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WS- Restaurants Worlds Greatest Wine Lists Grand Award - 7/24/2008 11:11:35 AM

J2K

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From: Pittsburgh, PA- U.S.A.
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To all our international and national participants, the new WS listed reataurants with the greatest wine lists.These earned the "Grand Award" which is a list of the top 73 restaurants worldwide.
Anyone been to these??? Do they measure up??

London, Mayfair
The Greenhouse

Italy
Bottega Del Vino-Verona
Enoteca Pinchiorri-Florence
Il Poeta Contadino- Alberobello
La Pergola-Rome

Singapore
Les Amis-Shaw Centre

Canada
Opus Restaurant-Toronto
Sooke Harbour House-British Columbia
Via Allegro- Ontario

Florida
L'escalier at the Breakers-Palm Beach
Berns Steak House-Tampa

California
Fifth Floor-S.F.
Michael Mina-S.F.
Gary Danko-S.F.
Rubicon--S.F.
Valentino-Santa Monica
Wine Cask-Santa Barbara
Marinus-Carmel Valley
French Laundry-Yountville

Washington
Canlis-Seattle

Massachusetts
Left Bank at Stonehedge Inn-Tyngsboro
Toppers at the Wauwinet-Nantucket

Colorado
Flagstaff House-Boulder
Maontagna at the Little Nell-Aspen

New York
Alto
Cru
Daniel
Del Posto
Tribeca Grill
21 Club
Veritas

< Message edited by J2K -- 7/24/2008 7:04:00 PM >

Post #: 1

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/24/2008 11:22:12 AM

GalvezGuy

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From: Galveston, TX
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I have been to Wine Cask, French Laundry, and Tribeca Grill. I can personally vouch for the wine experience being great at all three. Great selection, reasonable prices, and very knowledgeable staff.

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RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/24/2008 12:16:27 PM

pault

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From: Bedford New Hampshire
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I just looked up Left bank, as its 30 mins from me , one of the write ups .
“With tens of thousands of bottles of wine” this “English” style estate “boggles”
oenophiles minds, while foodies “marvel” at the menu delivered by a staff that’s
“attentive” without being “bothersome”
Zagat Boston 2007/08 “Zagat Top Spot”

For anyone who would like to check the wine list
http://www.stonehedgeinnandspa.com/winelist.php
they also seem to sell bottles as well , look at previousely tasted.

I wouldnt mind giving them a try sometime.

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Post #: 3

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/24/2008 12:20:29 PM

smahk

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From: Long Island, NY
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Can vouch for Tribeca Grill, Veritas and 21 Club all in NYC as well as La Pergola in Rome. Not only did La Pergola have an incredible wine list - but it had an extensive menu (over 200, if I recall correctly) of bottle water, including mineral contents and ailments it was suitable for. The tasting menu was simply delightful and lasted almost all night.

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Post #: 4

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/24/2008 12:46:15 PM

Maestro

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quote:

ORIGINAL: J2K

To all our international and national participants, the new WS listed reataurants with the greatest wine lists.
Anyone been to these??? Do they measure up??

Italy
Bottega Del Vino-Verona
Enoteca Pinchiorri-Florence
Il Poeta Contadino- Alberobello
La Pergola-Rome

Yes, have been to all 4 of them. More oftent to La Pergola and to Il Poeta Contadino -- both are brilliant in terms of wine. Il Poeta Contadino is also one of my favorite places to eat in Southern Italy and a mandatory stop if you are visiting the areas around Basilicata and Puglia.

As for the one in Firenze (Enoteca Pinchiorri) it is one of these places where you may lose your head. They've got the sort of wine that you only assoiciate with books and dreams, and the temptation to order the 1982 Petrus may overcome your senses (and force you into that new subprime mortgage).

< Message edited by Maestro -- 7/24/2008 12:52:05 PM >

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Post #: 5

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/24/2008 1:14:05 PM

rjonas

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From: Newcastle, WA
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Been to Canlis several times in Seattle. Definitely warrants being on the list.. I'm just surprised there aren't more listings for Seattle or Washington state for that matter..

There are quite a few great restaurants with excellent wine lists...

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RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/24/2008 1:35:08 PM

J2K

Posts: 360
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From: Pittsburgh, PA- U.S.A.
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quote:

ORIGINAL: rjonas

Been to Canlis several times in Seattle. Definitely warrants being on the list.. I'm just surprised there aren't more listings for Seattle or Washington state for that matter..

