Once, TriBeCa and its northern neighbor, SoHo were the untamed frontier for New York’s artists. Repurposing industrial space soon revealed an affinity between these pilgrims’ artistic endeavors and the iron, brick, and wood hulks of downtown Manhattan’s light manufacturing. The rest is history. Since 2022, TriBeCa restaurant/wine bar Chambers has paid lovely homage to its neighborhood’s story and (bluntly co-opted) spirit, marrying art with artisanship; seasonal cookery with a sommelier’s expertise.
Chambers is the spiritual successor to (dearly departed) neighborhood favorite, Racines but operates according to its own rhythm. The room is bright and neat without being stark. The layout is tidy: a bar comfy for solo diners and/or wine sippers, a dining area that feels intimate but not cramped, and the open kitchen that welcomes but does not demand attention. It’s polished and cool without being fussy or needy. The staff are warm, keen hosts to wine nerds and novices alike. And, in a neighborhood-serving move that we wish was more common, Chambers reserves seats for walk-ins.
The wine program, overseen by Master Sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier, is as deep as it is wide. The list accompanying dinner is only part of the story—ask, and you’ll be guided through off-menu pours and back vintages. The range is global, featuring regions you didn’t even know cultivated grapes. Prices range from accessible to extravagant, allowing you to tailor the experience with ease.
Chef Jonathan Karis’s kitchen offers a smart menu of seasonal, market-driven dishes. It’s low-key elegance–precise but not flossy or inaccessible. Delicate seafood, peak-season veg, housemade pastas–each dish evinces quiet confidence. A starter of perfectly cooked squid with toothsome sunchokes and briny olives leads onto herby, luscious chicken topped with leaf spinach. The finish is a spicy/salty/sweet ginger ice cream. Each dish is perfectly-cooked, seasoned and sauced. And each is complemented by its server-suggested wine pairing.
Visiting a wine bar often necessitates compromise; either beat back hunger with cold, small plates or drop in post-meal, still digesting. And, typically, restaurants featuring the work of a Master Sommelier are exclusively fine dining (i.e., chic and prohibitively expensive). Chambers shows that neither archetype needs to dominate. Chambers is not the only place that strikes that balance, but in drawing diners downtown, into its accessible conversation between food and wine, expertise and creativity, Chambers proves that flickers of neighborhood spirit endure if you know where to look.