Buttermilk Channel

A cozy, Southern-inflected, Carroll Gardens neighborhood joint, Buttermilk Channel’s wine list has always been much better than it’s needed to be. The restaurant, which opened in late 2008, debuted with a list almost exclusively dedicated to American wine, a focus that was incredibly rare during a time when New York was just warming up to the idea that California made more than just massive cabernet. Co-owner Doug Crowell—who ran front of the house at Blue Water Grill for a decade and cooked, before that, at both Le Grenouille and Picholine—was one of the first true prophets for the budding crop of new California winemakers, pledging his allegiance to winemakers like Donkey & Goat, while being sure to pay homage to the crusaders who made the “New California” possible, like Cathy Corison, Robert Sinskey and Edmunds St. John. To this day, the list continues to represent American wine with uncommon patriotism and an eye toward the avant-garde.