Veritas Returns

I've had very many wonderful meals at Veritas.  In the old days when Neil and I lived on 19th and Second and had more cash flow we would treat ourselves to a meal here either at the bar or in the very elegant, smallish dinning room.  My favorite time to go was on Christmas Eve; we would sit at the bar and sip amazing wine and order wonderful food from Scott Bryan's inspired menu.  I thought that he was one of the best chefs cooking at that time and feel remiss that I haven't been to his new restaurant Apiary. And in truth it's a stretch to call it his new restaurant as it's been there for years.

Veritas used to remind me of one of my all time favorite restaurants in all the years I have lived in New York which was Anne Rosenzweig's Arcadia.  Not because they looked very similar, but because they were both intimate and luxurious, but friendly, comfortable, almost cozy, in their feel and always left you feeling that you'd just had a very special meal out.

It was sometime this Summer when I heard that Veritas was closed and had fired all their staff and were doing a complete renovation.  Out with the posh in with the casual, at least that's how it looks from the peak I got the other day when I walked by.  I'll miss the old Veritas, but think it was time for a change and am glad that they are making it more accessible to more people with a more casual and I am assuming, although I have not seen a menu, less expensive dinning and drinking experience.

The most interesting thing about Veritas is that it was started by two wine collectors who realized that they had so much wine they could never possibly drink it all and that they wanted to share it.  So if you are into wine this is the place to go.  Their old wine list was so large it look more like a book, and for those who really wanted to study it you could go online and research your choice before your meal.  As it would have been impossible to have done the list justice with the time given at dinner!

With the reflection in the window it was impossible to get a good picture, but these will give you a bit of an idea of the new look. These are of the newly redone bar area; the floor is now poured cement and as you can see the look is modern with an industrial feel.  More wine bar then fancy restaurant.  I'm looking forward to checking it out in it's new incarnation... hopefully before it gets to be packed.