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“Drink is the primary reason to visit the new wine bar–restaurant Bar Henry, which opened a few months ago in the narrow subterranean space on West Houston Street that once housed the Zinc Bar. Certainly no one’s there for the décor, which combines the fustiness of an old Edwardian dining car (white-linen tabletops set with rows of glass goblets, chairs covered in red velvet, etc.) with the snug, Stygian aesthetic of an underground bunker. The food isn’t great, either. Among the smaller dishes, there are decent deviled eggs, a competent seviche, and if you enjoy a soft corn taco stuffed with short ribs with your glass of Côtes du Rhône, there’s actually a pretty good one of those (the buttery tarte Tatin is pretty good, too). But most of the things my dining companions and I sampled from the entrées list ranged from the dreary ($36 for three bloody lamb chops) to the predictable (dry-aged steak, roast chicken, a Hamburger Henry topped with onions and too much blue cheese).

Among the city’s persnickety community of wine geeks, however, Bar Henry has quickly gained a reputation as a quirky and interesting place to drink. Most wine programs in town are pitched either to impressionable amateurs or trophy-hungry high rollers. But John Slover, who used to work at the downtown wine mecca Cru, has compiled an accessible, fairly priced list designed to please the judicious consumer in the middle. His Reserve list features old vintages (an ’83 Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde for $199, a ’93 Il Poggione Brunello for $156) that would cost 50 percent more at standard restaurants, assuming you could find them at all. The slightly less elite wines on the Market list are all available as half-pours, which means if you’re willing to spend a little cash ($60 for a half bottle of ’04 Premier Cru Joseph Drouhin Chambolle-Musigny from Burgundy, $63 for a delicious ’96 Château Sociando-Mallet from Bordeaux), then it’s possible to drink like the captain of a modest hedge fund, at least for an hour or two. — Adam Platt

Once bottles on the Market list have been opened for half-pours, they’re available to everyone at the bar by the glass.

Deviled eggs, short-rib taco, dry-aged steak or Hamburger Henry, tarte Tatin.

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New York Magazine Reviews

• Adam Platt's Full Review (4/19/10)