Why I'm Cutting Back on Wine at Restaurants
A full review of Momofuku's Bar Kabawa, plus a few words on The Trump Purge
Enjoy this free essay on saving money while dining out; scroll past the paywall for a review of Paul Carmichael’s excellent Bar Kabawa
Pivot to Beer | On Living Well While Unemployed
It’s been two years since I lost my full-time food critic job, and let me tell you this: Getting laid off is the worst. It’s a mandatory crash course in economizing. In delaying large purchases. In understanding that you shouldn’t tap your retirement fund no matter what. Unless you have to. You’ll pick up the ins and outs fast. Trust me.
Lots of you have been learning these lessons the hard way, as President Trump and Elon Musk carry out their purge of the federal work force.
If you’ve lost your job, I can’t tell you how sorry I am.
The stories I’ve been hearing from friends getting fired — or facing imminent layoffs — have been heartbreaking.
These friends care more about saving lives abroad than securing their own livelihoods. These friends provide key research to strategic American industries — a nice government gift to the corporate world — and now these PhD-level friends are trying to make sure their kids don’t lose health insurance.
These friends are facing multiple layoffs in a single household.
My friends took an oath to uphold the sacred values of our constitutional democracy. And my friends deserve better than the cruelty of billionaires dismantling our government for their own profit and power.
We will overcome this. I know it in my heart.
I won’t bore you with how I’ve dealt with rent increases without a full-time job (by moving out of Manhattan) or how I’ve thwarted the economic devastation of multiple first dates, lol (museum memberships are my secret weapon).
The only Lyft I take these days is Citibike, and honestly it’s usually faster than a car. Let’s call that one an upgrade.
Cutting back on restaurants is an obvious solution, but let’s be honest we didn’t move to New York to lock ourselves inside our tiny apartments. Being unemployed or underemployed can feel a little like living in Trump’s America. It’s neither a sprint nor a marathon; it’s an interstellar hijacking, and we’re gonna need to keep ourselves happy if we’re going to make it through this long-ass journey. Good food is mandatory for me.
So are vacations.
Though even as a professional food critic, I’ve had to make adjustments.
I still do “research meals” for my reviews. You can’t critique “White Lotus 3” without seeing the first two seasons, right? Same goes with restaurants. But those research meals — usually quick visits to culinary competitors or predecessors — almost always get repurposed into separate guides.
And I still do tasting menus and beefy splurges. That’s the job. But I typically do them right after my credit card statement closes. So I know what I’m up against for the rest of the month.
Here’s the big one, though: Unless I’m at a very specific type of restaurant, I don’t really order wine anymore. Not in an era when a glass of pinot grigio can cost more than a good Cuban sandwich.
I’ve also cut back on my expensive cocktail habit.
I’ve largely switched to beer. It saves me money. And it makes me happy, because I get to drink more beer.
Okay, so, save money by drinking beer? Really?
Sounds like the title of a B- marketing paper by a pledgemaster at SUNY Binghamton.
I’ve long avoided giving this type of advice.
You don’t need a food critic to tell you that dinner will be less expensive if you skip the caviar tater tots. Most rational people realize they can simply order less — or order something cheaper — to spend less.
We all remember the tedious avocado toast discourse of the 2010s, when some rich dufus from Australia seemed to think that millenials couldn’t afford homes because they were spending too much on a brunch staple. Indeed, avo toast was just something that made our Saturday mornings less miserable as we all tried to guess when our media bosses were going to fire us (Answer: quite soon).
But that was before our country got hit with a tidal wave of post-COVID inflation. That was before Trump promised tariffs against Mexico and Canada, putting cash-strapped consumers at risk. And that was before the White House started firing tens of thousands of workers, including veterans who’ve put their lives and limbs on the line while stationed abroad.
Those firings will grow. Apollo chief economist Torsten Slock estimates that Trump’s layoffs might approach 1 million if you take into account the government contractors who’ll also be out of work.
So! I like to think there’s some merit in cost-cutting columns like these, now that so many of us are looking for ways to stay happy and enjoy the city — even as we struggle to make ends meet.
There’s a special kind of hurt when you drop by a random bar with two friends and realize that buying a single round of Manhattans is gonna cost you $97.
So, beer it is for me. Most of the time.
As luck would have it, I love the brews I’m seeing on restaurant beverage lists these days. I have a penchant for hazy IPAs; their cloudiness and complex aromas remind me of the quirky natural wines that I’m a fan of.
Not only are beers cheaper than most wines, but I get to drink more, as there are 16 ounces in a pint, and about five ounces in a wine pour. Perhaps that reads like the type of superficial counsel you’d expect from a “why beers are better than girlfriends” t-shirt. But since my food critic brain seems to think Riesling is Gatorade (it does not hydrate, I’ve discovered), being able to drink more of something is kinda nice.
Here’s the way I see it: I can have a modest apertif and a small glass of Cote du Rhone for $50 at Crane Club. And I’m sure both will be wonderful. Or I can spend $16 on a Grimm Wavetable IPA, and I can enjoy the full pint with its sweet, tropical aromas for almost the entire meal.
Heck, at that price, no big deal if I have a second one.
One of the countless ignominies of living in Billionaire’s New York is the de facto tax you pay while waiting for a bar seat. Here’s the Sutton Math: A half hour equals one drink. Seventy minutes equals two drinks. So by the time you sit down, you’ve spent as much as a big appetizer and you’re quite tipsy!
Once upon a time, I’d order booze-free cocktails in these types of scenarios, but they cost $15 each these days. So now, an Athletic IPA or two is how I roll while waiting for a seat. You get lots of flavor, an aroma that recalls fresh grapefruit, and no alcohol.
Most of you know that food criticism isn’t an inquiry into personal preferences. It’s about trying to understand a restaurant on its own terms. It’s about knowing how regular patrons puts together a meal. That means you skip the A5 wagyu fettuccine at Olive Garden. That means you order the viral caviar nuggets at Coqodaq.
You can see where I’m going with this.
Regardless of my financial circumstances, I’d be a fool to review a tony restaurant like Sushi Sho without having a drop of wine or sake (I drank well there).
So this is not a blanket ban on wine. This is simply a temporary way for me to keep doing what I’m doing. And I still sample the pours at our city’s endless crop of wine bars. I tend to love oxidative varieties like vin jaune or sherry. The dry manzanilla on tap at Eel Bar is a steal at $12.
And this week’s review is about a nice daiquiri bar called Bar Kabawa.
The daiquiris are quite good.
Let’s be honest: Neither you nor I will go bankrupt by choosing a glass of $38 Champagne over a bottle of Peroni. And really: Fully cutting out the things we love is a terrible decision when times are tough.
That said, my beer-forward policy saves me roughly $15 to $25 per restaurant visit. No, that’s not a ton of money, but it adds up to an extra review dinner or two over a month. And it even lets me do a splurge-y second date every now and then. I’d say that’s a fair trade off — especially since I don’t write a ton about drinks anyway.
Anyway! I hope this bit of alcohol advice saves you a few bucks too.
Strength and solidarity through beer!
Behind the paywall:
A multi-visit review of Bar Kabawa, the first successor to Momofuku Ko
A price hike at one of NYC’s top sushi spots
A few thoughts on drinking martinis
The (very tasty) beef patty with oxtail gravy from Kingston Bakery