I remember a friend of a friend who I met many times over the years mentioning 2 years ago that he was planning on opening a Dominican themed wine bar in Manhattan. I had not seen this guy (Carlos) in at least a year so I decided to see if his dream had become a reality. A quick google search yesterday of his name + wine turned up Cava wine bar on the corner of 80th and Amsterdam Ave on the upper west side.
So, I walked up there yesterday to check it out. Carlos was surprised as heck to see me walk in out of the blue and the place had a nice warm Latin vibe ? nicely decorated and not snobby like you might think a wine bar would be. I do not drink anymore but there looked to be a good selection of wines and cava (the Spanish version of champagne) as well as a few beers (presidente, negro modelo, and I think a Brazilian one). As you might expect there were 90% women there. It was about half full when I got there and Carlos says Thursday ? Fri ?Sat gets filled to capacity.
The main chef who is Dominican and trained in Spain was out yesterday but the sous chef fixed me a plate of beef empanadas and very nice mango sauce (never had them like that before but very complimentary in flavor). I then had a platano maduro stuffed with crab meat which was I enjoyed the heck out of. Serving sizes are not huge ( as you would not expect for the upscale neighborhood) but prices seemed reasonable for the area.
Carlos formerly worked in the financial field since graduating from Vanderbilt in ?99 but it is evident that he poured his heart and soul into learning about his new business. They are open from 5:30PM on and he plans to soon start a weekend brunch. I will definitely go back.
On an offbeat side note Carlos? waitress is a very pleasant Mexican American Jew from San Diego who originally came to NY to sing in a bachata band.
So, I walked up there yesterday to check it out. Carlos was surprised as heck to see me walk in out of the blue and the place had a nice warm Latin vibe ? nicely decorated and not snobby like you might think a wine bar would be. I do not drink anymore but there looked to be a good selection of wines and cava (the Spanish version of champagne) as well as a few beers (presidente, negro modelo, and I think a Brazilian one). As you might expect there were 90% women there. It was about half full when I got there and Carlos says Thursday ? Fri ?Sat gets filled to capacity.
The main chef who is Dominican and trained in Spain was out yesterday but the sous chef fixed me a plate of beef empanadas and very nice mango sauce (never had them like that before but very complimentary in flavor). I then had a platano maduro stuffed with crab meat which was I enjoyed the heck out of. Serving sizes are not huge ( as you would not expect for the upscale neighborhood) but prices seemed reasonable for the area.
Carlos formerly worked in the financial field since graduating from Vanderbilt in ?99 but it is evident that he poured his heart and soul into learning about his new business. They are open from 5:30PM on and he plans to soon start a weekend brunch. I will definitely go back.
On an offbeat side note Carlos? waitress is a very pleasant Mexican American Jew from San Diego who originally came to NY to sing in a bachata band.