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

La Barrique

Last night I visited La Barrique at 38 W 39^th St. My experience there was…interesting.

Let me start by saying that upon walking in, the bar is up to par with what your average wine bar should look like. It has a cool tin ceiling, it’s dimly lit, and it has wine themed décor such as a two oak barrels serving as the base for a table in the front of the bar. There is even a cute little bistro area in the back if you want to have a nice meal there.

And that’s about where the good experience stops.

I took a seat at one of the small tables close to the bar and waited for service…and waited…and waited…and waited. I didn’t even have a menu to peruse through. I chose a midtown wine bar for the sake of convenience, so my expectations were not that high to begin with, but it was still disappointing. The bartender did come by eventually and I received the wine list. It looked pretty good. There were a lot of French wines from quality regions and pretty well priced. The menu listed the grape used in the wine, which doesn’t usually happen with French wines. Typically, only the village or region is shown on the label and you need to know which grape variety is predominantly grown in that area in order to know what to expect. So, the menu was definitely helpful in that area. Glasses are priced between $9 and $12 and bottles of the same wines started at $38.

I ordered the Crozes-Hermitage, which is 100% Syrah, grown in the Northern Rhone Valley of France. It smelled rich and a little bit like chocolate and red fruits. And it packed a kick! This wine was high in alcohol and I could feel it warming my chest. Probably not the most well balanced wine, but it was almost necessary after the day I had. This wine would be better paired with a high protein meal, such as a rare steak, which would mask the tannins and higher alcohol of the wine. It had a cherry flavor and was full bodied. A good fall wine. The pours are very healthy here too.

Now, on to the weirdness. As a preface to the following criticism of this place, I enjoy a good dive bar, pub, sports bar, etc. and can kick back and enjoy beer and football with a side of nachos. But c’mon. A wine bar needs to have at least a little sophistication, right? The story continues…After a while, only groups of middle aged, very loud and boisterous, casual business men were in the bar. I haven’t seen this type of crowd in a wine bar…well, ever, really. And I quickly discovered why they were there. Unlike any wine bar I’ve ever been to, the bartenders were bouncing around to the classic 80s music that was playing, singing along into wine bottles, and began to choreograph a dance for the men, who in turn suggested that they should dance on the bar. Thankfully the girls didn’t, but they continued to flirt with the men for tips and one dude even tossed an ice cube from his drink at one of the girls who squealed and threw one back at him. I didn’t realize that Coyote Ugly had opened up a wine bar. This place was definitely not classy and I apparently was not the only one who thought so. Every other female in the bar was seated in the bistro in the back of the bar, far away from the awkwardness that was blossoming. It may look like a wine bar, but the atmosphere is that of a trashy pub. Weird, weird, weird. I actually started to feel bad for the wine that was being served there. I found myself wishing that the pour had not been so large so that I could finish my wine and get out of there.

I was not impressed with La Barrique and it was honestly a lot a little strange. Whether or not I was just there on a bad night, I shall never know. As for now, I give this place a rating of 1.5 out of 5 glasses. Sorry guys, class up the joint a bit if you want to call yourselves a wine bar. Gross.

I think not.

My glass of Crozes-Hermitage that I ultimately felt sorry for

Just a sampling of the fine men at La Barrique

The bistro in the back where all the women seem to have relocated

Update on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 by drinkofthevine

Hallelujah, La Barrique has closed! The plague is over.