Pierre Loti Midtown

I reviewed the Pierre Loti near Union Square back when it was the only Pierre Loti. They’ve since opened 2 more locations, so I thought it was about time that I checked them out. I went to Pierre Loti Midtown, located at 300 E 52^nd St, just off of 2^nd Ave.

This location is small, but has two floors of seating. The first level looks welcoming, with white subway tiles on the wall, a tin ceiling, and hefty wooden tables. It was full when I visited, so I was seated on the surprisingly less appealing second floor.

The first thing I noticed was that this location definitely felt more like a restaurant than a wine bar. Not only were most of the people there eating an entrée, but I actually had to flip through 4 pages of the dinner menu before I even found the wine list. The menu was also missing the story of who Pierre Loti is and why this wine bar was inspired to name the place after him. Maybe the menus have changed since I was last at a Pierre Loti, but I liked that historical tidbit. The wine is pretty well priced; glasses are $8 to $14 and bottles are $30 to $160. Unfortunately, unlike their Union Square location, they did not offer a flight option. Their menu features wines from around the world, but it focuses on French varietals.

The décor upstairs had a cheap feel to it, not at all like the relaxed, bohemian vibe of their other location. The walls were painted bright red, there were crushed velvet cushions on the benches, and there was some crappy tinsel hanging from one wall at an attempt at decorating for the holidays, and a weird rope was strung across the windows because obviously the first thing one thinks about when going to a French wine bar is sailing. It was weird and very midtown-y.

As I was looking over the menu, the waitress, who seemed to be in a rush, came to my table and told me the happy hour specials on their wine. They sounded pretty good at $6 a glass and included their house wine, but I hadn’t decided what I wanted to drink yet, so I told her I would keep them in mind as I was looking over the menu. “The happy hour wines aren’t on the menu” is what she responded with. Alrighty then! I told her I was going to look for a few more minutes and she walked away. I noticed a wine called Pierre Loti and on the menu it was described as “our own blend”. It sounded like they produced their own wine at the bar, which I thought was very unique. The only time I’ve ever seen a wine bar do that was at City Winery. When the waitress came back, I pointed to the wine and asked her if this was the house wine. This is how our conversation proceeded:

“No, I told you the happy hour wines aren’t on the menu.” Yikes.

“That’s not the house wine?”

“No, it’s from France.”

“Do you age it here though?”

“No, the wine is from France”, she said as she poked her finger at the “France” section of the menu. “We don’t have a vineyard.”

“Oh, I thought maybe you imported the juice and aged it here.”

“No, it just has the same name.”

Charming, I know. Excuse me for being the idiot who thought you were doing something wonderfully uncommon in the city. I’ve never been talked down to like that at a wine bar, or any place in the city for that matter. The waitress left my table since I was a little too stunned to make another selection after that lovely interaction. I eventually chose a 2005 Chateau Meynard Bordeaux. It smelled hot, which is a term for a wine that has an apparent higher alcohol level. It had a floral nose with notes of spiced plum as well. It did taste like it had a high percentage of alcohol, or maybe that was just wishful thinking. Either way it didn’t affect the palate too much and it tasted like black cherry and a little bit of lavender. The fruit character and acidity balanced one another well and it had nice round tannins. It was a pretty enjoyable wine for a not so enjoyable experience at Pierre Loti.

This location is almost the exact opposite of the one near Union Square and makes it seem like there are two completely different owners of each Pierre Loti. At least I hope that’s the case. The charm is lost with this midtown wine bar. The service is laughably terrible and in my case, argumentative. Absolutely skip it and go out of your way to their other location, unless of course, that one has changed too. If it wasn’t for the wine and the friendly bus boys, I would give this place an even lower rating. I give Pierre Loti Midtown 2 out of 5 glasses. And I’m not sorry about it.

My glass of Bordeaux

Whoa, I almost forgot I was in a bar and not on a ship!

This is either incredibly misleading, or my waitress was even worse than I thought.

It even has the same logo as their menu! C'mon!

I like to imagine Monsieur Loti is looking away in shame

Lallisse

This past Friday I went to Lallisse, which is located in the Ramada Inn at 161 Lexington Ave. I believe this is the first hotel wine bar I’ve been to.

The place looks like it’s relatively new and it has an upscale beach restaurant feel. The seating around the walls consisted of tall and short heavy wooden benches accented by persimmon colored pillows. The entrance featured lightweight curtains of the same orange color and there were large windows, all with plants in them. Glass globe lamps hung low from the ceiling and added to the crisp, clean lines of the bar. As I was sitting there, I felt like it should be summer with a sea breeze blowing through my hair. But alas, it was a wet fall day. I’d say they definitely achieved the atmosphere they were hoping for.

After opening the menu, I quickly discovered why it had this vibe; it’s a Mediterranean wine bar featuring organic wines. Glasses of wine were $7 to $14 and bottles of the same wines were $28 to $54. There was a separate list for bottles only, which were between $32 and $200, with most being in the $30 to $40 range. Not all of the wines were organic, but if they were there was a notation indicting if it was organic or sustainable. When the waitress came by, I asked her if she could tell me the difference between “organic” and “sustainable”. She told me that in order to have the certification of “organic”, a vineyard has to use organically grown grapes and maintain organic processes and products for at least 7 years. It’s expensive to obtain this certification and includes regulations such as not using herbicides or pesticides and using only natural fertilizers. It also prohibits the use of added sulfites. The label of “sustainable” usually refers to a vineyard that is currently using some if not all of these same organic processes, but either has not been doing so for the minimum of 7 years, or chooses not to partake in the expensive organic certification. Sustainability also focuses on the benefit of the environment beyond the vineyard, so socially and environmentally responsible practices are implemented, such as water conservation and the use of renewable materials. Conveniently enough, many wine regions in the Mediterranean have been making wine this way for hundreds of years, so organic wine isn’t too difficult to come by.

I ordered the 2010 Element Terre Cabernet Sauvignon from the Languedoc region of France, which was an organic wine. It smelled like ripe red fruits and a little bit like cocoa powder. It tasted like blackberry and plum, had really soft tannins and a good balance of fruit and acidity. It was a very tasty wine! The Mediterranean air did these grapes well.

Lallisse has a great, relaxing atmosphere and a plethora of organic and sustainable wines. The waitress very nice and was willing to share lots of information about the wines served here. I really liked this place. I give Lallisse a rating of 4.4 out of 5 glasses.

My glass of tasty organic wine