Last night, I ventured to Wine Bar on 4th and 2nd ave. It was the perfect summer evening - light humidity, a nice breeze and we had scored (thanks to Marissa) a corner table outside. That said, the food, along with the people watching in the East Village, was superb.
We started with the crostini with three dips: roasted artichoke, roasted tomatoes and fennel/white bean. Decent yet the teeny, way-too-crispy mini-crostinis proved difficult to achieve the perfect bite.
So we thought we'd be somewhat healthy and go with a nice frisee salad with grilled calamari and grapefruit. The salad was light and even though I have a mild aversion to grapefruit, the salad was decent. Not my favorite, but definitely added a nice balance to our carb/Italian fare.
The menu's highlight appeared to be the flatbreads - oval, thin-crusted, crispy discs of pure gluttony. We went with the formaggio (Asiago, fontina, mozzarella di bufala) with truffle oil - definitely the most simple of the selection so I'm anxious to return and try the others.
The finale: chicken meatballs. A little heavy for al fresco summer dining, but that said, the sweet, hearty marinara and guitar-pick-sized pieces of Parmigiano Reggiano really enhanced the moist, tender chicken. Definitely a go-to dish in the winter.
Overall, a great find and value in the East Village - the wine list was particularly compelling with selections from Italy, France and Spain. It should be interesting to see if this place sticks around or is replaced with another, just as of-the-moment resto.
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