Slow Cooked

Bar Veloce

I remember a college professor lecturing about the idea of the "third place" - someplace that is neither home nor workplace - and he used the Third Place idea to explain the success of the series Cheers.  Everybody needs a place where...everybody knows their name.

I have a few contenders for my Third Place, but I don't have a neighborhood bar or regular after-work spot...which is okay, because I'm not interested in procuring my very own bar stool, but there is something to be said for having a familiar, consistent spot to grab a drink after work, and while it may not be exactly Third Place material, I am growing quite fond of Bar Veloce.

My office is in the far west 30's, where there are scant offerings in the way of either food or drink.  If you need to catch the LIRR, it's convenient, but if you want a nice lunch or a happy hour, you are likely left disappointed.  It's not a far walk to Chelsea, however, and on several occasions now I've ended up at Bar Veloce, on 7th Avenue, and had lovely, lovely glasses of wines with good, not-too-filling nibbly things.  The wine list is Italian (almost exclusively) and glasses range from $8-$14, with both white and red getting fair representation (Italian whites are my new project; I recently have become a fan of Falanghina - a grape I don't know much about - and whites from Lugana...the other night I was drinking a Lugana that was sort of apple-y and toasty but still nice and crisp and I honestly don't even know what grapes are grown in Lugana, other than what Google tells me, which is Trebbiano).

There are the familiar cheese and cured meat plates, and what looks like the familiar bruschetta/tremezzini/panini menu, but what I like about the menu at Bar Veloce is that the bready items come on what is really closer to flatbread than Italian or French bread.  On a recent night a friend and I had cured tuna bruschetta topped with pickled red onion and delicious fig, prosciutto and pine nut bruschetta that was the PERFECT blend of salty and sweet, with just a hint of nutty. 

The space is sleek and fills up quickly, however it manages to feel full without ever seeming crowded.  There is just one sommelier/bartender behind the long bar with a small wait-staff serving and taking orders from the bar tables scattered against the far wall of the long, narrow space but the service never seems to slow down.  Bar Veloce originally opened in 2000 in the East Village, and I've yet to visit that location, but the Chelsea spot (there is also a Soho branch) makes me very happy and while bartenders may not yet know my name, it's possible that in the near future, they might.

Bar Veloce has three locations and accepts all major credit cards.

A Pet Peeve of Mine

There is a trend in the world of wine retailers to simplify and make wine cute.  Or easy.  Or less intimidating.  I'm not really sure, to be honest, but I don't like it.  In my new neighborhood I've visited three wine shops (Best Cellars, Pour Wines, Bacchus) that all seem to be subscribing to this new way of marketing wine as a Cute!  Not Scary!  Not Snobby! entitity, and I'm sorry but NO, creating categories of JUICY! CRISP! LUCIOUS! FIZZY! etcetera does not help me shop for wine.  Sleek merchandising with just a few carefully selected bottles (I'm talking like, 4-6 options per descriptor) does not help me shop for wine.  I am old-fashioned: I like to shop by region and variety.

I realize that a lot of people are unfamilar with what varities are grown in what regions and what characteristics come with each region/variety.  I realize as much because I am unfamiliar with a lot of varities and regions.  But here's the thing: it's not that hard to learn.  It's no harder than trying to shop for something VELVETY! or GRASSY! and maybe it's the food snob in me, but what's so wrong with learning about the product you are buying?  Five minutes talking to a proprietor will steer you in whatever direction you need to be, and as a bonus, wine is demystified.  I don't think merchandising by zippy names and backlighting really makes wine simple; it means you are at the mercy of your merchant and it fosters the notion that Wine Is Hard.

Cooking doesn't need to be complicated, or scary, or intimidating.  A friend always says, "If you can read, you can cook," and I've certainly found that getting a grasp on the basic science behind any technique frees me from recipes and leaves me much more confident in the kitchen.  A brief tutorial on the most popular grape varieties and regions can do the same.  It's a lot easier for me to shop for a Cabernet if I know that I need something with backbone to stand up to a hearty meal than it is for me to look for OAKY! or RICH! or SEXY! wines.

I was lucky because years ago I stumbled into a fantastic series of wine classes at A Cook's Companion, hosted by Judy Rundel of Heights Chateau.  I learned A LOT.  I even helped lead a few classes, and while I still get overwhelmed with some wine lists (the one that come in hardback binders, usually), I know what I like and where to spot values and what varieties will bring which qualities.  I am not a wine savant.  I don't have a particularly sophisticated palate.  I drink bottles that cost $12 and under.  If I can learn about wine, anyone can.  And I certainly appreciate the effors of Josh Wesson (of Best Cellars) to demystify wine and make it more approachable, I'm not a fan of the method.  (Except: on JetBlue flights.  That is a brilliant example of synergy and booze!)

I looooooove that Best Cellars has so many affordable bottles of wine.  But the mass-marketing, cutesy style is not for me.  There are just so many great bottles under $15, with their own interesting stories, and I am reminded all over again how much I miss Smith & Vine, which managed to curate a fantastic selection of wines, offer dozens of Under $10 Bottles, staff their shop with friendly, knowledgable people, host fun and informative tastings, remember my preferences, avoid talking down to customers (another pet peeve in wine shops; don't assume that just because I am female and under 40 I don't know about wine) and provide overall fantastic service.  There is some good news, however: I visited Nancy's Wines for Food, on Columbus, last weekend, and I have high hopes that I may have found the next best thing.  There were wines under $12.  There was a casual but helpful staff that let me browse.  There were useful descriptions of wines.  Staff picks.  Easy-to-shop shelves.  A broad selection that didn't cross over to Overwhelming.  New and Old World wines with a pretty even representation.  I think I've found my neighborhood wine shop!

Bargain of the Day!

My favorite local wine shop has a $10 and Under table, which is where I tend to shop on a day-to-day basis.  Tonight I brought home a bottle of Chilean red, and am completely WOWED by it.  It's sort of chocolate-y and spicy and leathery, but with nice soft fruit so you don't get any vacuum-mouth from the tannins.  It most definitely tastes like it cost more than $10 and is a perfect winter red to keep on hand.  I'd feel confident bringing it to any dinner party - it drinks fine without any food at all.  If you can get your hands on this $10 bargain, please do so!!  (Chile being my go-to wine region for bargains, now that Spanish wines have started to get more expensive...)

My bargain of the day is the Chono 2005 Carmenere...enjoy!  (and I know the label in the link shows a 2003 vintage; I can only vouch for the 2005, which is fantastic!)

Bovio Dolcetto d'Alba Dabbene

Someone asked me recently what wine I would drink if I could chose one wine to drink for the rest of my life.  That is a much longer discussion and would involve charts, books, research, tastings.  But, it made me realize that I should share what I've been drinking lately.

Since early fall I've bought and re-bought an Italian Dolcetto d'Alba by the BOVIO vineyard in the Piedmont region.  Their Dolcetto d'Alba Dabbene is dry enough to stand up to food but light enough to drink alone, and has a delicate fruity, almost floral taste that makes it a perfect summer red.  I keep going back for the bottle, which retails for about $13, as my "Go To" wine.

Whenever I'm glancing through an Italian-heavy wine list, I lean towards whites from the Veneto region, and reds from the Alba hills -- this 2001 Bovio Dolcetto d'Alba, called Dabbene, makes me think I need to visit Piedmont.