Aldo Sohm Wine Bar
“The Short Rib Skewer was just as yummy with tender, juicy meat that needed no knife to cut it.”
“I also enjoyed the Foie Gras Lollipops (so much that I ordered a second!), the spicy Lamb Merguez, and the Truffle Pasta with Grated Yak Cheese.”
“At his new wine bar, discretely tucked around the corner from Le Bernardin, Aldo now has a space of his own to showcase his lofty talents.”
Aldo Sohm Wine Bar
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Coat Check: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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We came as a group of ten people hence were looking for some place that is decent yet not too crowded. One of our friends led us here and we were instantaneously seated in a cosy small area. Our waitress explained to us the menu and the possible delay due to the location of our seating area – hmm no problem we get it!
We ordered about three bottles of wines (Riesling) and shared across. While I cannot say anything about the food, the wines were definitely of high quality. The whole ambience was pretty relaxing and good for small group conversation.
Good for group hang-outs.
This is a terrific place to wind down after work or after a visit to MoMA with someone who appreciates wine. The lounge ambiance is comfortable and relaxed, and service is attentive and friendly. The menu includes a lovely selection of charcuterie and cheese from Murray's. You're going to spend some $$$ here, but just be OK with that when you arrive. Even when it is crowded, if you can find standing room somewhere, someone will find you immediately and be ready to help you choose a wine.
Aldo Sohm is a great place to come with one other person since seating is a bit limited. The wine here is amazing, and the tapas are great snacks to pair with the wine. The only reason I'm knocking off a star is because I once had a bug on the table when I had food. Though this is incredibly disgusting, it only happened once, so I'm hoping it was just a bad day for the staff.
IN SHORT: A smart-casual den of wine from Le Bernardin's notable wine director. With its upscale charm and reasonably priced food and drink offerings, Aldo Sohm Wine Bar is exactly what we needed in Midtown.
THE STORY: Any visitor or resident of New York City has at one point or another faced the following dilemma: You have tickets for a show in the Theater District around 7:30 or 8. Do you eat an early dinner before, around 5:30 at the latest, even though you finished brunch at 2 and aren't all that hungry? Or do you wait until the show is over, and eat at 10 PM like a 20-something night owl?
There may be no good answer to this quandary, but Aldo Sohm Wine Bar may put you as close as possible to a solution. Tucked away off an office plaza on 51st Street, just down the block from Le Bernardin where Aldo Sohm serves as master sommelier, lies a bright, almost playful space perfect for sipping wine with friends and family on those shorter evenings.
Indeed, with a large, plush, U-shaped communal couch anchoring the room, the space is noticeably unfussy. Colorful pieces of art and wine-related accessories lining the walls give the wine bar the more casual feel of the living room of a young, sophisticated friend, and the prices on the menu match. Wines by the glass can range from $12 to upwards of $30 for truly unique vintages, but rotating flights (recently showcasing Gruner Vetliner or Malbec varietals) for $19 or $20 can be an enticing way to discover many of Aldo Sohm's expertly curated wines.
French-informed small plates are served at both lunch at dinner, though larger plates like salads and sandwiches are also available during lunch hours. Snacks like the Grilled Foie Gras "Lollipop," a buttery bite resting on toast, while not as mindblowingly revelatory as certain courses at Le Bernardin, are nonetheless perfect and fun dishes for this kind of dinner.
Because the wine bar is still a member of the Le Bernardin family, the quality of the ingredients is never sacrificed. The Burrata and Mozzarella served with a pile of grilled bread drizzled with olive oil is some of the richest and creamiest found, while the Short Rib Skewer is almost unbelievably tender, resting on a potato puree and red wine reduction, and topped with delicately fried shallots.
This degree of freshness is especially noticeable in the House-Made "Tuna in a Can" Tartine, a delightfully bright and fishy spread on toast covered in leafy greens, tomatoes, and green olives. It fits the experience of a wine bar, but it is all upgraded to elegant, Midtown standards.
