- Please Tell Me in Brooklyn serves wine-to-go through a hole in the wall
- It follows a trend in Italy, where the historic practice returned during Covid
- New York also legalized take-out alcohol during the pandemic to keep bars afloat
There aren’t many things we liked about the pandemic.
But the relaxation of outdoor drinking rules could be one of a few.
And now a trendy New York bar has opened with a built-in ‘wine counter’, where punters can order alcohol to go, in a nod to Covid-era drinking laws.
Please Tell Me in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, borrows the concept from Tuscany, where ‘buchette del vinos’ was used in the 1630s when the plague was widespread.
The ‘hole in the wall’ wine windows reappeared in Italy during the pandemic to ensure customers observed social distancing.
Please Tell Me in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, serves wine-to-go through a hole-in-the-wall
It has borrowed the concept from Tuscany, where ‘wine windows’ known as buchettes del vino were used in the 1630s, when the plague was widespread, before returning during Covid.
Please Tell Me owners Austin Woolridge (left) and Eric Griego (right) are part-time DJs
But the move proved popular and the windows remained open, inspiring the New York bar to follow suit.
Owners Eric Griego and Austin Woolridge took over the establishment in one of Brooklyn’s hottest neighborhoods last fall, with the wine window officially opening this week.
It will introduce new world wines to customers, including Merlots from Mexico, Syrahs from Japan and Whites from Slovenia.
Prices range from $9 per glass for house wine to between $10 and $15 for organic wines.
To avoid violating New York’s open carry laws, beverages, including beer, are served in seal cups alongside small sandwiches.
The sale of alcohol to go in the city was legalized during the pandemic to help bars and restaurants stay afloat when gatherings of people were banned.
Griego and Woolridge are both part-time DJs – and music is also central to their ethos.
To-go alcohol sales in New York were legalized during the pandemic to help bars and restaurants stay afloat
Punters cram into Please Tell Me for Winyl Wednesdays, when DJs spin everything from hip-hop and Amapiano to UK Grime and Nigerian pop
Despite the small venue – the 500-square-metre establishment has 28 seats indoors and 16 outdoors – punters cram in for Winyl Wednesdays, when the bar blares everything from hip-hop and Amapiano to UK Grime and Nigerian pop.
Woolridge told DailyMail.com that he wanted to open a place where he could play otherwise unheard songs because he was “bored” of all the other bars in New York playing tired classics.
The wine counter is open on Wednesday evenings from 5pm to 10pm, in addition to Saturdays and Sundays during brunch (weather permitting) to coincide with the opening of Please Tell Me’s outdoor seating.
But customers may want to take advantage of the offer while they can.
New York’s drinks-to-go program is set to expire next April, although the food and wine industry is lobbying to extend the period.