Dispatch: NYC, Tarallucci e Vino
A nice experience (less the children on the floor)
Editor’s note: I just heard about Joe Biden stepping down as the Democratic nominee for President in the 2024 general election. What a wretched decision.
For the record, it’s the second big news item where the news came through while I was listening to a Mets game. (The assassination attempt on ex-President Trump was the first.)
Hopefully that is the most useless information I’ll ever provide.
Jerry. I don't know. Sometimes.
We lived in Western Montana for a bunch of years.
Our time in Montana was after living in San Francisco, CA and New York City, NY.
We hadn’t owned a car for ~20 years and now were forced to drive everywhere. We often parked the car and walked away, forgetting to turn it off or lock the doors.
We met some terrific people we call friends today. We visited nearly all the National Parks within a day’s driving distance. We hosted family and friends in our sprawling home. We even had a garage at one point.
We have a much better appreciation for the differences, challenges and opportunities people all over America have. Or, sadly, don’t have. (Some chosen, some not.)
(A related note: I am so fascinated to see how
turns out.)We moved to New York City (the first time) for Mrs. Corn Dog’s work (advertising). We moved to Montana for Mr. Corn Dog’s work (telecom).
When we first lived in NYC, we dove head first into the city’s culture. Broadway shows. Italian restaurants. Rooftop bars. It was a lot of fun.
Except for this one time.
We were sitting at the bar at a little Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side. Enjoying some light fare and a drink, when this couple came in and plopped their (very) young child (sippy cup included) next to us.
On. The. Bar.
Annoyed? Surprised? Shocked? We didn’t know how to feel. The child was fine. Not well-behaved necessarily, however not jumping on the bar and screaming.
It was ok? I guess?
Then, we moved to Montana. Kids at the bar all the time.
(Note: I am purposefully using “at the bar” not “in the bar”.)
Now, Montana has a lot of bars. Or breweries, to be exact. I think second-most, per capita, in the United States. (Vermont is/was number one?)
And Montana breweries (and distilleries) have an interesting business model:
Open at 12:00 pm
Close at 8:00 pm
Only three drinks allowed at a brewery (two at a distillery)
Operate in neighborhoods
So, having kids at breweries and distilleries makes some sense as they are less drinking establishments and more places to gather (that also serve limited drinks).
Moving back to NYC, we figured seeing kids in and at the bars would be one of these we would talk about when we were remembering the differences living in Montana.
Nope.
We were at Tarallucci e Vino last week and while there were no kids at the bar, there were kids rolling around and playing on the ground inside, next to the bar.
(FYI: The inside of Tarallucci is quite intimate.)
Not to get all “back in my day”… however, the question we ask ourselves when we see kids in/at the bar is: “Would this happen when we were kids?”.
No. It would not.
Mainly because our parents never took us to bars. (And, our parents scared the living peter pan out of us if we were ever to act up.)
We’ve flirted with the conclusion: If you have kids…that was a decision you made and maybe your life has to change a little bit?
(When kids are climbing all over the furniture and yelling and rolling on the ground–sorry, that’s on the parent. My folks wouldn’t take us to restaurants if we were being little shits at home, and they would “turn this car around” if we were being little assholes in public.)
I write this old-man diatribe because there were kids rolling around on the floor during one of our recent visits to Tarallucci, which really didn’t make for a great experience.
We have been to Tarallucci when there weren’t kids and it is a great experience.
So, take that into context in case I get all bent out of shape below.
Dinner with the stars…
When we are looking for a late-afternoon or early-evening drink and maybe something light to eat, we think of two places:
Covacha
Tarallucci e Vino
What’s amusing (to us) is that we walked by both of these spots for years–YEARS!–before we decided to give them a try.
And now they are on the front page of the word famous A Box of Corn Dogs Substack.
There really isn’t a reason we didn’t try either until recently. Every time we’d walk by one (or both), the conversation would go something like…
Mrs. Corn Dog: Ooh. I’ve read about this place. It’s supposed to be really good. We should try it some time.
Mr. Corn Dog: Yeah! Let’s go in next time we’re over here!
The strange thing was, they were both within a few blocks of where we lived at the time. Like, three blocks.
