Fun Italian Wine Finds in NY

It is always fun to visit some of the newest restaurants in my hometown and revisit some of the old hits. It is ten times more fun when they have good Italian wines. So while in town for the Manhattan Cocktail Classic, more on that fabulous gathering to come, I got a chance to pop into Stanton Social and Marcony.

The only thing the two places have in common was my visiting both of them inside a couple of days. Stanton Social has been open for going on five years and represents the remarkable and continuing transformation of the Lower East Side. This area was hopping when I left New York five years ago but has continued to build in momentum.

The whole concept on this place is sleek comfort foods, think sliders and cheese-encrusted dumplings. How the skinny denizens eat it all is beyond me. The restaurant offers some lovely Italian whites by the bottle that are great in summer heat like Vietti 2008 Arneis and Erbaluce di Caluso 2007 'Cascina Cariola', Ferrando. They also have great hot weather cocktails like the Strawberry Fields, made with Grey Goose and a Riesling float. Wine director Anthony Seringnese is super knowledgable.

The newly opened Marcony in the low 30s is turning out some classic Italian food. The octopus salad is fresh and bouncy and the lamb was perfectly cooked. The smoky mussels were also delicious. The sleek, multi-level space also offers outdoor seating and a couple of interesting Italian wine by the glass. I had a chance to retaste the Savuto, from Calabria. We are seeing more of these lesser-known southern regions and varietals, particularly Calabria with wines like Pecorino and Gallioppo, so it is a pleasure to see someone pouring a Calabrian red by the glass.

Cin cin,

Liza the Wine Chick