Wine & Spirits - Spring 2022 - 28

POPINA
16
If you do not live in the
beautiful building across
the street, you have the comfort
of looking at it from your window.
James O'Brien and Chris
McDade may have considered
that when they opened Popina
on Columbia Street, with some
of the best views of downtown
Manhattan. They had met
across the river at Maialino,
where they had a professional
crush on each other, a passion
that morphed into a partnership
in this tiny restaurant with thirty
seats indoors and a backyard
twenty times bigger. McDade
fills those spaces with the comfort
foods of Southern Italy.
And O'Brien's wine program
could challenge any in NYC-a
glance over the collection of
white Burgundy alone will prove
that's no exaggeration. -N.M.
127 Columbia St., Brooklyn;
(718) 222-1901, popinanyc.com
RUFFIAN
Ruffian defines East Village
wine bar with a pen17
cil-thin
bar, a tiny kitchen and
pens to sign checks kept in a
blue bodega coffee cup. Almost
everything on the menu is vegetarian-celeriac
is braised,
turnips smoked, lentils fermented,
broths made from
burdock and miso. The wine
list, which focuses on Eastern
Europe, is deep by the glass
(30 options) and deeper by the
bottle (150-plus wines).Bring
your wine-nerd friends to try the
paddlefish caviar and a bottle
of bubbly. Maybe St. Laurent or
frappato? At sister restaurant,
Kindred, a block south, try the
house-made pastas and orange
wines from the Adriatic. -C.W.
Ruffian: 125 E 7th St.;
ruffiannyc.com; Kindred:
342 E 6th St.; kindred-nyc.com
28
WINE & SPIR IT S
village, with a dim lamplight in
the dining room under a ceiling
adorned with woven straw-
only with high-level food,
drink and service. The soft and
chewy goat intestines, bathed
in garam masala, smack you
with spice, while the meen pollichathu,
a tender sea bass covered
in ginger and shallots and
wrapped in a banana leaf, shows
chef Vijay Kumar's light hand.
The formidable wine list carries
Bodega Chacra Sin Azufre
Pinot Noir and a half-bottle of
Selbach-Oster Spätlese Riesling
at $35 to cool the heat. -D.P.
60 Greenwich Ave.;
(212) 373-8900, semma.nyc
TEMPERANCE
18
RULE OF THIRDS
Rule of Thirds' sprawling,
2,000 square-foot,
wood-paneled marvel of interior
design is reason enough to
make a trip to Greenpoint, as
is George Padilla's massive sake
list and a wine list that includes
bottles like La Grange aux Belles
La Chaussée Rouge in jeroboam.
You can dine alone comfortably
here, enjoying chef and
co-founder JT Vuong's izakaya
fare-such as pork jowl skewers-while
sipping on one of
the creative cocktails from bar
director Brian Evans. The space
is also ideal for large groups,
and the blade-steak tonkatsu-
big enough to feed four people-encourages
you to bring
more friends next time. -D.P.
171 Banker St., Brooklyn;
(347) 334-6684, thirdsbk.com
18
RUNNER UP
19
Chef Daniel Eddy opened
his bakery, Winner, in
Park Slope, just a week before
the pandemic exploded. So, he
opened a little window to the
S PR IN g 202 2
street, and soon he was selling
out of every loaf of bread
and croissant before noon each
day. A year and a half later, in
October 2021, he opened Runner
Up next door with a wine list
that's big for such a small place,
focused on natural wines without
fussing over the latest cool
label. There's a big French presence,
and the wines are all fairly
priced. Likewise is the food,
perfectly executed from a chef
whose ambitions are fulfilled
by serving a family neighborhood
in the same way he would
feed his own. You'll even find
bread from Winner showing up
with some of the dishes. -N.M.
367 7th Ave., Brooklyn,
winner.nyc/runnerup
SEMMA
20
Tikka masala, this is not.
Unapologetic Foods, the
same restaurant group that
challenged New Yorkers to eat
goat kidney and testicles at
Dhamaka, wants to make sure
you try the intestines, too. The
group's newest venture, Semma,
is meant to evoke a South Indian
Sommelier and wine
director A.J. Ojeda-Pons
joined two friends to create
a wine-focused place of their
own in the West Village. The
trio's biggest problem? Each
had different tastes. A.J.'s solution?
Make over 100 wines
available by the glass with no
special bottle list and showcase
lesser-known grapes and
regions. Among the whites are
the palomino-based Bodegas
Forlong Blanco from Cádiz and
the Domaines des Tourelles
Vieilles Vignes, a blend of merweh
and obeidi from Lebanon's
Bekaa Valley. Reds include a
ruchè from Piedmont's Montalbera
and the Serbian Vino
Budimir Pro-Cou-Patz, based
on the prokupac grape. There's
a selection of more classic
wines, too. Regardless, all are
available to pair with a handful
of full-flavored, Mediterranean-
and Latin-inspired small
dishes meant for sharing. An
open-faced sandwich of sardines
and butter is a revelation
of simplicity and balance; goat
pot-au-feu with a gamy broth is
another standout. Ambiance?
Parisian bar from the fifties
meets New York disco. - J.R.
38-40 Carmine St;
(646) 438-9334,
temperancenyc.com
21
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE RESTAURANTS
http://www.popinanyc.com http://www.thirdsbk.com http://www.temperancenyc.com http://www.ruffiannyc.com http://www.kindred-nyc.com
Wine & Spirits - Spring 2022

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