Charlie Arturaola at Academia Di Vino, with chef Kevin Garcia.
By Jerry Shriver, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — Restaurateurs in the nation's dining capital have discovered a tasteful method for coping with economic jitters and customers' lessening interest in formality: Open a wine bar or a stylish wine-centric restaurant.
Among the noteworthy openings of the past year: more than two dozen eateries where the primary focus is on serving wine alongside finger foods, small plates and bistro fare. Luminaries such as Daniel Boulud, Alain Ducasse and Gray Kunz, all of whom earned world-class reputations with elite and expensive French restaurants, have embraced the trend and drawn the most attention.
Even tradition-bound Le Cirque recently reconfigured its bar area into a wine-centric space. But they're simply following a path blazed by passionate, grape-savvy entrepreneurs working on a more modest scale.
Cheaper start-up and operating costs partly explain the wave, but another key factor is that consumers' interest in wine is rapidly expanding, as is their sense of adventure. Case in point: One of the newest wine bars, Xai Xai, offers more than 50 wines by the glass, nearly all from South Africa.
Accademia di Vino
If every "school" were as seductive as this one, we'd all get around to earning Ph.D.'s. Manager Anthony Mazzola and Wine Education Dean Charlie Arturaola conduct their in-depth tutorials on Italian wine and food in a roomy two-level space that encompasses two wine bars, a dining room and three private areas for tastings, classes and special events. The menu is equally wide-ranging: crudos, tartars and other hot and cold anti-pasti; salumi; grilled pizzas; pastas; main courses; and desserts (two courses cost about $25). All are created to be compatible with the 500 bottles on the list (29 are offered by the glass, for $8-$30), which come from every major wine production region in
Italy. On an even sweeter note, 14 dessert wines are offered, all in half-bottles.
1081 Third Ave.; 212-888-6333; accademiadivino.com.
if you get to NYCity soon....please visit the cuisne is manage by Executive Chef Kevin Garcia.....pizza with black truffles and robiola cheese.....
