Below 14th St.
Stars, new downtown restaurants, Midtown East, The Aviary, Jazzfest, Maison Bar à Vins, MORE
BARS • First Round
Starry night
On the first Saturday of 2026, my wife and I figured we’d throw caution to the wind and attempt a pre-dinner drink at Stars, the new wine bar on East 12th Street from the Claud and Penny team. Hey, everyone’s still out of town, right?
Nope. Pushing through the door at 545p, we found ourselves in a room full of people occupying all dozen seats around the low-slung U-shaped bar, and a dozen more jostling for space around the room’s perimeter. Our first instinct was to leave, but the room drew us in, and a staff member found us right away to inquire if we’d like to see the list. Swinging around the room to shed our jackets on hooks by the bathroom door, we decided we would.
After ordering two glasses, we relaxed and took in the scene. The room is tiny (450 square feet), and the lighting is, appropriately, celestial. Soft light emanates from glowing panels on the ceiling and seeps in from the street through the frosted glass windows, further enhanced by the warm glow of sconces perched on the zinc bar. It’s a perfect winter bar, the kind of place you want to settle in for a few glasses over a deep conversation.
For us, with a reservation elsewhere looming, that wasn’t to be: a handwritten sign on a mirror across the room noted a 1.5-hour wait for bar seats. But we did find a ledge on which to try a bite from the short snacks list: chicken liver mousse, topped with caramelized onions and crispy leeks, so good that we ate it plain once the accompanying baguette disappeared. Stars’ most expensive snack is a country ham served with maple blinis, $18 per, and everyone gets Marcona almonds spiced with lavender and salt, gratis.
Also very reasonable are the wine offerings from the list assembled by wine director Julia Schwartz and overseen by the Claud/Penny/Stars restaurant group co-owner Chase Sinzer. Their wine list somehow exceeds a thousand bottles (with 88 wines under $88 kicking it off), with about 20 available by the glass (none costing more than $19), plus sake and N/A options. The duo was very much a presence during our visit, slipping around the crowded room in a delightful dance of sorts, one that’s been perfected by the entire team. Somehow the whole jigsaw works, with new arrivals finding space around the rail while others shift to newly opened spots at the bar.
Penny and Claud, which have brought considerable joy to the NYC dining scene over the past few years, are both described by their proprietors as wine bars, even though they are, in reality, restaurants. Stars is a wine bar that’s actually a wine bar, and it shines — dimly, softly, and promisingly. –Lockhart Steele
→ Stars (East Village) • 139 East 12th St • Daily (as of last weekend) 4p-12a • Walk-ins only.
→ WHAT IF THE FARMERS MARKET DELIVERED? Good news: it does. Farm to People partners with 150+ farms within 300 miles of NYC to deliver peak-season produce, pasture-raised eggs and meat, and favorites like Ronnybrook Dairy and She Wolf Bakery. Same quality you’d find at Union Square, minus the 7am alarm. If better food is on your 2026 list, start here for an easy win. [spon]
REAL ESTATE • Market Report
Is Midtown East… hot?
The median price of condos in the neighborhood rose 12% YoY last quarter, to $1.54M. That’s the highest Q4 price in the last decade, per Compass’s Q4 Manhattan Market Report. Sales jumped 22%.
“Midtown is experiencing a renaissance, accentuated by the opening of the JPMorgan Chase Tower and the Waldorf Astoria,” says Leonard Steinberg, Compass’s chief evangelist. “Walking to the office will always be attractive. Being centered has many benefits for accessibility to all that Manhattan has to offer. And… Midtown East offers lots of good buys, including some absolute bargains.”
Here, three properties that came to market in the area this week:
→ 368 3rd Ave #11A (Kips Bay) • 3BR/3.1BA, 1601 SF condo • Ask: $2.85M • 1/2 floor at VU New York, with floor-to-ceiling windows • Days on market: 4 • Monthly tax: $2807 • Monthly cc: $2425 • Agents: Amjad Pervez & Cheryl Daly, Compass. Open house Sun 1-2p.
→ 310 E 53rd ST #16C (Turtle Bay) • 3BR/3.1BA, 2313 SF condo • Ask: $3.745M • fully renovated with 2 terraces, 3 exposures • Days on market: 4 • Monthly tax: $2620 • Monthly cc: $4215 • Agents: Christopher Fry & Kevin Sloane, Howard Hanna.
→ 250 East 54th St #42PH4 (Sutton Pl, above) • 3BR/3BA, 2304 SF house • Ask: $4.995M • full-floor penthouse in The Mondrian, panoramic views • Days on market: 3 • Monthly tax: $5217 • Monthly cc: $3903 • Agents: Emanuele Fiore & Emily Stevens, Serhant.
REAL ESTATE LINKS: The 58th Street residents facing a huge increase in ground rent • Revealed: secrets of the Flatiron Building • Fort Greene’s butter-colored country house slated for demolition • Is salvation at hand for Tribeca’s sad pit?
CULTURE & LEISURE • Friday Routine
Flights of fancy
DARREN WATERSTON • artist & owner • The Aviary, Morningbird
Neighborhood you live in: Kinderhook, NY
It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?
My partner observes that I work too much and never take a day off, which is kind of true. I do try to save Fridays as a full studio day, which is usually followed by a bike ride, dog grooming, working in the garden, then hosting a dinner party, in that order.
