8 Essential Facts About The Four Horsemen AKA The LCD Winesystem

1) As you might have heard, the bar is the brainchild of LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy, his wife Christina Topsøe, natural wine expert Katrina Birchmeier, and Murphy's friend and former Uva employee Justin Chearno.

2) James Murphy is just like us—the Times reports that he loves reservations and hates waiting. But that doesn't mean that getting into the bar is going to be easy.  There are no tables available on Friday or Saturday, although Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday are looking good.

3) The overall vibe of the bar is summarized in this Instagram shot, of Overnoy posing like one of the Ghostbusters. The combo is indicative of that whole "somms in sneakers" vibe they've got going on.

who you gonna call?

A photo posted by the four horsemen (@fourhorsemenbk) on Jun 17, 2015 at 2:57pm PDT

4) Chef Nick Curtola, formerly of Franny's, is in charge of the veggie-heavy food menu. According to Gothamist, snacks like beef jerky and olives go for $10 or under, while apps like turnips with greens, cured egg yolk, and buckwheat hover around $15. The most expensive dish on the menu is a mammoth pork shank for two, served with shelling beans, salsa verde, zucchini, porcini mushrooms, and a spring onion salad for $40.

5) James Murphy, a serious natural wine proponent, recently worked on a video project backed by Heineken. It's about his latest musical project: making symphony of the NYC metro's turnstiles (no joke). But Murphy, true to form, refuses to shill beer in the video—the one shot of him drinking shows a glass of wine in his hand.

6) The most expensive glass on the list is the $15 Grignolino d'Asti from Cascina 'Tavijn. The price is right and so is the love for one of Piedmont's unsung grape varieties. The name of the grape is misspelled on the wine list, and the spacing is a little funky too, just like the wine.

7) Murphy designed the acoustics for the wine bar as if it were a recording studio. He  gave the space a Scandinavian minimalist touch, combining cedar slats (because it's a softer wood than oak) with artisanal burlap sacks to great, Williamsburgian effect. The end game seems to be inner sonic peace or something equally ambiguous. Murphy tells the Times; "All people will know is that they’re happy. They’ll not feel the unpleasantness."

8) The wine list champions underdog regions and varieties as well as natural production methods. This means you'll see lots of table wines and vins de France. The drawback is that the list is fairly limited regionally. There's only one wine that's not from Italy or France on the by the glass list.

If you happen to stop by The Four Horsemen, let us know what you think.