Wine Bar Review: The Riddler in NYC's West Village
This past Tuesday was my birthday (shout out to my fellow Scorpios) and I knew I wanted to go somewhere snazzy to celebrate. So on Monday night I put on my Monday best and headed to The Riddler, a cute new champagne parlour in the West Village. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because it should. I profiled The Riddler’s owner Jen Pelka a few weeks ago on #WomenInWineWednesday. I had been to The Riddler a few weeks back during the day for “The Fizz is Female: Women in Champagne” event but this was my first time there at night and the vibe screamed COZY! It’s not a huge space. The place itself has maybe 8 tables, one large booth in the back and a bar that seats maybe 10 at most. But what this place lacks in space, it makes up for in elegant decor. The ceiling is covered in gold leaf. The bar is luxe marble culminating in an oyster bar at the end. Every table is given this delicious bowl of complimentary brown butter popcorn, which I may or may not have asked for two more bowls of. But enough about that, what about the BUBBLES, you say! Well, my group and I each started off with a different champagne by the glass, each off of The Riddler’s female winemakers list. I had a glass of the Gonet-Medeville Brut Traditional, a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier. It was fresh and florally on the nose with some hints of toasted brioche. On the palate, it was well rounded, with light lemon zest and crisp, creamy finish.
After our initial glasses, we decided to have some food. Their menu may be small but every item on it packs a punch. We started off with a shrimp cocktail because HOW are you going to have Champagne without some raw bar????
Then we split the Roasted Honeynut Squash dish which also had roasted brussels sprouts and Granny Smith Apples. Now I wasn’t expecting a squash dish to be this amazing but I can’t tell you HOW good this dish was! But this was just the palate cleanser before we made it to the main event: The White Truffle Risotto. We thought the dish was just going to contain white truffle oil, which, to be honest, we would’ve devoured anyway. However, to our surprise and joy, they actually SHAVED white truffles on to the dish! I mean…
We also got a side of their herb fries, ya know, just to round out the evening. To go along with our meal, we ended up getting a bottle of the Gonet-Medeville because it was my favorite of the champs by the glass we were drinking (of course I had to have a taste of all of them.) It was my birthday and I was determined to only drink Champagne made a woman. Everything, from the Champagne to the food, was delicious and if that wasn’t enough, we ordered their only dessert, a salted caramel pot de creme topped off with crunchy chocolate pearls. And how was that presented? In none other than a caviar tin.
in addition to all this excellence, one thing that stood out to me was how much Jen Pelka was on the floor, making sure everyone was having a good time and doing ok. I briefly met her at the aforementioned Fizz is Female event and when I saw her on Monday, she smiled as if she knew me. “Hi Jen. I’m Chanel. We met at The Fizz is Female event.” “Yes, I knew I recognized you! Thank you for coming back”
Of course I came back and I will be coming back again.
Have you been to The Riddler?