What’s the scene at your workplace?
It’s a good thing when you’re really excited about the food at your own restaurant! I try to sit down and eat at The Aviary weekly and experience it as a guest would, really think about the food and the experience. The menu is changing all the time depending on what the farmers are bringing in, so it keeps it interesting for the chef, guests, and me. I grew up in California in the world of Slow Food, Alice Waters, and a Mexican grandmother who owned a restaurant for 40 years, so I have always had a close relationship and respect for great food and all the people who make it possible. The Aviary also has a super cute cafe called Morningbird where I go for breakfast or lunch when I want something easy and delicious, or just need my mochi donut fix.
How about a little leisure or culture?
I have been hanging out a fair amount at the newly reopened Frick Collection, which has always been my favorite New York museum since I was an art student in college. I’ve been around there a lot lately, as I was commissioned to paint murals and design a bas-relief ceiling for Westmoreland, The Frick’s new restaurant. This was one of the great honors of my career, to be a living artist commissioned to create a permanent work of art for such a lauded museum. The new addition, designed by Annabell Selldorff, is absolutely breathtaking, bringing The Frick into the 21st Century. Everyone needs to go and experience it.
Any weekend getaways?
I’m in New York City every other week for work, galleries, museums, and friends, but when I stay Upstate, I’d have to say it’s a weekend in North Adams, MA to stay at TOURISTS and visit MASS MoCA and The Clark and eat at my friend Nancy’s fab, long-standing restaurant Mezze. The Berkshires are so close to the Hudson Valley, with a completely different vibe and terrain; there’s so much to see and to do. For a bigger road trip, Kinderhook is just four hours away from Montreal which is an exceptionally fun weekend. Talk about great eating.
What was your last great vacation?
We were very recently in France, where we go often, this time to the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, a short, scenic train ride from Paris. We centered our stay in Dijon, one of the most extraordinary, fully intact 16th century cities in Europe — but it’s a proper city, as lively and diverse as it is beautiful.
It’s Burgundy for god’s sake, so cuisine and wine are just beyond words. We ate and drank so well, Beaune being our favorite food and wine city. We took daily road trips in the region from one medieval abbey, church, or town to another and even a day in Chablis. Every meal and glass of wine was a small revelation. My suggested spots in Beaune include Cave Madeleine, La Dilettante, and, in Savigny lès Beaune, Le Soleil. And for wine bars, La Maison du Colombier and L’Arche des Vins in Beaune.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
Oh my goodness, hands down: a cedar, Japanese soaker hot tub from Hudson Hot Tubs installed in a little glade in our wooded garden. I am in it just about every night and can’t wait for the first snowy winter evening when I’ll be soaking in it.
What product or service do you always recommend?
I’m a huge fan of 2NOTE, an Upstate perfumery owned and operated by two fabulous women who are both classical musicians and botanical perfumers. I use all their products daily and it’s also my favorite gift to give.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Marathon
Snow Strippers • Terminal 5 (Hell’s Kitchen) • Sat @ 9p • GA, $126 per
Clippers v Nets • Barclays Center (Prospect Heights) • Fri @ 730p • sec 8, $203 per
Winter Jazzfest 2026 • various venues (Brooklyn, Manhattan) • Fri-Sat • 2-day marathon VIP, $265 per
CULTURE & LEISURE LINKS: Transit Museum pays homage to the MetroCard • Sotheby’s celebrating dry January with American whisky auction • The most beautiful home libraries • Design city of the year: Detroit.
GETAWAYS • Washington, DC
Au maison
Sometimes you can tell you’re going to love a place before you even touch the food. Maison in Adams Morgan is one of these places. The owners of Lapis, Lutece, and Pasqual — from my vantage, among some of the best spots in DC — recently opened this sophisticated wine bar on a quiet stretch of the otherwise busy neighborhood.
I was the first of my party to arrive and was taken past the long bar on the left toward a dining area in the back of the modestly sized space. As I settled into a large, comfortable chair in this dimly lit area with a fireplace and daring, dark wallpaper, I was offered both olives and sourdough bread with butter. A delightful start.
The room reads as a dark, old-fashioned parlor, the kind of place ready for long conversations and drinks with friends gone late into the night. I could have sat alone there for hours, observing, taking in the details, enjoying my light, bright glass of Beaujolais.
Of the plates we shared, the big eye tuna crudo with apple, kohlrabi and yuzu stood out, as did the simple fresh farm greens and monkfish in a whipped brown butter. There were over a dozen choices on the menu, with unique combinations of flavors present throughout.
I left knowing I’d soon be back. There was more to experience here, I was sure of it. –Kate Riesenberg
→ Maison Bar à Vins (Adams Morgan, DC) • 1834 Columbia Rd NW • Wed-Thu & Sun 5-11p, Fri-Sat 5p-12a • Reserve.
GETAWAYS LINKS: JetBlue launching JFK-CLE (Cleveland) route in March • Rounding up this year’s anticipated new Caribbean hotel openings • Travel loyalty program members are surprisingly fickle.
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
New restaurants, 2026 (below 14th St)
The 9 downtown spots we’re most anticipating in the new year. See also, 9 most anticipated above 14th.
