<< previous review   next review >>

reviews

“Bar Luna”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Italian	Upper West Side	Moderate	Good

It occurred to me the other night while walking to dinner on the Upper West Side that every neighborhood in this city is like a little hamlet or town. And as such, each one comes with its own Main Street and its own set of required retail offerings. Let’s call them the RROs. There’s the Duane Reade, where you’ll pick up your drug store necessities and maybe a tabloid and a tube of Chapstick at the checkout counter. There’s the nail salon (or ten) where you’ll “pick color” and have your toes and fingers refreshed every week or so. There’s the Laundromat/dry cleaner where you’ll schlep every Saturday, buried in button downs and suits, lugging a large lumpy bag for the wash and fold service.

There’s the Chinese joint where you’ll order a carton of General Tso’s and fried rice from on those rainy nights when that red envelope from Netflix has arrived in your mailbox. There’s a Japanese/Thai/Indian place that will fill in when you’ve tired of your MSG headache.

There’s also the local bar, where you’ll find a booth or a stool to call your own and a bartender who will know that you’ve just had a baby and that five o’clock is the time when she’s fussy and needs a walk in her stroller to find a bit of sleep for her and a pint of beer for you and your husband.  And let’s not forget the coffee shop. Hopefully something other than one bearing a mermaid in its logo, where writers and bloggers congregate among mommies, nannies and herds of bugaboo babies for cups of locally roasted coffee and freshly baked morning pastries. Finally, there's the Italian restaurant. In my neighborhood in Brooklyn it’s Lunetta, or Vinnie’s if I’m feeling old school. And on the Upper West Side, every pocket seems to have their own. In the West Eighties along Amsterdam, it’s a new place called Bar Luna.

The restaurant, which has a lovely bar up front—ideal for meeting for a casual drink and snack—opened a few weeks ago in the former Neptune Room space. It’s been smartly redesigned by Glen Coben so that the narrow room feels wide and airy, with rustic touches you’d expect from an Italian spot: weathered walls, hardwood floors, and heavy wooden tables. But there’s a modern sheen to the space as well that breathes some life into what might otherwise be a fairly ubiquitous r ... [more, click below]

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  

 Make a reservation

<< previous review   next review >>

Posted: September 12, 2009

Other restaurants in Upper West Side :
+ 'Cesca   + Asiate   + Blue Hill Stone Barns   + Per Se   + The Neptune Room   + Spigolo   + Telepan   + Aix Brasserie   + 'Cesca   + Bar Boulud   + Dovetail   + BarBao   + Dinosaur Bar-be-Que   + Kefi   + Bar Luna   + Ed's Chowder House   + Red Rooster, by Rachel Barbarotta   + Loi by Dara Pollak   

Share ! Post a comment