Craftbar

Todd and I went here late Saturday afternoon, for some wine, salumi and sandwiches. I really love their menu, especially if I'm with someone who's just willing to graze on starters and maybe split a sandwich. I have to admit that I've never had a main plate here because I'm always too full on the other stuff (never had dessert here, either, which is really sad because a couple of the desserts looked remarkable).

Todd started with a New York State microbrew that he really enjoyed, and the waitress suggested a glass of German weisser burgunder for me: clear, crisp, hardly sweet at all with a full flavor and a nice bite at the end. We had a salumi assortment and really liked the coppa, hot soppressata and speck.

When Todd ordered the hen of the woods sandwich, I was at a loss. Clearly he's thinking he's ordering some kind of fowl, not a deceptively named fungus. What should I have done? I said, "Oh, I thought you didn't like mushrooms," which Todd said was snotty (my word, not his). I guess I should have waited until he had a mouthful and said, "Oh, by the way, hen of the woods is a mushroom," and laughed and laughed as he spit the offending bite into his napkin and gargled with his microbrew.

I had a tuna sandwhich, which involved three slices of crustless pullman white and two layers of not-white tuna dressed minimally, with just capers and pickled onions. It was very good and, with the right tuna, easily reproducable at home, I would think. That's what I love about this place: really good ingredients.