#natural-wine

#natural-wine

Natural wine is no longer just a niche obsession among sommeliers in gentrified neighborhoods and funk-loving nerds; it's a major category that has evolved into a highly giftable, drinkable universe. There are the artistically labeled pét-nats for festive toasts, elegant skin-contact bottles that look good on any tablescape, and endlessly sippable, chillable reds that feel tailor-made for long December nights.

It's an exciting time to be a food-loving visitor to Dublin. In a perfect storm of culinary magic, talented young chefs who have honed their talents in hotspots such as Denmark, New York and London are now firing up the kitchens in the city's most exciting restaurants. A new European-style bistro that could have been plucked from Copenhagen or Paris proves how much the bar has been raised in recent years;

Mitsuru, from Sushi Yasuda's Mitsuru Tamura and natural wine vet Grant Reynolds of Parcelle, is really two spaces in one. This is Tamura's first spot since he was handpicked to replace one of the biggest sushi names, offering a chance to see his technique up close at the eight-seat omakase that he runs solo. The other half feels like the sitting room of an eclectic Greenwich Village home, with exposed brick walls, low-slung couches, and shelving as space dividers.

Try the crispy chicken thigh karaage, fried in a feather-light batter and doused with a tangy chile-honey sauce. The sweet-and-spicy interplay feels like some of the fried chicken glazes you might find in Koreatown. At brunch, try the tamagoyaki-style omelet, an oval spiral of luminous golden eggs sliced and crowned with shaved Comté, chives, and cracked black pepper.

an amazing opportunity.

Seabird, meanwhile, is one of Time Out's best rooftop restaurants in London. The residency will see Seabird feature a select list of natural wines direct from Bar Brutal's own bodega-turned-wine-bar to pair alongside seasonal Spanish plates. Inspired by Brutal's origins, the seasonal menu will feature The Cellar Pardas - Rupestris 2023 (white), Terroir al Límit - Historic 2022 (red) and an Escoda Sanuhuja - Bassotets 2022 (orange) from their five-starred Can Cisa cellar in Barcelona's El Born.

Some wine labels are way more accessible than others, but these demarcations essentially trace the wine's lifecycle from the vineyard to the winery and onto the cellar. Effectively serving as an archive of all the factors, conceptual and concrete, that have influenced the wine's character, with over 10,000 types of grape varietals in existence - and several hundred's worth commonly produced - there really is a major benefit to the imposition of clear-cut categories.

The people behind the now-closed Lord Stanley are opening a fine dining restaurant in Dogpatch, taking over the former Serpentine space.

We'll have natural wine, we'll have wines that have no sulfur added, we'll have chilled reds, you know, all the buzzy' things. But we'll have standards, classics, stalwarts, too, says managing partner Bryan Brick. We'll have a bunch of hazy IPAs, sours and imperial stouts, but we'll also have a great selection of lagers and pilsners, British ales, German beers. We know we can't be everything to everyone, but we like to try!

It's a match made in heaven: Dance-rock band LCD Soundsystem is bringing back a pop-up of frontman James Murphy's acclaimed and very cool natural Williamsburg wine bar, the Four Horsemen, during their upcoming NYC concert residency this late fall, where anybody can be a drunk girl. LCD's 12 shows will take place at Queens venue Knockdown Center in Maspeth at 52-19 Flushing Avenue, at 54th Street in late November and run early to mid-December.

The natural wine bar and pizzeria in the Mission makes grandma-style pies using blemished or surplus vegetables, off cuts of meat, byproducts, and basically any ingredient that would usually end up in the trash. The results are rectangular pies with surprising topping combinations that keep things interesting. The somewhat sweet crust (made from whey and oat flour) with blackened edges might be piled with wilted greens, salmon belly conserva and relish, and pepperoni and ricotta fluff that tastes like whipped cream.

"We opened a pop-up version of [Only The Wild Ones] next to the Butcher's Daughter. It also has a cool selection of vinyl. We wanted to offer something to the community and share our love for natural wine."

"A lot of that food works because you're in Italy and you're in some beautiful city in some beautiful old restaurant... It felt weird being in Brooklyn trying to re-create that."

The Four Horsemen has carved out a niche in Brooklyn’s competitive dining scene with its focus on natural wines and a welcoming atmosphere, appealing to both customers and staff alike.