Anotheroom

Welcome to my second installment of my “Room” series! I went to Anotheroom (read Another Room) at 249 W Broadway. As soon as I walked into Anotheroom, it felt like I was entering a cave. There is very little lighting in the bar and the colors used in the décor are all dark, punctuated by the awesome artwork on the walls. The wall is lined with tall, super comfy benches and little crescent shaped tables. It was very comfortable after sitting in an office chair all day. I think I actually let out a sigh of relaxation as I melted into my seat.

Like The Room, Anotheroom operates menu-less and lists all of the wines available on a large chalk menu behind the bar. The wines were listed on the far right side of the menu and my vision not being the best, I couldn't read it from my seat and had to leave my stuff at the table to go check it out. Luckily no one was feeling thiev-y that night. It turns out it wasn’t just my eyesight that was causing problems with the menu’s readability; it was a bit like chicken scratch. Wines were around the same price as The Room with glasses being between $10 and $14, although the selection is better, I think. There seem to be more crowd-pleasing wines on this bar's menu and definitely more well known wines.

I ordered the Syrah and I honestly can't say where it was from because of the writing on the menu. I did see that it was a 2008 though and since it wasn't listed as Shiraz, it's not from Australia. Interesting fact: the same wine is called Shiraz only in Australia (and sometimes Israel) and called Syrah elsewhere. It tasted like strawberries and was a little toasty. Imagine if you threw a strawberry in the oven for a while before eating it. While I’ve never done that before and it could actually be terrible, that’s the best way to describe the flavor of this Syrah. It was ok, not the best Syrah I’ve had but it was enjoyable.

The atmosphere at Anotheroom is pretty great. There was some good indie music playing and the volume isn’t overpowering at all, so it makes for easy conversation. It’s more soothing in a chill way rathan than being cozy, but it’s still very easy to relax here. I wish they served food because I could spend a while relaxing here, especially if I was with the hubs. After a while I noticed that I was the only girl there, which is odd. Although, I did notice a slightly higher male to female ratio at The Room as well. Perhaps it has something to do with the nice selection of gourmet beer at the “Room” locations.

Anotheroom is the perfect place to disappear in the dark and unwind. Cozy it might not be, but dang it, it sure is cool. If you're in the area, this is a great post-dinner spot. I give Anotheroom a rating of 4 out of 5 glasses.

The outside of the bar

Chillin.

It was so dark in there that this was the best picture I could get of my wine...

Just a sampling of the cool artwork decorating the bar



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