where they
all met. Or it may be sommelier Alexis
Percival. Either of them will enthusiastically guide you through the wine list,
an extensive selection that favors lowintervention bottles from around the
world. The ambitious menu changes
daily, the dishes detailed and complex.
Keep an eye out for the fried octopus,
deservedly in regular rotation, which
goes particularly well with the many
orange wines on offer. -A.B.
125 E. 7th St.; 212-777-0855,
ruffiannyc.com

Scampi

Sushi Seki Times Square
Chef Seki's pristine, boundary-pushing
sushi works brilliantly with the unexpected pairings by Yasuyuki Suzuki,
Rick Zouad and Koichi Ishiguro-a Japanese beer from a sake brewery, a Hatzidakis Santorini, a long soju cocktail or
a crisp, clear sake. Recently, the team
opened seven seats at the bar for a
$55 omakase dinner in 45 minutes. If
you have more time, head to the Kappa
Room for Osaka-style comfort food, or
upstairs for a tatami room and plunder
the list for Mikulski Burgundies, Prager
rieslings and Huet Vouvrays. -T.Q.T.
364 W. 46th St.; 212-262-8880,
sushiseki.com

Terroir Tribeca
You might know Paul Grieco for his
Summers of Riesling, but if you head
to Terroir, the 100 wines he's got open
behind the bar may take you on a deep
dive into Madeira or Sherry, or littleknown producers in Piedmont, Burgundy or Bordeaux. Anywhere you can
find an unfrequented wine path, Grieco
is on it. -J.G.
24 Harrison St.; 212-625-9463,
wineisterroir.com
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WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2018

The Four Horsemen

Open two and a half years now, Brooklyn's Four Horsemen has become an institution. Partner Justin Chearno
changes the list weekly, interspersing funky selections
with Clape verticals and orange wines. Come on weekends for the set lunch, a bargain at $28 for four courses,
served family style. By night, the lights go dim and the
music comes up-which doesn't disappoint with LCD
Soundsystem frontman James Murphy on board. -A.B.
295 Grand St., Brooklyn; 718-599-4900,
fourhorsemenbk.com

photos: Scampi by Evan Sung; Ruffian by Ruffian; Sushi Seki by
Paul Wagtouicz; The Four Horsemen by Damien Laforgue

We followed Kimberly Prokoshyn
from Rebelle to Scampi, and fell in
love with her list and with chef/
owner PJ Calapa's brilliantly fresh
fish. Going back, we have to reorder the fluke crudo with tomatoes,
green olives and lime and the
mackerel with eggplant caponata and pine nuts. Fortunately,
everything, including the range of
Champagnes, on Prokoshyn's list
is under $100, with plenty of great
buys under $50. Don't miss the
mafaldini scampi with parsley butter and lemon, hard to beat with
a light red like Bruna's Rossesse
from Liguria for $40. -J.G.
30 W. 18th St.; 212-888-2171,
scampinyc.com

http://www.ruffiannyc.com http://www.scampinyc.com http://www.sushiseki.com http://www.fourhorsemenbk.com http://www.wineisterroir.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2018