Cityscene
|
|
>
California Vintage
|
|
|
Tucked in among the nightclubs on Wyndham Street in Hong Kong’s bustling Central district, there’s an unusual sight: a wine bar, with communal tables basking in the glow of wines lined up along the walls in a preservation and dispensing system. Even stranger, all the bottles hail from California, matched to dishes like Baja fish tacos and flatbread pizzas topped with Laura Chenel goat cheese and Fra’Mani sausage. Opened last year, California Vintage was the idea of Michael Sadak, who took chains like Gold’s Gym and Black Angus Restaurant into Asia with his company, BrandAmerica; he’s executed CV with the help of a raft of advisors plus 22 wineries that have invested in the concept. All are family-owned, ranging from well-known names like Peachy Canyon and Trefethen to others whose wines rarely leave the state, such as Acorn, Cass, Chentella, Kachina and Stoney Ridge. IPads are handy for the shy or tech-obsessed; more fun is talking to GM Shin Chan, who’s studying for his MS. Although CV is designed to become an Asia-wide chain, it’s far too quirky to feel like one. Rather, it’s warm and comfortable, with a terrific view out on a busy HK street.
—Tara Q. Thomas
California Vintage, 77 Wyndham St., Central, Hong Kong; 2525.9808, cvwinebar.com (reviewed W&S, 02/12)
|
|
|
>
Autre Monde
|
When it comes to food, the industrial Chicago suburb of Berwyn has been known for Italian beef sandwiches (if it’s been known for anything at all). But over the summer, four fine-dining veterans opened Autre Monde—and in doing so quite literally created for Berwyn, as the name suggests, another world. In this warm, neighborhoody space, Beth Partridge and Dan Pancake (both disciples of chef Tony Mantuano) send out handmade pastas and Mediterranean-style dishes like bacalao-stuffed piquillo peppers. John Aranza and his wife Christine Tully Aranza (vets of Spiaggia) handle the front of the house, pouring from a list John has piled with a quirky array of organically and biodynamically grown wines. Start with the little-seen crémant from Camille Braun in Alsace; move on to assytriko from Santorini, posip from Korcula or a grenache-roussanne blend from Tensley in Santa Barbara. The red selection is just as wild. Almost as wild as opening a restaurant of this caliber in Berwyn.
—David Tamarkin
Autre Monde, 6727 W. Roosevelt Rd., Berwyn, IL; 708-775-8122, autremondecafe.net (reviewed W&S, 02/12)
|
|
|
>
Mosto
|
Inspired by Mexico City’s Tequila and mezcal bars, the traditional stop for a quick drink and a botana (small bite), restaurateur Joe Hargrave and his team have created Mosto. Named after the term for fermenting agave juice, the diminutive space is stocked with over 300 bottles of Tequila, mezcal and sotol, a rustic and slightly vegetal spirit distilled from the Desert Spoon evergreen. There’s a short list of cocktails, but the focus is on the spirits themselves, available by the glass or five-ounce carafe. All come with a traditional shot of house-made sangrita and an escabeche “pickle-back,” additions that whet the palate for the impressively good tacos al pastor or con nopales that come off the spit and griddle at the front of the bar.
—Lou Bustamante
Mosto, 741 Valencia St. (at 18th St.), San Francisco; 415-626-1344,
mostosf.com (reviewed W&S, 02/12)
|
|
|
>
Corkbuzz Wine Studio
|
Corkbuzz is the brainchild of Master Sommelier Laura Maniec, the former wine director for New York’s BR Guest restaurants. As you might expect, the airy, polished Union Square space sports an exceptional wine list, ten pages of classic, textbook styles (Defaix Chablis Vieilles Vignes, Remelluri Rioja) and some funkier options (Vouette et Sorbée’s spicy, biodynamic Fidéle Extra Brut, Domaine de la Tournelle’s wild-fermented Ploussard de Monteiller). Chef Hayan Yi adds a personal flare to the otherwise straightforward menu, spiking potato hash with duck cracklings and frying Kumamoto oysters in Korean scallion pancake batter. Beyond the long bar, the modular dining area in the back sports mesh metal walls that roll away on ceiling tracks to transform the space into an open classroom.
—Carson Demmond
Corkbuzz Wine Studio, 13 E. 13th St., NYC; 646-873-6071,
corkbuzz.com (reviewed W&S, 02/12)
|
|
|
>
Wolfgang Puck at Hotel Bel-Air
|
After a two-year hiatus, the restaurant at the Hotel Bel-Air reopened in November with a notable new modifier in its name: Wolfgang Puck. The results have been predictably impressive, starting with the decor, fully redesigned by the Rockwell Group, where, on warm nights at least, the glass doors are removed and dining, lounge, terrace and garden areas all flow together, anchored by an imposing white marble hearth in the main dining room. This is plainly a Puck menu: Whether it’s chestnut agnolotti flecked with white truffles or Sonoma lamb—rack and belly, from Campbell Ranch—it exhibits Puck’s flair with locally sourced ingredients. Robert Harpest, late of Jar, is refurbishing the wine list: Although it’s still a work in progress, he already can boast of one of the deepest selections of California cabernet in LA, and estimable vertical depth in Burgundy, Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley as well.
—P.J.C.
Wolfgang Puck at Hotel Bel-Air, 701 Stone Canyon Rd., Los Angeles; 310-909-1644, hotelbelair.com (reviewed W&S, 02/12)
|
 |
|
| |