When we moved back to New York City, we were no longer within a three-block walk to either Covacha or Tarallucci. More like eight-ish blocks.
And both are very much worth the walk.
Tarallucci e Vino
Address. 475 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10024 (map)
Hours. 8:00am — 11::00pm (every day)
Phone. (212) 362-5454
Website. www.taralluccievino.net
Email. Click here (it’s a form)
Socials.
A recent visit...
We’ve been to Tarallucci twice now. Once when we were in the area and the second time as a destination.
Both visits were during the week in the mid-afternoon.
The most recent visit was a little hectic with the children (see rambling introduction, above) and with the espresso machine being serviced.
Not that the servicing of the espresso machine was a big deal, just that there were three repair-ers and the bartender all in a very small space behind the bar.
There’s a small happy hour menu, which I think starts at 4:00 pm. We sat at the bar and each ordered a glass of wine from the happy hour menu (Mrs. Corn Dog ordered the red; Mr. Corn Dog ordered the white).
Both glasses were good (we both ordered at least, ahem, one more glass).
Sitting at the bar, sipping on a glass of wine was nice. It felt, like, more sophisticated than chugging a Budweiser at a dive bar yet not overly pretentious like I was being eyeballed because my cumber bun was on backwards.
The service was attentive and timely, and the general vibe was pleasant with light music and the pitter-patter coming from the outside.
It was just, nice.
Eat this...
We’ve only ordered food once here. We are definitely going back for a pasta dish. I’ll update this post with our next visit when we try the pasta.
Prosciutto pizza. Dang, this was really good. While it was loaded with prosciutto and arugula, it was the bread that made the pizza so darn good. We split the pizza. It ended being our dinner.
Drink this...
True to their name, their main focus is wine. Italian wine to be specific.
Prosecco. If you don’t like wine, this is probably your choice.
House white. I forget which wine this was. It had a buttery flavor and was cold, which was perfect on a humid day.
Water. It was really hot when we visited and I drank a lot of water and it was good.
Tips & tricks...
Sit at the bar. To be honest, we’ve only sat at the bar so far. There are tables inside, out front and on the side of Tarallucci, and there seems to be a lot of servers. Still, sitting at the bar is the best.
Sit on the left-side of the bar. I don’t know if these are the best seats in the place, but hear me out… The right side of the bar (if your back is to Columbus Avenue) is mainly used to pick up drinks, food from the kitchen, etc. The front of the bar means your back is to the front door (I think that’s bad zen or something?). However, you are also staring at the bathroom door. Every time someone comes out of the bathroom, you are locking eyes with them. It’s an odd and totally inescapable situation. Sit on the left-side of the bar. Problem solved.
Keep your eyes (and ears) open. I think famous people dine here regularly (Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick were dining when we were there). Yet, the patrons are the most entertaining part of the dining experience (welcome to New York!). Like, one time, someone came in and asked if they could eat there. Not like order food and drink—they already had their food and drink. They just wanted to use one of their tables. And another time a guy walked in and ordered a glass of tap water at the bar, drank it and left—no ‘thank you’, no tip, nothing. Just walked out.
Other stuff...
Their website is woefully out of date.
This might be a pet peeve of mine… just update the date on the bottom of your website. You know, at the very bottom where webmasters (lolz) like to think they are lawyers and put something like “©2024”.
They go through all that legal schooling and January 1 comes around, their big day!, and they miss changing the year on their website(s).
Why does this matter?
It doesn’t.
Yet, if the legal folks can’t make the effort to make a change one, maybe two digits on the website, how do we know if anything else is current?
(Turns out it’s a pretty good indicator everything else on the site is woefully out of date. Did you know they have an Upper East Side location? Do you know the address of said location?)
(Also, the date on the bottom of the website…that’s a pretty good tip! That’s a tip that can be used beyond this particular website!)
That was fun!
Thanks again for joining me—I hope you enjoyed reading about Tarallucci e Vino.
Tarallucci is great. We will be back (and soon!). However, if we see kids rolling around the floor acting like, well, kids, we’ll skip that visit.
Keep an eye out for the next dispatch!
Psst…merch… store…
There have been several requests for merch. Those requests have mainly come from me because of my affection for corn dogs.
If you are interested in reppin’ A Box of Corn Dogs, check out the merch store…