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“Put this in your face.”
It’s 11 p.m., and James Murphy is sliding glasses of Burgundy down the bar of his latest project, a 37-seat Brooklyn spot called The Four Horsemen. The front man for the recently reunited LCD Soundsystem clinks glasses with Justin Chearno, the Horsemen’s wine guru, and a wine nerd from San Francisco. Behind them a date-night couple swipes crusty bread through a bowl of insanely flavorful shrimp pasta.
Welcome to the new wine bar.
Opened last June, The Four Horsemen is Murphy & Co.’s entry into a club of culty wine-driven restaurants like 10 William Street (Sydney), Ahiru Store (Tokyo), and Manfreds & Vin (Copenhagen). It shares a love of natural wine, a low-key vibe, and tiny size. Chef Nick Curtola turns out everything from that bread to a full-on Wagyu bavette steak. But with a 300-bottle cellar built to make your Delectable followers jealous, classifying 4H proved tricky. “Call it a restaurant, and people won’t realize how special the wine is,” Murphy says. “Call it a wine bar, and people won’t realize how special the food is.”
In the end, they leave the distinction up to the guests. “We made a place we wanted to go,” says Christina Topsøe, a Horsemen partner (and Murphy’s wife). “Somewhere you can come in solo for an afternoon glass of wine or have a blowout birthday meal.”
Just one thing: Don’t call this a vanity platform for the Grammy-nominated co-owner. Murphy explains: “Whenever someone comes in thinking, Let’s go to the LCD wine bar!, within a couple seconds they realize, Uh-oh, that’s not what this is at all.”
Don’t believe us? Let these recipes from the restaurant show you the way:
The little sprinkle of buckwheat delivers a much-needed crunch factor. If you don’t have any, add some chopped toasted almonds or homemade breadcrumbs.
This recipe makes more bonito butter than you need. Use the smoky, slightly salty mixture to top your next steak, or to sauté greens.
If using different types of beets, separate them when roasting and tossing to keep the colors from bleeding.
Four Horsemen’s glorious take on patatas bravas requires cooking the potatoes three times (once blanched, twice fried). We wouldn’t make you go through all that if it wasn’t worth it.
The bavette cut is a well-marbled piece from the end of the sirloin, prized for its flavor. Your butcher might know it as “flap steak”; if not, go with sirloin, hanger, or flank instead.