In the late nineties, New York City dining was essentially a sport for the ultra-rich or the clinically obsessed. If you weren’t at Le Bernardin, you were likely trying to talk your way into a table at some other white-tablecloth temple. Then came Veritas New York restaurant. It sat quietly at 43 East 20th Street, just off Park Avenue South, and it basically rewrote the rules for what a "wine restaurant" could be.
It wasn't just a place to eat. Honestly, it was a cathedral for fermented grape juice.
The origin story is kind of legendary in hospitality circles. Most restaurants start with a chef and a menu. Veritas started with two guys—Park B. Smith and Steve Verlin—who had way too much wine in their personal cellars. Like, "thousands of bottles of rare Burgundy and Rhone" too much. They teamed up with chef Scott Bryan and decided to open a spot where the wine wasn't just an afterthought on the back page of the menu. It was the main event.
The 3,000-Bottle "Bible"
If you ever held the wine list at Veritas, you know it was basically a workout. It was a massive, leather-bound book that felt more like a historical archive than a list of drinks. People called it the Bible.
You’ve got to understand the scale here. We are talking about 3,000 different selections.
The list was split into two parts: the "Market List," which had current releases and more approachable bottles, and the "Reserve List." The Reserve List was where things got wild. These were bottles pulled directly from Smith’s and Verlin’s private collections. Because they had bought these wines years ago at release prices, Veritas was famously able to offer rare vintages at prices that were, frankly, insane. You could drink a 1982 Bordeaux for less than what a mid-tier steakhouse would charge for a 2018 Napa Cab today.
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It was a loophole in the New York dining market. Collectors would fly in from across the globe just to pillage the cellar.
More Than Just a Cellar
For a long time, the food at Veritas New York restaurant was actually better than it needed to be. Scott Bryan wasn't just a placeholder; he was a serious talent. He earned the restaurant three stars from The New York Times and a Michelin star, proving that you could have a "wine-first" concept without serving mediocre chicken.
His style was clean. French-influenced but very much New York.
The Scott Bryan Era
- He focused on "clean flavors" that wouldn't fight the wine.
- The prix-fixe menu was surprisingly affordable for the quality (around $68 back in the early 2000s).
- Signature dishes like the pan-roasted sweetbreads or the porcini risotto became staples for regular diners.
But then things started to shift. Scott Bryan left in 2007. The restaurant entered a bit of a "lost era," cycling through chefs like Ed Brown and eventually Gregory Pugin. While Pugin was talented—some critics actually thought the food got better under him—the vibe was changing. The economy took a massive hit in 2008, and suddenly, spending $100 on a prix-fixe dinner followed by $400 on a bottle of Hermitage felt a lot less like a hobby and more like a liability.
The "Renovation" That Never Really Ended
In the summer of 2010, Veritas did something that usually signals the end for any NYC establishment: they closed for "renovations."
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Usually, that's code for "the landlord is about to change the locks." But Veritas actually did come back. They reopened with a new look, a more casual vibe, and a menu that tried to appeal to a younger, less stuffy crowd. They even ditched the mandatory prix-fixe for a while.
It didn't stick.
The soul of the place was tied to that specific moment in Manhattan history when the Flatiron District was the epicenter of the culinary world and wine collecting was hitting a fever pitch. By 2013, the magic was gone. Sam Hazen was the chef toward the end, and despite his best efforts, the restaurant finally shuttered for good in October 2013.
Why It Still Matters
You might wonder why we’re still talking about a restaurant that’s been closed for over a decade.
Basically, Veritas proved that a restaurant could be built around a "collector's mentality" without being a private club. It democratized high-end wine—sorta. It showed that if you have the inventory, you can create a destination that transcends the menu.
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Today, you see the DNA of Veritas in places like Pascual Guzmán or Tribeca Grill, where the cellar is the star. But nobody has quite captured that specific "treasure chest" feeling that Veritas had. It was a place where you could walk in, order a simple piece of fish, and drink a wine that belonged in a museum.
What happened to the wine?
After the closure, much of the remaining collection went back into the private sphere or was sold off. Park B. Smith famously auctioned off a huge portion of his cellar through Sotheby's, a sale that fetched millions of dollars. It was the literal end of an era.
How to Capture the Veritas Vibe Today
If you’re looking for that specific intersection of high-end wine and serious food in New York, you aren't going to find a perfect clone. But you can get close if you know where to look.
- Seek out "Owner-Driven" Cellars: Look for restaurants where the owner is a known collector. They often "subsidize" the wine list with their own passion.
- Check the Corkage Policies: Veritas was about the love of the bottle. Some modern NYC spots still have generous corkage nights (like Monday nights at certain West Village bistros) where you can bring your own "reserve" bottle.
- Explore Wine-Centric Neighborhoods: The Flatiron/Gramercy area still holds onto some of that DNA. Check out the lists at Corkbuzz or The Modern—they carry the torch of deep, thoughtful curation.
The era of the $90 bottle of 20-year-old Burgundy is over. But the lesson of Veritas—that the wine list should be a story, not just a inventory—remains the gold standard for New York dining.
Next Steps for Wine Enthusiasts:
Check the current lists at Terroir in Tribeca or Aldo Sohm Wine Bar. While they don't have the same "private cellar" model as Veritas, their curation reflects the same obsessive dedication to the craft that made Veritas a legend. If you're looking for the space itself, 43 East 20th Street has seen other concepts come and go, but the ghost of that 3,000-bottle list still haunts the walls.