There are quite a few great restaurants with excellent wine lists...

rjonas,
The list I pulled from was from earned the WS "Grand Award" which is their highest ranking. There were 73 restaurants on the Grand Award List worldwide.I added that line to my first post. There is also a Best of Award-802 and an Award of Excellence-3,254. There is actually another 45 from Seattle in the Best and Award of excellence.

< Message edited by J2K -- 7/24/2008 1:37:59 PM >

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Post #: 7

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/24/2008 1:54:55 PM

J2K

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Out of the 73, I tried to list places where most people who post on the forum were from. Here are a few more from Paris, Las Vegas, and L.A.

Paris
Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee
Au Crocodile
La Tour D'Argent
Le Cinq
Michael Rostang
Taillevent

Spain
Atrio-Caceres

Las Vegas
Aureole Las Vegas
Delmonico Steakhouse
Picasso
Piero Selvaggio Valentino
Restuarant Guy Savoy

Los Angeles
Patina
Sona

< Message edited by J2K -- 7/24/2008 1:58:44 PM >

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Post #: 8

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/24/2008 2:03:06 PM

jhannah27

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Aureole Las Vegas has a really cool cellar. It's a huge tower that is accessed by a person on a pully system.

http://www.aureolelv.com/wine.html

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Post #: 9

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/24/2008 2:53:53 PM

rbazinet

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From: Toronto, Ontario
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J2K,
Thanks for posting this.

Canada
Opus Restaurant-Toronto
Sooke Harbour House-British Columbia
Via Allegro- Ontario

I love how Opus is in Toronto, but Via Allegro is in Ontario. Was that really written like that? For the non-Canucks, Toronto is a city in the Province of Ontario … anyways.

I cancelled a dinner to Via Allegro a month ago. It is now back on my hit list.

Opus had quite the wine menu, but it must have gotten larger since I was last there. 46,000 bottle in the cellar with 2,500 bottles to choose from ... I thought it was a very big list, but I didn’t think it was that big. The food was very good and oddly well priced.

How many bottles do these other places carry?

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Post #: 10

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/24/2008 3:11:13 PM

J2K

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quote:

ORIGINAL: rbazinet

J2K,
Thanks for posting this.

Canada
Opus Restaurant-Toronto
Sooke Harbour House-British Columbia
Via Allegro- Ontario

I love how Opus is in Toronto, but Via Allegro is in Ontario. Was that really written like that? For the non-Canucks, Toronto is a city in the Province of Ontario … anyways.

I cancelled a dinner to Via Allegro a month ago. It is now back on my hit list.

rbazinet,
Via Allegro is actually listed as Etobicoke, Ontario
Opus as Toronto, Ontario

That was my bad. I am a non-Canuck but have been to Toronto once. Loved Little Italy, hung out at Coco Lozone (sp) and saw Diane Keaton there.

It doesn't say how many wines but says Allegro's strenghts are Tuscany, Piedmont, Bordeaux, California, Australia, Canada

< Message edited by J2K -- 7/24/2008 3:15:34 PM >

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Post #: 11

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/24/2008 5:31:08 PM

rbazinet

Posts: 166
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From: Toronto, Ontario
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J2K, no worries. There is an old joke that surfaces time to time. It varies, but generally speaking it goes -Somebody says let’s go visit Toronto (the city) and others say no, let’s go to Ontario (the province)-. It has been used on some popular some tv. I think it is really amusing and I was going to get a good laugh if this review also used it.

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Post #: 12

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/24/2008 5:48:53 PM

GalvezGuy

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From: Galveston, TX
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I have been to Delmonico as well. I don't know how it made the list. The wine list was impressive but the markups were even more impressive and the wine service was average at best.

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Post #: 13

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/24/2008 6:54:23 PM

Serge Birbrair

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Say what? No Bern's in Florida????

How many places in the world which offer 150 wines BY THE GLASS???

http://www.bernssteakhouse.com/Portals/2/Documents/BSH_WBG.pdf

The last number of the bottles I heard was in excess of 50,000 and is one of the biggest private collections in the USA.

Eric was there after I was and hopefully he can shed some light on the matter.

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RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/24/2008 7:03:11 PM

J2K

Posts: 360
Joined: 5/5/2008
From: Pittsburgh, PA- U.S.A.
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Serge Birbrair

Say what? No Bern's in Florida????

How many places in the world which offer 150 wines BY THE GLASS???

