The Room

The Room is the first in my series of “room” wine bar reviews. The owner of these wine bars has three locations in Manhattan (The Room, The Other Room, and Another Room), my first stop being located at 144 Sullivan St in Soho.

The first thing I noticed about this bar is how well decorated it is in a sort of understated way. The main bar area is narrow with brick walls and there is a side room with table seating. There are candles everywhere and the tables for large groups are surrounded by plush seating. The countertop of the bar is made of some kind of concrete slab, which added an unexpected texture and dramatic vignette lighting hung above the bar. There was a mix of old school big band, rock, and ethereal music accompanying the hip vibe of the bar.

There are no menus, as there is no table service, so you have to order at the bar. The menus are displayed right behind the bar and are easy to read, which is not always the case with chalkboard menus. Glasses of wine are between $9 and $14 and all wines are available by the bottle as well, which start at $34 and are no more expensive that $60. Most wines are from France with a couple of other countries tossed in. However, the wines are a little young with the oldest wine being a 2006 Malbec. I would like to see a larger selection of wines that have aged a bit longer, even if it’s just a small, fine tuned list.

I ordered the 2010 Gamay from the Loire Valley of France. Gamay is the grape used in Beaujolais and is best consumed while young or relatively so. This wine tasted like baking spices and blackberry jam, and it was pretty rich. It smelled like nutmeg…almost like an alcoholic cookie dough. New holiday recipe inspiration?

The Room is very hip and the crowd certainly makes it feel that way as well. Most of my fellow wine drinkers were in their 20s and very trendy. Fedoras with long scarves were abundant and even I felt a little out of place, which is saying a lot. The place was pretty busy for a Monday night. I’m assuming that it can get very standy on a popular night like a Thursday or Friday, so if you want to avoid a crowd, come here earlier in the week.

The Room is a cool, hip, wine bar. It’s worth a visit, and I never thought I’d say this, but I kind of hope the other “room” wine bars will be less stylish and…well, hipster-y. I give this place a rating of 3.8 out of 5 glasses.

I know, this is a pretty sweet picture.

My dramatic glass of Gamay