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| Photo by Stefan M. via Yelp |
Custom American Wine Bar
I have to say, the evening was looking like it would take a much different path when it started:
The plan was to take my puppy out and put him to bed for the
night, head on over to St. Anslem in
Williamsburg to put our names down, and go grab a drink at the local wine bar, Custom American Wine Bar. It was a
pretty straight-forward plan as I already knew the wait for St. Anslem would be around an hour even on a
Wednesday night. My girlfriend and I walked around the corner to Custom and
started talking over our wine. After around 30 minutes we were finished nursing
our wines and polished off our second basket of cayenne popcorn when I decided
to check into the Buzz Table app for how long our wait would be. We we’re
completely dumbfounded by the app—two out of the four light bulbs were lit up,
the fourth one signifying our table was ready. Was each light bulb a fraction
of the time we were originally told our wait would be, in which case we still
had 30 minutes to go? Or was each light bulb the number of tables ahead of us
on the list? Either way, the menu at Custom was staring me right in the face
and looking better and better with each passing minute. Our evening took an
unexpected turn and we decided to eat right where we sat.
Now, I need to say before I continue that we by no means
were settling for a meal at Custom; the meal we had was great on all levels, we
just weren't expecting to be eating there. After telling the bartender that we
were waiting for St. Anslem, but were
interested in the food here I had to waffle my way into convincing him that the
food at his place wasn't just a second option for us. Granted, I didn't really
need to do this, but I felt obligated because the food at Custom really did
look good and absolutely would have hit the spot at that moment, not to mention
save us about a c-note.
The place itself, located on the busy corner of Metropolitan
and Driggs, is warm, open, and has a good vibe. Big windows overlook the
street, and I believe they are opened during the warmer months. The bar is
mostly found wood, which gives for a great vibe and some really interesting
contrasting wood. The place is small, maybe seating around 30-40 people, but we didn't feel like we were squashed even though it was mostly full at the time.
The music was entertaining and appropriate for a casual Wednesday night, and
the bar was playing movies on a single flat screen TV in the corner. The noise
level was just so we could have a conversation at the bar without raising our
voices or feeling like everyone around was listening in. Custom was staffed by
two people—the bartender and the chef, both of whom played the role of waiter.
The bartender had a great personality and was very attentive and knowledgeable.
The wine at Custom was very reasonably priced and spanned
the western United States—I was drinking a Pinot Noir from Oregon and my
girlfriend was drinking a spicy Californian Cabernet Sauvignon; I later
switched to that. The great thing about Custom is if you aren't in the mood for
wine, you also have your choice of great craft beers and whiskeys. The list is
small, maybe around eight of each, but diverse enough to satisfy everyone’s
palate. This is a great option to have in my mind as one of the things that
could be so off putting about a wine bar is the lack of options. Not everyone’s
tastes will be satisfied here, but they hit the main three in my opinion.
The food had a pubby feel to it while still
offering great flavor combinations and originality. We started with an
assortment of local pickles from Donovan’s Cellar which were absolutely
amazing. Custom is one of the few places that offers these pickles. Do yourself
a favor and grab them immediately! The ginger spiced beets were a revelation.
We moved on to our entrees which kept with the pubby feel
offering either sliders or hot dogs. I got two sliders, one pork belly slider
with sautéed onion and one shrimp po’ boy with Creole mustard aioli. My girlfriend
got the hotdog with Donovan’s maple relish. We both shared a plate of fries
with the truffle aioli. Just a note on truffle aioli... I know it’s cliché, but
it felt good at the time. The winner in it all was the shrimp po’ boy. The
Creole mustard added the perfect spice to work with the fried shrimp. The maple
relish on the hot dog was also amazing.
Feeling satisfied, we moved on to dessert—a simple hot
brownie topped with powdered sugar. We paired this with a finger of Widow Jane
Bourbon, which blew my mind. I thought I knew my bourbon, but now I’ll be
searching liquor stores all over Brooklyn trying to find this one. If I get into reviewing local brands, this will be the first. The brownie
hit the spot, and the whiskey left us both now completely satisfied and felling
a nice warm spot in our stomachs.
The bill at the end of the night was under 100 dollars for
the two of us including tip. For what we got and how we felt afterwards, this
was a bargain. The walk back to my apartment was filled with chuckling and
smiling. We took my puppy out for a long walk around the neighborhood in the
cool late winter night before retiring to a restful sleep, the thought of
pickled beets fresh in our heads.
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