The last number of the bottles I heard was in excess of 50,000 and is one of the biggest private collections in the USA.

Actually Serge, Berns Steak House in Tampa was on the Grand Award list. As I wrote before, I was trying to list the places where most CT forum users were from instead of listing all 73. That's why I listed "L'Escalier at the Breakers" in Palm Beach. I thought that was a lot closer to Boca Raton then Tampa.

(in reply to Serge Birbrair)

Post #: 15

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/25/2008 12:44:21 AM

Paul S

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From: Singapore
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Wowee, humble ol Singapore has gotten a place on the list. Nice little restaurant Les Amis, even given that it has lost two top notch Chefs in the last 5 years. Great wine list - but it costs an arm, a leg, and then some.

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Post #: 16

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/25/2008 2:54:37 AM

Serge Birbrair

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J2K, thanks for bringing the clarity. I prefer Bern's over Breakers because...Bern's is 290 miles from me and out of reach.
I have 10% of my liquid assets frozen since mid February by United Bandits of Switzerland
and not exactly in the spending mode.

When and if Andrew Cuomo succeeds, "I'll be back" :)

Meanwhile, thanks to all this, I turned shti into fertilizer and made lots of good discoveries in whites and excellent QPR and interersting reds.
Folks were right - France is not the centre of the wine universe, even though, it's VERY close to it.
:)

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Post #: 17

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/26/2008 12:22:40 PM

mclancy10006

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From: New York City
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quote:

Daniel
Tribeca Grill
21 Club
Veritas

I have been to all four of these NYC places and they have the goods on the wine list for sure. (An particularly if somebody else is paying or you hail from one of those places where your financial liquidity is measured in Euros or Pounds) A few other tid bits on the places. The interesting thing about Veritas is the back story on how the restaurant came together as it was something along the lines of two collectors figured out they finally bought way more wine then they could ever drink (190,000+ bottles of 3,200 different wines). If you feel the need to spend some serious cash and drink something you would otherwise have to buy at auction this may be your sweet spot. (I haven’t been there in a few years so I am not sure about the status of the kitchen, but in the past it was always in that upper NYC echelon.)
Daniel on the other hand while having a great wine list of two well represented volumes of options is much more of a dining destination IMHO. Tribeca Grill and the 21 Club are both close to offices where I work from time to time so I have been too many business diners or functions there to have a fresh perspective on menus. The wine lists are as advertised.

-Mark

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RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/26/2008 6:41:47 PM

Pavie Princess

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Addison at the Grand Del Mar has to be on that list...........it has the best list I have seen in a while. We have been drinking off that list like vampires from a carotid

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RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/27/2008 7:59:50 AM

Wrighty

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From: Hong Kong
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Great lists are just great lists! Have been to a couple from memory; Michel Rostang (because of the list) and Enoteca Pinchiorri on honeymoon but I certainly didn't have any wine that lands in my most memorable. At best you can have a few wines but the costs of the good stuff ends up just being wine porn. At Michel Rostang you can see the cellar on the way to the bathroom and the vertical of Latour (Magnums I think) mounted on the wall, it's impressive but......

Now the food at both was equally impressive and that we did enjoy and Michel Rostang's up there with the best we've had.

What would be great to see is the greatest QPR lists, including trophy wines!

Wrighty

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Post #: 20

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/27/2008 3:37:23 PM

pbm

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From: New Hope, Pennsylvania
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Absolutely will vouch for Bern's. Not only is the wine cellar second to none but the food, service, atmosphere, and value are fantastic. I've always thought the mark of a truly great restaurant is to make those of us for whom it is a special occasion feel comfortable and welcome. Bern's succeeds in spades. In addition, all you need to do is ask and they'll give you a tour of the cellar. Last, but not least, ask Serge to describe the dessert experience. I'm sure he's got better stories than I do.

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RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/27/2008 4:23:44 PM

Serge Birbrair

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pbm, thanks for putting me on the spot, but my personal expereince with Bern's is less than remarkable.

http://www.cellartracker.com/forum/m_19063/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm#19099

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RE: WS- Restaurants Worlds Greatest Wine Lists Grand Award - 7/27/2008 10:36:32 PM

flyfysher

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Canlis in Seattle has an excellent wine list. It has been years since I last went to the Flagstaff in Boulder but they also had a very extensive wine list.

