New York City alone is home to almost 50,000+ restaurants which whom a majority offer a selection of beverages including wines and spirits. When dining out you typically find yourself looking through an extensive wine list often with several pages like that at the Mercer Kitchen in Soho New York City. Often in the hope to pair your desired meal with the appropriate wine to complement flavors. Not all restaurants carry a large variety of wines eliminating the paradox of choice for guests and making wine selection a simpler experience.

Opened in July of 2018, Manhatta restaurant is located in the Financial District of NYC with a panoramic view of the New York City skyline. It is part of Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group which offers seasonal menu options as well as wines and beverages to tribute its dishes. The wine menu at Manhatta is modest and straightforward. Segmented into categories sparkling wines, white wines and red wines each group has between four to seven options listed. During my menu observation, I also noticed that the red and white wines listed were not vintage wines they all range between 2016-2018 from the countries of France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and the United States. Another observation was the French and Italian regions listed that I have become familiar with during my time in wine class such as Loire, Champagne, Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Rhone. The wines listed on the menu are all sold BTG (by the glass) and range between $18 for a Gruner Veltliner F.X. Pichler ‘Loibnerberg’ Wachau, Austria 2017, to $48 for Dom Perignon ‘Brut’ Champagne 2006.

Located on the corner of Prince and Mercer st in Soho, NYC The Mercer Kitchen opened its doors in 1998 and is a part of the Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurant empire. The wine list at Mercer Kitchen is diverse and endless. With three pages to choose from and the options seemed endless and overwhelming to say the least. Mercer’s wine list has several categories, the first page lists champagne and sparkling wines along with a Sake option. Page two listed all the white wines, the left side listed the country of France and subcategories of its regions Alsace, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Loire and Rhone the right-side listed USA, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, and Germany. The third and last page Listed red wine option also in the same order as the previous page with France to the left and other countries to the right this list included Spain, unlike the white wine list. The options at the Mercer kitchen are BTG (by the glass) and BTB (by the bottle) and I also noticed the options aren’t vintage. The prices range from $13 for sake tedorigawa yamahai junmai, ishikawa to $600 brut dom Perignon 2006 Moët & Chandon, Epernay, France.

The similarities and differences between the two restaurants are well stated. The wine list at Manhatta is simple and concise with options only sold BTG and minor vintage wines whereas the one at Mercer Kitchen is expansive with options BTG and BTB. What I did notice was that both restaurants carried popular similar options such as Sauvignon Blanc from Loire, France, Riesling from Germany and Pinot Noir from Oregon. I have visited both locations before having any wine knowledge and I must admit not once did I look at the wine menu. Overall, conducting this observation between restaurants has given me a sense of confidence to look at a wine menu at any restaurant and order a glass of wine that I will enjoy.

Citations:

Mercer Kitchen :Ideawork Studios. (n.d.). The Mercer Kitchen: Jean-Georges Restaurants New York: Wine. Retrieved from https://www.themercerkitchen.com/menus/wine/#!/menus/breakfast/

Manhatta :Menus. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.manhattarestaurant.com/menus/