new restaurant in NYC - Charlie Bird

[Slewfoot]

Soooooo New York's hottest new restaurant opened last night downtown. It's called Charlie Bird and the chef is Ryan Hardy, formerly of The Little Nell's Montagna in Aspen. Super fresh Italian / American made in an honest, straightforward way. The kind of cooking I like to do and wish I could do better at home. Decor is clean, understated and elegant.

Not a big wine list, but each choice carefully selected. Items like 2011 Bourgogne Blanc Roulot, 2010 Chianti Classico Felsina, etc are affordable and delicious food wines. Wines served at appropriate temperatures (something lacking at too many restaurants) and Zalto glasses are used for stems. They technically have a reserve wine list, but I wouldn't really ask to see it unless you're serious about spending over $200 on a bottle as they only have one copy for the house.

Here's a quick photo of the space from tonight. In full disclosure, a partner in the restaurant is my business partner in wine consulting, Robert Bohr, who used to run the wine program at Cru. I'm not involved at all in the restaurant though. At Charlie Bird things are done in a more casual environment the way Ryan and Robert envision. Well worth checking out. I'll be the guy having a great time at Table 4.

[Manself]

I like the Zalto glasses. I find it hard to buy wine glasses because the ones that look good do nothing for the wine, and most of the ones that make the most of the wine look awful! What do you suggest, as a man in the business with a well-developed sense of style?

[Slewfoot]

Thanks! At home I use both Zalto and Spiegelau. The Zaltos have a very nice transparency about them. It's just you and the wine. Just need to be washed by hand or in a custom restaurant style dishwasher. The Spiegelau are great for everyday use and can be put into the dishwasher (which I do once or twice a year to give them a deep clean).

[davidhuh]

What do you suggest, as a man in the business with a well-developed sense of style?

Dear Manself,

Riedel Sommelier for me. Apparently dishwasher safe, but I would never do this. My glasses get a hand job with just hot water

They have a cheaper line as well, Vinum, which looks good too. These glasses are very likely machine made.

Cheers, David

[soren]

For everyday glasses I would definitely recommend the Spiegelau Authentis series (for casual all-round use) or the Riedel Vinum series that has got the more specialized shapes such as Cabernet, Montrachet etc. Both series are machine made, but are also dishwasher safe (the Vinum being the most fragile ones; I've broken the neck on quite a few of them whilst polishing). For more exclusive occasions (and wines) then the Riedel Sommelier is no doubt the top drawer – then you can recall the tastes of the wines when you hand wash and -polish your glasses the next day

Cheers,
Soren

[Slewfoot]

My only nit with Riedel Sommelier series glasses is that they are just a bit too big. While they seem to almost add some elegance to the wines, you lose some of the guts of the wine in terms of any punch it has. I'm a classic Burgundy guy which doesn't have much punch to begin with so I prefer not to lose any unnecessarily!

[davidhuh]

My only nit with Riedel Sommelier series glasses is that they are just a bit too big. While they seem to almost add some elegance to the wines, you lose some of the guts of the wine in terms of any punch it has. I'm a classic Burgundy guy which doesn't have much punch to begin with so I prefer not to lose any unnecessarily!

Dear Slewfoot,

you are complaining on a high level, don't you?
Pauillac man here, but I will not run away if you open a decent Burgundy

cheers, David

[Slewfoot]

My only nit with Riedel Sommelier series glasses is that they are just a bit too big. While they seem to almost add some elegance to the wines, you lose some of the guts of the wine in terms of any punch it has. I'm a classic Burgundy guy which doesn't have much punch to begin with so I prefer not to lose any unnecessarily!

Dear Slewfoot,

you are complaining on a high level, don't you?
Pauillac man here, but I will not run away if you open a decent Burgundy

cheers, David

I'll bring the old Burgundy and you bring the old Pauillac and we'll call it a draw. :^)

[davidhuh]

I'll bring the old Burgundy and you bring the old Pauillac and we'll call it a draw. :^)

Deal

[couch]

I'm also a fan of the Authentis line--good clarity, the titanium glass is fairly resilient, and I find the shapes and sizes to be very good on the whole. For less powerful reds I prefer their 'generic' red wine glass; for the '82 Pauillacs, or a Vega Sicila Unico or the big new world reds I like the Bordeaux glass. Like David I don't often drink great Burgundies, but I think the Authentis Burgundy balloons are scaled better than the Riedel Sommelier versions. I particularly like the way their Champagne 'flute' cradles the aromas, though the bottom is a little too round to produce a single bubble thread, if that matters to you. Though machine-drawn, the glasses are quite delicate from mid-bowl to the rim; some cases have variations from glass to glass, with the occasional one showing perceptible variations in thickness. You can either see this as a flaw or reminiscent of artisanship. I've chucked the one or two red wine glasses out of a dozen that wouldn't merit a spot on the most elegant table, and am quite happy with the rest (the price is modest enough to absorb the shrinkage). I'm not sure the stemmed versions of these are still widely distributed via retail in the U.S.; last I checked they seemed to be concentrating on wholesale to the 'fine dining' restaurant market, though Wine Stuff in Easton, PA still lists some models on their web site. Perhaps they can order the others shown on Spiegelau's own site.

[emc894]

This has become a very hard table to get! I really only go out to eat on Friday and Saturday nights and no luck at Charlie Bird so far.

[Slewfoot]

They are doing very well. I would definitely try 3 - 4 weeks in advance if that's possible. Keep in mind it has a downtown vibe full of hip-hop over the speakers (but good mid-90's hip-hop). It's not a discreet, quiet place, but if you're in the mood for a fun lively atmosphere with delicious fresh food it's for you!

[uppercase]

You can get a real education here at LL which is worth the price of admission.

Any Manishewitz and RTW men here?

[hectorm]

Any Manishewitz and RTW men here?

Uppercase,
I'm not embarrassed to recognize that I have used Manishewitz's bean soup mix many times. My little secret is that I add pork ribs to the pot (warning my Jewish or vegetarian guests).
So it's not exactly RTW; more like a MTM.

[uppercase]

Let's fess up here, gentlemen.
Any MTM, Manishewitz, pork, RTW men here??
Or is the LL crowd overwhelmingly bespoke, Anglo, and
aristocratic ??