Are wine bars the next bistro?
Following closely on the heels of Proof and Sonoma, Veritas Wine Bar will be opening next Monday, September 17. The list is largely composed of Euro-style California wines, with over 50 available by the glass starting at $8 and going up to $28. Also available are various red and white flights, chosen by varietal, region or cutesy names like “m&m&m” and “Mick’s picks”. Three deadly zins, anyone?
The web site allows folks to suggest wines for their list. So maybe folks could suggest some German wines, as well as some Spanish reds (the only Spanish wine is a white). In fact, the list is already drawing flack on Don Rockwell.
Accompaniments are the usual cheese and charcuterie. Cheese flights are also available with the cute names like “just delicious” or matched to varietals. Look for prosciutto di parma from Italy and some fancy terrines from around the country. Of particular interest is the vegetable en croute, with an origin of New York. That’s a long way to go for some vegetables in pastry.
Veritas is one more of the Joe Englert bars; a set which includes Lucky Bar, The Big Hunt, Rock & Roll Hotel, The Pour House and many other boozing joints. There are also plans to convert the Zebra Lounge into Enology, another wine bar which will focus solely on American wines. But they will be getting competition from Cork, opening up in the old Sparky’s space.
I’m pretty excited at the opportunity to try more wines, but I wish that they would take Proof and Dino’s approach with smaller pours. The point of a wine bar is to be able to try a huge variety of wines, rather than stick to two or three glasses for the session. Nonetheless, it’s great to see DC catch up with the curve and add some wine bars.
Food carts, where you at?
We’ve all been eagerly anticipating the new food carts for a very long time. We told you about Delle and Campbell’s Halal Lunchetonette. In this week’s WaPo review, Sietsema touts the Korean BBQ cart on the corner of 14th and L.
I’ve made a few trips, and while it might not be up to restaurant level, it definitely satisfies my Korean BBQ jones. Certainly beats crossing the river to go to Annandale. Aside from bulgogi and chicken, the cart also serves breakfast sammiches. I’m really hoping they’ll add a Spam, egg and kimchee muffin to the menu. By the way, has anyone spotted any more new food carts?
