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The Four Horsemen

New York

Globally-acclaimed wine bar with a gem-studded list and ingredient-driven plates

The backstory: Opened in 2015 by LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, his wife Christina Topsøe, Randy Moon and late wine director Justin Chearno, The Four Horsemen has grown into one of the world's most respected wine bars. Unsurprisingly, the wide-ranging playlist and top-quality sound design are an impeccable addition to the stellar wine list and brilliant cooking.

On the pass: Longtime chef Nick Curtola's cooking honours seasonal North Atlantic-sourced ingredients accented with global touches. Plates are precise and effortlessly unfussy. The menu changes regularly with dishes such as razor clams with fish sauce and lime, yakitori-style sweetbreads or chicken schnitzel covered with blistered peak-summer sungold tomatoes. Portions are designed for sharing, making it easy to pair multiple dishes with the restaurant's acclaimed wine list.

In the glass: A benchmark natural wine programme, Chearno built the restaurant's original list with more than 750 bottles spanning cult grower champagnes, Jura savagnins, classic Burgundy and unexpected gems from emerging regions. The list rotates constantly, highlighting organic, biodynamic and low-intervention producers, cult bottlings and old vintages. Staff are famously knowledgeable – equally adept at finding a crisp pét-nat for a casual sip or pulling a rare vintage for an oenophile.

Hot topic: It's not easy to score a seat at this tiny boîte. While The Four Horseman lists reservations 30 days in advance, those seats immediately disappear (after all, the restaurant only has 40 seats). A better bet is to try and score one of the 10 bar seats – line up 45 minutes before the restaurant opens at 5:30pm.

Pro tip: Can't snag a table? The Four Horsemen team, including chef Curtola, just debuted their long-awaited follow up Italian act directly across the street, I Cavallini.

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