Gallo Nero

On Wednesday night, I went to Gallo Nero which is located at 402 W 44^th St in Hell’s Kitchen. As I approached the wine bar, I was pleased when I saw a café chalkboard outside the door that said “Life is too short for bad wine” on one side. Since that is practically my mantra, I was looking forward to trying this place out. For a chuckle, take a look at the logo on their sign – the Italian translation of “gallo nero” is exactly what you think it is.

I walked in and wasn’t greeted right away, even though it wasn’t busy. There was a woman sitting at the bar who seemed like she worked there, but she only smiled at me and looked back up at the tv above the bar. Hmm…so maybe I’m supposed to seat myself. As I started for a tall, tiny table that looked like a log in the dim light of the bar, a man came up to me and showed me to the table of my choice. I awkwardly positioned myself around the log-table and was greeted with a slightly terrifying porcelain clown face on the wall across the table from me. I looked around and the whole bar seemed to have a circus theme to it. There were various strange masks on the walls, each one creepier than the last. Yet, it maintained a cozy Italian charm with much of the wall space being taken up by wooden shelves stocked with bottles of wine, and the dining area was tightly packed with small worn wooden tables and a couple large marble top tables. Although Gallo Nero is an Italian wine bar and is advertised as such, it feels very much like a restaurant. While I was there, most of the other customers were eating dinner, rather than enjoying a few glasses of wine as I would have expected. The whole place felt a little conflicted. As I mentioned, there was a tv above the bar, which is totally fine, but it was blaring an Italian film and most of the staff was standing around watching it, including the woman sitting at the bar, who was indeed a waitress. Perhaps it was meant for the whole bar to feel like you’re hanging out in a former circus performer’s someone’s home in Italy, but it was surprisingly unprofessional, especially for a place that has been open for less than a year.

I was hoping that the wine at least lived up to my expectations. All of the wines were Italian and there were plenty of selections to choose from. Glasses were priced between $10 and $19 and bottles were well priced at $35 to $69. I ordered a glass of the 2009 Organic Montefalco Rosso Di Filippo. It had a great aroma of herbs, leaves, and dried fruit and tasted like cherry with a slightly sour strawberry note to it. This was a lovely wine, had a zingy acidity, was well balanced, and was the best part of my experience at Gallo Nero.

The service was very friendly when they were interacting with the customers, including myself, but it seemed a rather lazy. To sum up Gallo Nero, it’s rustic, whimsical, and unprofessional with some very good Italian wines on the menu. It’s difficult for me to hate on a place that quotes Hemingway on a chalkboard, but when he said “Wine is the only civilized thing in the world”, Gallo Nero may have taken it too literally. I give it a rating of 3.2 out of 5 glasses.

Gallo Nero and their quotable cafe chalkboard

My tasty glass of Montefalco

The tv above the bar

My drinking buddy for the evening

K & D By the Glass

Hurricane Sandy kept me out of Manhattan for a while, but I’m back and ready to continue reviewing wine bars! My first post-Sandy stop was K & D By the Glass, located in the Upper East Side at 1374 Madison Ave. Next door is K & D Wine & Spirits where I’m sure you can buy some, if not all of the wines that are served at the bar.

The space is very small, the walls are covered with book wallpaper and wood paneling, and it’s quiet. It’s almost as if someone turned their library or office into a wine bar. The bar has an upscale and masculine feel to it with lots of wood and leather accents. The only thing missing was a humidor filled with exotic cigars. However, it maintains a slightly casual air by playing some low-volume classic rock and 80s music and a tv in one corner. Shelves behind the bar were stocked with nice wines and there was a wooden wine rack so high on the wall that it could only be reached by a ladder. There wasn’t much seating; just one high table for two, leather stools along one wall, and chairs around the bar. Once more people started to show up, it was tightly packed.

Wines here are moderately expensive and even excessively so. Glasses of wine were priced $8 to $24 with the vast majority of them being more than $14. Bottles were $31 to $375. Two flight options were available, but the menu was confusing – only one wine was listed for each flight. I couldn’t tell which, or even how many, wines were included and there was both a glass and bottle price for each flight. Huh?

I ordered a glass of the 2009 Vaza Crianza Rioja. It smelled like strawberry and tasted like cedar at first sip, but then quickly developed into a dried red fruit and cocoa flavor with a hint of an herbal character. It was pretty good, but honestly, I’ve had better Rioja at the same price at other wine bars.

The service was great. I never felt that I was wanting for attention or bothered by too much. I overheard the bartender helping other customers decide what to order based on what kind of body or flavors they enjoy in a wine. She spoke about the different characteristics of the wines she was suggesting and I could tell that she was well versed on the subject of wine. I was impressed.

The place started to fill up around 5 and the crowd was middle-aged. I would have expected a slightly younger group on a Friday evening, but considering the setting and the higher price points, that’s probably their usual clientele. For example, one guy wanted a wine that was only available by the bottle and apparently he didn’t mind paying whatever the glass price would be. I looked it up in the menu figured out that one pour would have been around $40. Yikes!

Although pricey, K & D By the Glass has a very nice selection of fine wines. The knowledgeable staff certainly adds to the experience as well. While it’s kind of casual, the atmosphere is still a little too stodgy for my taste. Great wine bars should be approachable by all and I think K & D is the kind that intimidates people who don’t know much about wine. I give this place a rating of 3.5 out of 5 glasses.

K & D By the Glass next door to the wine store

The tiny library-like interior of K & D