Frenchette

The wine list at Frenchette lands like a confident handshake — 200-plus bottles, nearly all French, and clearly curated by people who actually drink this stuff. It's not trying to impress with Bordeaux first-growths or Napa cult bottles; it's trying to get you to try something you've never heard of, and it mostly succeeds. The warm room and leather banquettes make it feel like the right setting to let someone talk you into a Roussillon you didn't know you needed.

The list runs deep on France — Beaujolais, Loire, Languedoc, Roussillon, Champagne — with genuine producers who mean something, not just names that fill space. Bruno Duchene showing up by the glass is a signal: this is a list built by people who pay attention to what's happening in natural and artisan French wine right now. Spain and Italy get a nod but they're clearly the supporting cast here, which is fine because the French selections are that good. There are gaps if you're hunting for New World or want a broad international tour, but if you came to a place called Frenchette for a Malbec, that's on you.

The by-the-glass program runs 15 to 25 options in the $18–$35 range, which is honest money for this neighborhood and this caliber of wine. The selections rotate seasonally and skew toward natural and low-intervention producers — seeing Alex Foillard's Beaujolais-Villages at $19 and the YoYo Bateau Ivre Roussillon at $23 by the glass puts this program well ahead of most Tribeca competition. If you're indecisive, this is the restaurant where you just tell the staff what you're eating and let them pour.