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RE: WS- Restaurants Worlds Greatest Wine Lists Grand Award - 7/27/2008 11:00:24 PM

Serge Birbrair

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Fly, impresive list
http://www.canlis.com/_dwn/winelist.pdf

but prices are just out of this world:
[font=optima-regular]
LES PAGODES DE COS 2003 $125.

Gimme a break!

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RE: WS- Restaurants Worlds Greatest Wine Lists Grand Award - 7/28/2008 2:52:59 AM

Paul S

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From: Singapore
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Vue du Monde in Melbourne has a very good list as well.

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Post #: 25

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/28/2008 5:58:44 AM

pbm

Posts: 266
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From: New Hope, Pennsylvania
Status: online

quote:

ORIGINAL: Serge Birbrair

pbm, thanks for putting me on the spot, but my personal expereince with Bern's is less than remarkable.

http://www.cellartracker.com/forum/m_19063/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm#19099

Serge,

My sincere apologies if you felt put on the spot. After reading (and seeing) so many of your posts I thought for sure you would have an interesting story about the upstairs dessert room with private booths separated by plush red curtains. I guess I was only half-right. Clearly an interesting experience you had - just not over dessert. Disappointing to say the least. I can only offer that my dinners there were a completely different.

Peter

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Post #: 26

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/28/2008 6:25:35 AM

Serge Birbrair

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From: Boca Raton, Florida
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Peter, as I recall, the dessert book is thicker than the Gideon Bible. I don't have a sweet tooth, so I just got a small piece from my wife and the excperience left blank in my head.
As for apologies, they are not needed. I have a few stories about the "upstairs private rooms", but they are from the different restaurant,
Laperouse, Paris...and different kinds of "dessert" :)

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RE: WS- Restaurants Worlds Greatest Wine Lists Grand Award - 7/28/2008 6:38:53 AM

flyfysher

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As with any wine list, sometimes you have to search out the list to find the good values. I was once told that in any list of that size one will certainly find a very good value. If my recollection serves me correctly, we ordered a La Mission Haut Brion. This was in 2007.

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Post #: 28

RE: WS- Restaurants Worlds Greatest Wine Lists Grand Award - 7/28/2008 11:33:35 AM

pbm

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From: New Hope, Pennsylvania
Status: online

Just open my WS (we were on vacation) and noted the inclusion of two other Grand Award winners we have experience with: Inn at Little Washington and Angus Barn. Enthusiastically endorse the former while the latter leaves a lot to be desired relative to the quality of food and service. Inn at Little Washington is in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia and virtually demands a stay at a local bed and breakfast or a limo driver to get back to civilization. Either way, well worth the added expense.

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Post #: 29

RE: WS- Restaurant Worlds Greatest Wine Lists - 7/30/2008 10:33:10 AM

PSirah Tampa

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OK- I live 2 blocks from Berns in Tampa. I go there frequently. I can stumble home with my eyes closed.

Aside from a huge selection of wine, their list covers just about any varietal & region you might want to explore. The depth of the vintages is astounding, but the best part of this place is that if you know wine the bargains here are INCREDIBLE! They cater to wine geeks, and give them incredible price breaks. The more you know the better the deals you will find.

The restaurant has maintained pricing on bottles for many years, so if you dig back into older vintages extreme bargains are waiting to be found. Where else can you go to find 40 year old mature bottles (that are drinking well)for $30 to $50? People fly into Tampa from New York just to go to dinner there- the money they save on wine pays for the airfare! There are 3 buildings in surrounding blocks that house the complete cellar; there's a working cellar in the restaurant.

They make their money on current releases, California Cabs/ Chards, and White Zins. It's amazing how many people feel obliged to order wine at the place when they know / care nothing about wine. Most patrons don't really know wine, and the Sommeliers are careful to bring you the bargains if they believe you will really appreciate and understand the good stuff. Berns will charge more for a current release White Zin than for a nice 20 year old white Burgundy (that's drinking well), and the people that drink White Zin have no problem with it.

Another great thing about the place is the Wine by the Glass list. There are hundres open every night, many of them older vintages at great prices. Are you interested in a 2 oz. pour of Madeira or Malmsey from the 18th century? A first growth Bordeaux from the 1800's? This is your place.

If you don't have a very good working wine knowledge don't bother going here; you'll likely be disappointed.

The restaurant is decorated like a bordello inside, but the food is very good and the wine is fu**ing fantastic. I've heard it has the second largest cellar in the world, but I don't know if that's true. All I know is I can't drink them all, but I can cherry pick that list forever!