Kindred

342 E 6th St btw 1st and 2nd Ave, East Village

The Place: A bar specializing in natural wines from the Adriatic (?!), by the team from Ruffian, a natural wine bar also in the East Village so I guess these guys know what they’re doing.

The Time: Monday February 2, 6pm. Mondays are my days off so I have grand plans with one of my best friends to go over to her place, order in and watch The Bachelor. She lives around Union Square, so I figured it’s high time to visit one of the many bars in the East Village I have flagged in Google maps, which honestly at this point has become my version of the Marauder’s Map, where bars emerge as I need them. It’s pretty great.

Glass of sparkling Rodica and a candle of Saint Rihanna at Kindred

The Vibe: Cozy and cute, with a small wooden bar, white brick walls and a huge, beautiful half moon-shaped mirror where the back bar usually is. There are maybe eight bar stools, if that, and tables are off in another room to the right. Four people are hanging out at the bar, drinking wine, wearing glasses. Like, every one of them has the same pair of thick, black-rimmed glasses. Someone who looks like the manager is sitting at the corner with a laptop and she’s very ready to scooch to make room for me. My service industry instinct kicks in and I say “oh my god, don’t worry, I’m so used to the laptop-on-the-side-of-the-bar thing at the bar where I work.” Quickly she’s like, “you work at a bar?” So I tell her and reveal that I’m industry which is something I try not to do at the VERY beginning of reviewing a new spot but I’m head bartender at Sweet Polly now so I guess it’s oozing from my simple syrup soaked pores since I was there the past seven days in a row for some reason or another.

The Bartender: I find out Alexis is partner and beverage director, and also that Kindred is related to Ruffian, which is basically down the street. She and the other two people working here, Jake and Savannah, assume that I must’ve been to Ruffian before. I have not. This bar has only been open about three and a half months, but Ruffian’s been a mainstay in the neighborhood for almost four years. Seems like they’ve cornered the market on weird, natural wines.

The Drank: There’s a tiny but mighty happy hour with a small selection of wines, cocktails AND pastas. If I wasn’t going to stuff my face while yelling about how stupid Pilot Pete is for giving Alayah the group date rose, I would be all over this. I get the Rodica, a sparkling wine from Slovenia. It’s soft, elegant, almost buttery (I’m about to take an intro somm course, so I’m trying to up my wine language, do you like?). I say I’ve never had a wine from Slovenia before and Savannah says, “well this is definitely the place!” I guess it is! Who knew!

Was I Hit On?: Absolutely not. The four glasses-wearing folks soon leave and two of Jake’s friends come to hang out with him. They have a conversation about the bean dip that I insert myself into because it sounds super good so I have to know more. Otherwise I split my time between reading a book and shooting the shit with Alexis. Around 7 it starts to fill up. A guy waiting for a table makes an insane joke to his friend about orange wine getting more skin contact than a high school boys’ locker room. And that’s my cue to leave.

Should You Drink Here Alone?: Sure! Kindred is a snug little corner of the wine world, and the East Village. It’s still in its early days but if the success of Ruffian is any indicator, I’d head over for a glass of funky, natural Slovenian wine while you can still nab a bar stool.

ALSO! Later in the week I went to Zadie’s Oyster Room, also in the East Village, at 413 E 12th St btw 1st Ave and Ave A. I’m not giving it a formal review because my friend works there, so I got to hang out with him, and then my other friend joined me, so I can’t say I was ever there alone. But I had a great time and would’ve had a lovely time by myself too. Lots of wine and oysters, adorable atmosphere, great staff ;) 

* UPDATE * Both Kindred and Zadie’s are now closed