I crossed the river last night to attend a media party for Jake Walk, a fairly new wine bar on Smith Street in Brooklyn. Our hosts cleared away the tables, set up food stations serving creamy fondue, Jamon Iberico and a range of cheeses. Dave Wonderich was behind the bar pouring a cocktail he created for Jake Walk – a heady mix of rum, tequila, St. Germain, lime juice and peychaud bitters, which despite the long roster of ingredients, turned out to be really good. From what I’ve heard the Jake Walk has become the new favorite neighborhood hang out and I’m happy for the owners — possibly the nicest restaurant and store proprietors (they own wine store, Smith and Vine, and the thoroughly funky smelling Stinky cheese shop) in the biz.

After the party, I headed back into Manhattan with my husband’s son’s fiancée (that makes her my, um, new found friend!) to dine and imbibe at the Monday Room. I just got an assignment on natural wines for Imbibe magazine and thought the dapper sommelier, Ruben Ramiro, would have some interesting things to say about wines that use only natural yeast, low or no sulphur and little manipulation in the winery. Ramiro was as gracious as ever and poured some pretty spectacular wines, including the Pupillin Arbois 2006 (imported by Louis/Dressner) and the Tissot Savagnin 2002 (imported by Rosenthal I think) – both wines were definitely the winners of the evening. Bless his dear old heart, Rubin did pour an organic Syrah from Anderson Valley called A donkey and Goat, which was pretty darn awful. Other than that everything else was fabulous.

The food was excellent as well. Chef Brad Farmerie’s food is full of umami flavors. He’s obviously heavily influenced by Asian food. Dishes such as quail egg with eel, beets and a beef consomme show his penchant for creativity without showing off. Another dish of truffle and salsify noodles with wild mushrooms and confit artichoke was flavorful and hedonistic, as was the wattleseed and miso braised rib with vanilla celeriac puree and brocolli rabe. The Monday Room’s menu consists of small plates. I’ve eaten at Public and strangely enough I found many of the dishes to be a tad too busy on a large scale. However, Farmerie’s ideas translate brilliantly in shrunken portions.

I don’t feel like this often but I am genuinely looking forward to going back for a spoonful or pure umami.