There is some serious cooking going on in the kitchen at the Country Club, a Bywater institution with a new restaurant I reviewed this week. Still, for those familiar with the Country Club, what may come to mind first is more likely to be the sun bathing, pool lounging and boozy gay social scene in the huge and lushly planted patio behind the club’s 19th century house.
The restaurant functions as a different operation, however, and if you didn’t know about the bathing club out back, which is run as a private club, there is nothing to give it away in the handsome dining roomsor the beautiful front porch (pictured above). For those as yet unsold on the idea that the address can be a serious dining destination, chef Miles Prescott has put together one of the more generous – alright, decadent — wine and cheese pairings in town to lure people in.
Each Thursday, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. the restaurant puts out samples of its dozen or so cheeses collected from the Uptown purveyors Stein’s Market and Deli and St. James Cheese Co. At the same time, the bar serves up samples from any and all of the wines on its by-the-glass list. The price for both is $19 a person, and for that you can nosh and drink your way through the early evening. There is usually live music in the lounge as well.
- Ian McNulty
