My last restaurant reviews covered Biscuit (Brooklyn's best BBQ) and La Maison du Couscous (a wonderful Moroccan restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn).

This review shifts gears somewhat by focusing on two rather gauche (intentionally so!) wine bars in Manhattan called the "Bourgeois Pig."

I was tempted to try this place largely because of the name. And, I was looking for a quiet place to catch up on reading some scientific papers, and reading them over a glass of wine sounded tempting.

There are two locations for this odd little bar: 122 East 7th St. (between 1st Ave. and Ave. A) and 124 MacDougal St. (between West 3rd St. and Minetta Lane). I have only been to the MacDougal St. location, but understand that the 7th St. branch was the original.

The Bourgeois Pig is without a doubt a theme bar, and that theme (as the name would suggest) is decadence. The decor is an overdone French-brothel look (not that I know what a French brothel looks like!). The bar's logo is a very artistically done head of pig smoking a cigarette. The music is always the same: a tape they have of rough, quirky music featuring primarily Tom Waits (one of my all time favorites) and Nina Simone. I love the music, but wish they would have a bit more variety. Even the wine can match the theme, offering a special Halloween wine called "Pinot Evil" complete with the three monkeys (see no, hear no and speak no evil, the original of which can be found decorating the shrine dedicated to the deified Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in Nikko, Japan).

The Bourgeois Pig has a limited, but good menu. The primary draw is their "happy hour" special which seems to go on from opening at 5 PM to 8 PM or later (never stayed that late...I am a family man, after all). During this period, bottles of wine are half price. I've tried a couple of their selections and even the cheapest red wine on the menu is quite nice. Prices range from $18 per bottle ($9 during happy hour) on up to some pretty expensive (by my standards!) wines. I am a red wine drinker, so I can't tell you about the whites. As far as the reds go, emphasis is on body and quirkiness. These are not wines for people who like soda-pop wines like "white zin," but rather are a real wine-drinker's selection. Given the half-priced bottles and the good quality of the wine, I would rate this place one of the better drinking deals in NYC.

The food selection to accompany the wines (and yes, I view the food as accompanying the wine here, not the other way around) are fondues (sweet and savory), cheese boards and bruschettas...or even just a small glass of very good olives. Most places have reasonably priced food and make their profit on the booze. The Bourgeois Pig seems to do the opposite, at least during happy hour. The booze is surprisingly cheap, but the food a bit on the expensive side for the amount you get. However, having said that, what I have tried has been excellent. The stinky cheese fries (potatoes with a great, though definitely stinky, cheese) are excellent, though best for splitting because it gets a bit monotonous by the end for one person. The bruschettas are all great combinations of flavors, arranged on pig-shaped wooden platters with very good fresh fruit (apples and strawberries). As an accompaniment to a good wine, the food is perfect. I suspect that it might not stand alone quite as well.

Cocktails and espresso, lattes etc. are also available. But to me, the decor, the music, the wine and the cheese-based dishes are all a perfect combination of Bourgeois decadence that should not be missed.

About the only minus is that the places is small, so once it starts filling up it is close and crowded...and sometimes the conversations are of the "too much information" variety. The MacDougal location lends itself to a crowd that is somewhat young and too willing to talk about private little details. This is not unique to the Bourgeois Pig but also to its neighboring restaurants. Discussions of college student love affairs, bouts of venereal disease and, in the most bizarre example, of a deep grudge against Yoko Ono that might end in the death of Yoko or her (unknown) mortal enemy in some far distant land. But if you can tune out or be amused by the odd conversations, it is a great place.

Somewhat surreal, very decadent, and definitely Bourgeois, the Bourgeois Pig is well worth a visit when you are in the mood for wine, cheese, and perhaps some Tom Waits in the background.

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