The staff is quiet, refined, but entirely unpretentious, offering knowledgable insights into both the wine list and menu of small plates with ease. Blurring these lines between restaurant and bar, Aldo Sohm Wine Bar is precisely the adventure we want on those cultured Saturday evenings before we catch a show, and with its many successes, it guarantees it will become a place to which we will always want to return.
Aldo Sohm has now become one of my favorite wine bars in Midtown! I came here with some coworkers on a weekday and my experience there was great.
The lounge area is comfortable and approachable. We came on a Wednesday and despite the place being fairly full, we didn't feel rushed by our server at all. We were there for two-three hours and didn't even realize when it was time for them to close. The vibe is a perfect blend of classy and modern but still feels cozy so you aren't sacrificing good wine, service and ambiance for comfort at all. The only thing that wasn't great was the Red Wine Dark Chocolate Ganache Mendiant (mainly because it wasn't quite what we expected, they're four small chocolate medallions for $12).
We ordered a cheese plate and two different bottles of red wine. Our server was helpful and courteous when we were deciding what to order and everything was brought out promptly. I'll definitely plan on coming to Aldo Sohm again soon!
I used to come here occasionally when it was Pianos Due. Now it has a new look and a new name. Tucked into a cut through mid block, this wine bar is said to be run by Le Bernardin's master sommelier, Aldo Sohm. My friends and I shared a cheese plate and grabbed a few glasses of wine here on a Wednesday evening.
We shared the artisanal cheese selection of 4 for $24. Each cheese was paired with a garnish like honey or quince. The portion of cheese was very small, but they were from Murray's, so they were delicious. The bread that they served with the plate was a good compliment to the cheese as well.
The wines by the glass here range from $12-$70, with most in the $17-$22 area. I tried the Pinot noir which was good, but at $20 not better than most $12 or $15 glasses I have had.
Named one of the 13 Most Beautiful Bars in NYC from Thrillist, they took the space and redecorated really well. In real life it really does look like its pictures.
I'll start off by saying that the tuna in a can and the cauliflower are delicious. I do, however, take issue with having a hostess come grab a chair from under my arm (at our table, as one member of our party had left ten minutes earlier) when there was another chair completely available to her and not as difficult and obvious to get to (also at our table), plus two other free chairs at the table next to ours that she could have more easily gotten to, as a way of saying, "Get out of here; you're no longer drinking" to us. I'm sorry. We were a party of 5, ordered two bottles of wine, plus individual glass pours, 2 yak cheese pasta dishes, charcuterie tower and two heads of cauliflower during our two hour stay and spent almost $400. Don't come yank a chair from under my arm (that was a total yak move) and pretend you needed it for the "people [who are] waiting." It was completely rude and unnecessary. She could have just told us that she needed the table and asked us to move to the bar, as normal establishments do when they actually need tables. Mind you, there were ZERO people waiting for our table when we left. I won't be back.
This review could start off like a joke: So the sommelier from Le Bernadin's opens a wine bar and gives you a phone book to choose a wine. Choose correctly or the staff laughs at you..
No way Jose! What an approachable wine bar. (No phone book)
Walking into this small space, I guess the word is out because the space was packed out. It's Friday, after work and I'm BillySalts. Get off of my couch! There was a wait list for the sitting area but I was able to score a wall table with two chairs with minimum waiting
Very nice wine list and reasonably prices. If you have time, you could buy a bottle and a very nice looking plate of cheese. I have dinner reservations and planned it out to have two glasses of wine at Aldo's joint.
When Veritas closed (RIP) it left a huge hole in the wine community. The first time I had a Riojo wine was at Veritas. But the most important thing I remember, the sommeliers were very informative and approachable. I'd say what I'd like and they'd said then you have to try this wine from this region. They'd pour a taste and we talk some more. That's just me being miley.
Aldo Sohm Wine Bar has a great, earthy Rioja sold by the glass. It was so good, one of the best Riojas I had all year. I would have loved to relax, have a nice charcuterie plate and talk wine with these folks. Just not on Friday nite at 6pm.
One other thing I noticed was the stemware. Very expensive for the restaurant to hand out at a bar, it made the experience even better.
Amazing wine bar, highly recommended (except Sundays when they're closed)