Something Local at Apiary

Wine lists at nice restaurants can be intimidating. Even with everything we have learned in the last few years, there a still grapes and wines we don't recognize, and there are only a handful of wine makers we know. With a wine list of 300 bottles, Apiary in Manhattan left us stumbling to find the perfect wine, but thankfully that was the most difficult part of our meal.

A tiny space in the Lower East Side, Apiary was surprisingly busy for an early dinner on a Friday night. The menu was impressive, and the wine menu was almost overwhelming. Luckily for us, we were there to take advantage of their Restaurant Week menu, so with a limited dinner menu, it was easier to narrow down our wine choices. Picking duck leg confit, it was only a matter of finding a glass of red wine with a balance of fruit to complement the flavor of the duck with a bit of acidity to cut through the fattiness of the bird. It turned out that the duck had a crispy, heavily seasoned skin, which brought some spice to the dish, giving the fairly simple dish some complex layers of flavor.

While we focus on local wine, we are proponents of local produce in general, so we were pleasantly surprised when and glass of after-dinner tea was accompanied by a selection of honey from a bee farm (or apiary) in Upstate NY. Such a simple thing added yet another layer to a simple but elegant meal.