My dear readers, I’m back at last! The hubster and I bought a condo, so most of our free time the past few months has been consumed by making the place our own. But on Friday I was able to go to Ara, located at 24 9th Ave in the Meatpacking district.
I didn’t know quite what to expect from a wine bar in this area, since it’s very clubby and heavily geared towards the nightlife. However, I found Ara to be surprisingly low key and quiet for a Friday evening. The interior was pretty standard for a wine bar – a long, narrow space with a bar in the front and a lounge like area in the back. When I arrived, there was only a small handful of people seated around the bar and music from the 80s was playing softly. I took a seat on the plush bench that wrapped around the entire back room and took a look at the menu.
Glasses were between $10 and $25, with the average glass being $12. Bottles started at $42 and were not more than $65. The selection of wine was small, but consisted of some unique white wines, like a white Rioja and a Grune, which don’t often make appearances in wine bars. I decided to take advantage of this and ordered the 2012 Gobelsburger Gruner Veltliner. It smelled like fresh grapefruit and lemon with a light floral scent and had similar notes on the palate with a lively acidity. It was certainly refreshing after walking through the humidity of the October night. (what’s up with that, by the way?)
The service was ok. Once I was seated, a bartender came to my table to take my order, but after delivering the wine, I didn’t see him again for quite some time.
The atmosphere of Ara was calm and the fixtures seemed really nice. The bench in the back lounge area was made of soft green leather and had tons of oversized throw pillows tossed onto it. The rest of the seating was on squatty stools with leather cushions that actually looked kind of comfortable. The small tables were also spaced far enough apart from one another to allow for some private conversation. There were also some interesting choices in décor – the walls were covered entirely with either huge mirrored panels or bamboo print wallpaper. I’m not quite sure what look they were going for there.
Ara was enjoyable enough, but it just didn’t feel like a wine bar. It lacked the charm, cozy sophistication, and quirkiness that it takes to make a wine bar stand out in this city. Honestly, it was rather forgettable. I give Ara a rating of 3 out of 5 glasses.
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The back area of the bar
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My glass of Gruner
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