Divine Bar (East)
244 East 51st Street (between 2nd & 3rd)

A good friend of mine had travelled in from Toronto for a few days and on her previous trip, she had introduced me to Divine Bar. It turned out to be a wonderful place for wine and tapas, so this time I was more than happy to join her for a good evening out there once more.

The bar is ultra-trendy, with a spectacular wine selection amongst others. The tapas list is longer than most menus -- which is quite remarkable. With not much space, we chose to start early at 5pm to ensure a seat!

The upstairs dining area is quite small, but cozy. We were sat adjacent to the stairs due to a private party taking up most of the upstairs. But nevertheless it was good. The only problem was that the pale blue light next to the faux window looked like it was still bright out -- so ended up drinking there for hours upon hours!

Divine Bar specialises in "flights" of wine selections, and I had a very nice Northern Italian quintet -- which included a wonderful lagrein (if you remember my drunken Esca night, you'll know how I love that genre...). We had enjoyed several wonderful tapas with the wine. The most incredible item is the baked brie...completely decadent but absolutely wonderful. Mmm... Along with goat-cheese bruschetti, it turned out to be a great meal. There are so many other choices, ranging from ostrich to alligator!

We enjoyed several flavoured sangrias later in the evening and had a great time catching up. Thursdays are always busy in these bars, but it was still very easy to converse -- a marked difference from other places in the area. So I would totally recommend this place for good wine, excellent tapas, and a fun but controlled atmosphere...but may be a bit lonely by oneself...

Food: B+
Atmosphere: B
For Lone Diners: C (*)