Spes — Restaurant in New York

Had an amazing time at this lovely wine bar - this is instantly my new favorite place! It’s the combination of delicious Italian food, huge selection of natural wines, good company and good vibe that makes this a jewel in East Village.

First and foremost this is a wine bar focusing on natural Italian wines. The restaurant is beautiful and has a cozy, intimate vibe - so, definitely a great spot to bring a date. They have a vast selection - obvious when we walked in because we were surrounded by literal walls of wines.

There is no wine menu, because they have a really inventive way of recommending wines! You get handed a card with spinning hands (shaped like bottle and rooster), like a clock. Choose the color of the wine with the bottle-hand, and the “mood” with the cute little rooster. Then, the staff will bring out bottles of wines and help you find the one you like the most, and also tell you cool stories about the wine and the maker - a lot of times they have direct connections with these producers, super cool! Having said that, this would also be a super cute date spot!

The staff is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about wines, and all the ones they recommended to us were spot-on. I also find this is a much more honest, unpretentious way to truly explore wines - as opposed to reading a wine list and having no idea about most of them. I tell the experts what flavors/style you’re looking for, try them, then get to learn more about my own preferences.

The food is really fresh and flavorful - we had a party of 5 and tried so many things but here are the real highlights. The Straciatella & Anchovies appetizer is out of this world - some of us who don’t usually like anchovies were really surprised to find that these are completely different and absolutely delicious.

For main course, the Gnocchi Cacio e Pepe is a must have. The gnocchis look different than what you usually get from the store - they are much bigger, shaped like fluffy elongated balls. When you bite into it, you’ll discover a soft potato shell caressing a flavorful filling. Never had gnocchi like this before and it really blew my mind.

If you love truffle pasta or want some vegan option - the pasta with truffle is definitely the go-to (the Tagliolini al Tartufo). These two were my favorite, though the other pastas we got (wild boar Ragu, lamb Ragu, lobster pasta) were very good as well.

For dessert - if you’re a Tiramisu fan like me, you cannot miss it here. It’s homemade - the kind that has an ample amount of mascarpone and very soft sponge dipped in rich coffee - really hit the spot.

Overall - amazing place, and can’t wait...

The only reason why I am not giving this place a 5 star is because when my friends and I came here last Saturday night it was very cold and we sat right by the door which is not to nice for a 10 degree weather. The door keeps getting stuck wide open every time someone was getting in or out and my buddy has to get up to close it. The space is very very small so be ready to hear everyone’s conversation aloud 😞. Now let’s talk about the food, is pretty good flavors the octopus grilled with potatoes is to die for, the black truffle pasta is yummy 😋. We ordered little bit of everything on the antipasto and almost all were good some not too much. Drinks are ok. Their wine list are ample to choose from. Servings are ok since you probably will order something before main course you should be good with the amount of food they serve you. Now the prices are a little bit pricey. But again the food and service are pretty good. This location is very close to the L train station on 1st avenue stop. Definitely recommend this place to anyone with wants good food and don’t mind being in a small...

We made a reservation a week ahead but upon entrance were escorted to the bar top area despite 2 open tables. When I mentioned the reservation, the waitress said the tables were all booked and I had made a reservation specifically for the bar. However, there was nowhere to choose bar or table option when making reservation on google. It had made me choose the time and that was it which I have always done when booking a table at Spes. Also, the food was very disappointing. I have been an avid customer of Spes ever since it opened and have dined in more than 5 times. Spes has been my favorite restaurant in the city ever since but the food has never tasted this bland. The lobster pasta felt as if it had lost all of its taste. The overall experience was extremely disppointing and I'm very much driven to despair that I have lost my favorite restaurant in nyc. I won't be...