Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/648009
W I N T E R / S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 | 5 5 Owner Yvette Leeper-Bueno outside her three-year-old Spanish-Italian fusion restaurant, Vinateria. Grilled octopus braised in red wine with mirepoix and aromatics, served with black chickpea purée, grape tomato, Champagne vinegar–pickled onion and roasted piquillo peppers. Mackow recommends a high-acid, aromatic white blend of six grapes from Cantine Odoardi, Savuto DOC, Calabria. VINATERIA As its name suggests, wine is top of mind at Vinateria, a three-year-old Spanish-Italian fusion restaurant with a killer wine list. Owner Yvette Leeper-Bueno grew up on the West Side, majored in Italian studies and married an Argentine with Spanish heritage. The restaurant not only combines their collective inter- ests, but "it's something that wasn't here before." "We both love to dine and entertain and we always wanted to make something homey and welcoming, and not pretentious and highbrow," she said. Wine Director Karina Mackow says the list reflects a local clientele that is increasingly experimental. "It's not the Harlem of five years ago." And in New York, she says, "it's easy to offer wine from all over the world at an awesome price/quality ratio." "We try not to take the easy way out," she said. "We try to take what [people] are looking for and give them a different version of it. For example Sauvignon Blanc is a recognizable grape, but instead of putting in the usual New Zealand or Sancerre, we'll put in a skin-contact Pouilly Fumé or an Italian blend so they can explore." Mackow says it's easy to pair wines with the plates because the dishes are balanced and offer a range of flavors. She cites the octopus, a menu staple that changes seasonally, as an example of "effortless" pairing. "You have the soft, chewy octopus that can be quite neutral, but then is paired with all these high- acid preparations—and anytime you have a balanced dish with acid, the wine pairing is easy," she said. "It pairs well with red wines when it has bolder prepara- tions— a traditional tomato, black olive and potato— but ours has so many raw components, I think it's pairs better with a white wine, and the one I love for it is from Calabria." "I think about where food is from—coastal foods and coastal wines. It doesn't have to be a complicated formula. There's quite a bit of leeway," she said. Vinateria, 2211 Frederick Douglass Blvd.