Babylon New York is a nice, attracitive little town on Long Island's It is the kind of town that one of the characters on Mad Men might have commuted from in the 60's; very charming and loaded with Americana imagery. It is not necessarily known as a food mecca but it does have the well regarded Argyle Grill and across the street from Argyle Babylon now boasts Barrique a small European style bistro with charming rustic touches like rugged, re-claimed wood (a la Fatty Cue in Brooklyn). Barrique apparently means small, oak barrel (typically used in wine making) and the restaurant does have a "vine forward" point of view with a great variety of wines and a clever offering of wine pairings (such as a "dessert wine" pairing that we hope to try in the future). Impressively enough, the amount of available wines is extensive but not overwhelming (a lazy habit of big restaurants trying to impress clientele).
Lynn had a refreshing cocktail of St. Germaine, Aperol and Champagne and I had a nice glass of Layer Cake Shiraz. Lest we forget about the food Lynn and I split a Delicious dish of sauteed calamari with a robust sweet plum sauce and possibly the best mussels we have ever had; they were cooked in white wine and garlic (nothing unusual about that) but they also seemed to have some kind of coconut milk as part of the flavoring which added an extra layer of sensuality to the texture of the mussels.
Lastly, the wait staff was attractive and first rate and made us comfortable on every level. Barrique is a great addition to Babylon and a place we are already making plans to revisit...
M & L
