In Our Summer 2019 Issue
LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
In this issue, we recognize the 2019 winners of the Bill Duesing Organic Living on the Earth award. The award is given in Bill’s memory and in honor of the principles for ...
Local Bites
August in New Haven
An Authentic Wine Bar in the European Style
“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.” --Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
August: Upscale Bar and Eatery, located in New Haven’s East Rock neighborhood, serves oysters from Island Creek Oysters paired with cold white wine that lingers in a briny embrace, providing a curative for any empty feelings. Such euphoric restoration is commonplace at August, a recherché destination reminiscent of Hemingway’s Paris that feels at once contemporary and transplanted from another era. This bijoux just beyond the shadow of I-91 is an authentic wine bar in the European style, embodying a “moveable feast” philosophy of living and dining with great sophistication but without a limiting formality.
“We wanted it to be small, heartfelt, and interesting,” says Michelle Chadwick-Hotis, who guides the labor of love with her husband, Andrew Hotis. They came to New Haven from New York City, where Michelle, originally from Sydney, Australia, had worked at the fabled Cafe Luxembourg and red-hot Per Se. Andrew’s credits notably include Lelabar, the “wine room” in Manhattan’s West Village.
Connoisseurs fortunate enough to discover and patronize August wash down the simple and satisfying wine bar fare with a carefully curated selection of roughly 16 to 20 wines by the glass on any given night – reds, whites, bubbly, and pink, as well as sherry and vermouth – and there’s a much longer list of wines by the bottle. The beauty of August is the devotion to “small production wines that express a sense of place, terroir, traditional wine making styles and techniques, as well as modern expressions,” as August’s website explains.
Guests come to make discoveries, and Andrew’s selection of libations ensures that they do. “I like things that are obscure or interesting,” he says, describing his wine program as “a curation of styles helping people enjoy a period of time.” That translates into wines by the glass that might include a full-bodied, crisp white made from the Altese grape in the Savoie region of Eastern France, a cava rosé wine or Palo Cortado sherry from Spain, or a southern-French-style red blend from Australia. Bottles take discoveries to another level, with whites featuring grape varieties like Savagnin (France), Godello (Spain), Carricante (Italy), and Petit Courbu (France), and reds including Teroldego (Italy), Poulsard (France), and Mencia (Spain).
Complementing the eclectic wine list and distilled from a less-is-more ethos, the food at August falls into a handful of simple categories, including cheese or charcuterie boards with accoutrements, fresh salads, and house-made seasonal dishes, featuring local breads, honey, and produce, along with imported specialties. Wine bars have a particular canon of food, explains Andrew, who says, “the heart of the August menu is that conserved wine bar food,” by which he means tinned fish, including spiced sardines, calamari in ragout, mussels in escabeche, squids in ink, and more, served with gremolata, romesco, whipped garlic butter, and bread.
The right side of August’s menu is dedicated to cheese and charcuterie boards, as well as their accoutrements. The left side “changes with the season and whims,” according to Andrew, but frequently offers dishes like his homemade rabbit and juniper terrine (he buys whole rabbits), as well as staples like Marcona almonds, marinated olives, and shishito peppers. A menu in May also featured North African meatballs, along with a Neptune panino with Spanish sardines, piquillo pepper, and gremolata. A newer addition to the August canon is sustainable Sterling Farm caviar, which despite its cost, has proven very popular. Like oysters, cheeses, and charcuterie, August’s plump and perfumed signature deviled eggs are always available, while desserts are posted on the chalkboard opposite the bar, adding to the impromptu vibe built into a good wine bar’s DNA – and the romance.
Photo 1: Cheese and charcuterie are an August staple.
Photo 2: August’s plump and perfumed signature deviled eggs are always available on the menu.
August, which celebrated its fifth anniversary in May, is a unique experience in many ways, including its size. Just 18 seats reside within the intimate and elegantly decorated 350 square feet, including 14 at the bar. Andrew handles all the food prep and service from a corner niche behind the bar, innovatively equipped with strategic pullouts – one’s for the meat slicer – and his sole heat source, a panini press.
The building that houses August dates to the 1920s, and in previous incarnations, the site has been a yoga studio, church, campaign headquarters, and both a clothing and goldsmith shop. Andrew and Michelle designed August, and Andrew did all the restorations over 10 months, including restoring the tin ceiling, wood floors, and brick walls.
In October 2018, Andrew and Michelle picked up the lease to an adjacent but independent space, which they named Hudson Leroy in honor of the streets intersecting at Andrew’s former establishment, Lelabar, in New York. So far, special events and private group events have been the focus at Hudson Leroy, which has a full liquor license, meaning cocktails are on the menu. As of early summer, the ultimate manifestation for Hudson Leroy was still forthcoming. Andrew and Michelle have leaned toward positioning the space as a sophisticated spot for lunch, and whatever it eventually grows into, patrons' stomachs and spirits are certain to find themselves relieved of any empty feelings.
August is open from 5pm-11pm Tuesday through Thursday and 5pm to midnight Friday and Saturday. Given the limited size and wine bar tradition, there are no reservations.
- August: Upscale Bar and Eatery: 3 Edwards St., New Haven; 203-745-4531
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