Aroma Kitchen & Wine Bar

I’m back to the blogging world! I took a brief hiatus from my wine bar reviews to work on a new project that I’ll hopefully be telling you about later (fingers crossed). I got back in the game at Aroma Kitchen & Wine Bar, which is located at 36 E 4^th St in the East Village.

It’s a narrow bar that oozes simplistic charm. It was dimly lit and warm jazz music was playing, so I was immediately greeted with coziness. The walls were exposed brick and the wall at the entry was covered with shelves full of wine. The dining area in the back of the bar used to be an apartment until Aroma bought it and expanded. How New York of them :) My favorite part of the décor though, was the bar – it was made of one solid piece of a tree trunk. Super cool and it added to the rustic vibe.

Aroma is an Italian wine bar and they offered some unique selections. It was a little pricey, however. Glasses were $10 to $20, half bottles were $21 to $225, and bottles started at $45 and went up to $750.

I ordered the 2011 Alto Adige Kossler Lagrein. It smelled like rose with some cassis and vanilla. It tasted surprisingly floral, and was not as full-bodied as I would have expected either. The wine had a long finish with well-structured tannins and was pretty delightful!

The service was very friendly and courteous and the bar had a great fun and relaxing atmosphere. I definitely could have stayed there for the rest of the evening. The windows in the front look like they open up in the summer, so this place would be a must to hang out in on a weekend afternoon, sipping wine. It’s definitely a good place to swing by and I would go out of my way to come back. It’s a little expensive, but the wine was great so you get what you pay for. It would be nice to see more value options on the menu though. I give Aroma a rating of 4 out of 5 glasses.

Careful, you might miss the bar's tiny entrance!

The wall of wine

Lovely Lagrein

Aria

On Friday night, I went to Aria at 117 Perry St in the West Village and I was delightfully surprised. After turning the corner onto Perry St, I came across some scaffolding that was covered with willow branches and lights, creating a cute wintry archway on the sidewalk. I then realized that Aria was hidden right behind this lovely little display.

The interior of Aria looks like a barn than was converted into a trendy wine bar. It has a wooden ceiling, complete with beams, original brick walls, and wide plank wooden floors. Little alcoves of seating are in each of the large windows, which I thought was quaint, and the large table in the center of the room with family style seating only adds to the farmstead feel. It combined this coziness with some modern elements like a white tiled bar and techno lounge music. It was the perfect mix of rustic, charming, trendy, and lively.

Most of the wines were Italian, with a small selection being from Spain, Germany, Argentina, and South Africa. Given the atmosphere, I was expecting the wines to start at $11 a glass or more, but I was quite pleased to see that glasses were between $6 and $12, which is incredibly well priced for the city. Bottles of these same wines, plus several that were not available by the glass, started at $35 and the most expensive was $98. Each wine had a brief description (in a very small font) of the flavors you could expect. The font was actually so small that it took me a few minutes to even notice that the descriptions were there. Or maybe I just need new glasses.

I ordered the 2011 Familia Cassone Malbec for a whopping $7. It was from Argentina, but the menu noted that it was a Spanish vine. Curious why they might have used vines from Spain, I researched the wine later, but couldn’t find any information regarding the vines used. Perhaps it was a menu typo? The wine was served in a juice glass rather than stemware, which is a first for any wine bar I’ve been to. Unfortunately, the stout glass prevented me from being able to get a good whiff of the wine, so all I could gather from its aroma was a little bit of strawberry. I took a sip and found that the wine was quite tasty! It had flavors of anise, black currant, and pomegranate and was nicely balanced. This Malbec was as enjoyable as it was inexpensive, although I definitely would suggest that they serve the wine in something a little less unusual.

The staff were all very nice and stopped by my table just often enough. The waiter came by as I was one sip away from finishing my glass and he asked if I would like a refill. Given the spectacular prices, I happily obliged.

Aria seemed to be a very popular place, as it was nearly full by 6pm. The crowd included groups of girlfriends, couples, and even a few solo drinkers, such as myself. It’s a great pre-dinner spot and the music will make you want to go out and rage for the rest of the night, so it’s a good thing Aria is located so close to the Meatpacking District.

Aria is a really, really fantastic wine bar with a cozy, but fun atmosphere and has quickly become one of my favorite wine bars in the city. The great service and their selection of affordable, tasty wines make this place all the more better. I give Aria a rating of 4.8 out of 5 glasses.

The prettiest scaffolding in NYC

The window seating

My oversized shotglass of wine

Getting busy!