Bar of the Week(end): The Monday Room

Top 10 Wine Bars, #3

Tucked among Nolita’s fashion-forward boutiques, this chic jewel box is where you go to try on a few fine wines. An annex of next-door Australian-ish restaurant Public, The Monday Room's offerings are esoteric and worldly, served in every imaginable size from the half-glass pour to the full bottle. The endearingly threadbare décor—raveling rugs, hand-detailed gold stencils climbing the high black walls—complements the effortlessly styled shop girls lounging on low leather couches, sampling regional whites from Greece. Opportunities for unusual geographic mash-ups abound: Perhaps Moroccan Syrah followed by a New Zealand Pinot Noir, topped off with a Lebanese Chateau Musar? Arranged by price, customized pairings and flights ease the anxiety of choosing among the sixty-some options. The small plates menu manages to be far from effete, divided into three major blocks of savory, sweet, and cheese. Exotic, fatty cured meats like venison carpaccio hold court alongside Saxelby cheese plates. On the sweet end are statement desserts like chocolate-chili budini with horchata sorbet. Most plates are thoughtfully paired with an unexpected varietal apparently glazed eel and soft-boiled quail egg goes perfectly with that dry white Hungarian Tokaji-Furmint. Who knew?

210 Elizabeth St., near Spring St.; 212-343-7011