Starry night

Stars (East Village)

BARS • First Round

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.