So real quick, let me tell you about my Sunday.
Rebelle is a little French-American restaurant next door to Pearl & Ash on Bowery in the Lower East Side. Why am I here and not in a Bushwick? Well, the wine to be honest. Between the two restaurants there are 190 pages of wine. ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY.
Patrick Cappiello is the Wine Director at both Pearl & Ash and little sister Rebelle. He’s been pushing wine forward menus for a while now and Rebelle’s 93 page list does not disappoint.
What Rebelle has that Pearl doesn’t, is a full bar! I had to get the Smokestack Lightning, a delicious mixing of mezcal, pineapple, aperol and green chartreuse! The smoky flavors from the mezcal really pull the acidity forward in the cocktail!
With dinner, I really wanted some bubbles, but wanted to make sure I could have two bottles, so instead of the FAB Alfred Gratlen champagne they carry, I opted for a bottle of Crémant de Loire “Brut-Rosé”. I’m a sucker for anything from the Loire Valley. We kept our bottle at the bar on ice (saves space and helps the server pace you) and enjoyed this strawberry-peachy sweetness. The wine never went flat and had a bit of tart right at the finish.
To finish it off, we had a small taste of this BEAUTIFUL oxidized white wine. (By this point I was too drunk to remember the name of the wine.) Oxidizing wine gives it a smoother texture and this varietal was crisp and dry while completely covering my tongue with flavor.
I definitely suggest a trip to either location. Bottles can be pricey, but there’s a nice selection under $100.
Oh, the food ain’t bad either.
boozybushwick 