Wine bars have become increasingly popular in recent years, with many metropolitan neighborhoods across the country now offering a variety of options. But what exactly is a wine bar? And do they serve food?A wine bar is a place where you can go for an aperitif or to eat. Traditionally, they are associated with cheeses and desserts, but modern wine bars have started to incorporate a greater variety of foods. The food can be simple, such as sausages and cheeses, but some also offer more substantial products and vegetables.
Some wine bars don't even have stoves. The concept of a wine bar is to bring the flavors of elegant restaurants to an elegant environment. Restaurant owners and chefs sometimes take the opposite approach and use wine bars as an opportunity for expansion. In the early 2000s, wine bars became very popular and began to appear in many metropolitan neighborhoods across the country. Wine bars are perfect for getting out of your comfort zone with a drink and trying out a wide variety of options in a single night. While you shouldn't be a jerk about it (like trying seven Moscatos if you know you're only going to order a Cabernet), wine bars are all about exploration and you should feel comfortable trying more than one thing. In Paris, the concept of an apero culture (short for aperitif) is a defining aspect of wine bar culture.
While the trend of wine bars in the United States was not well received in the 1980s, they began to gain popularity in the 1990s. It's important to understand what type of bar you're visiting if you want to get the most out of your experience. A good wine bar is confident in its ability to sell you wine and will be happy to allow you to try as many types as your alcoholic heart desires. Chances are, if your wine is at a temperature below zero, this is a ploy to cool you down and stop thinking about how the wine could be of lower quality. As for the typical bar atmosphere, most bars offer loud music, a dance floor, and little to no waiters. Randy Moon, co-owner of the Four Horsemen, loves the cozy wine bars in Tokyo and Kyoto, which can have as few as ten seats and a kitchen with only one cook. Beyond Paris and New York, the natural wine bar scene has flourished in Copenhagen, Tokyo, London and Sydney.
Jeremiah Stone explains that at Wildair, he and co-chef Fabian von Hauske serve more complex and robust dishes than can be found in a Parisian wine bar. Wine glasses shouldn't look like glasses, and they shouldn't be filled to the brim with wine either. Wine bars seek to eliminate the association of wine with an exclusive clientele and with overwhelming wine lists and to replace it with a more informal and relaxing atmosphere.
