The weather’s getting cold and you’re looking for a relaxed, intimate spot to gather with friends or take a date. Where should you go? The answer: Pour Cafe and Wine Bar in Mt. Kisco. I recommend Pour to everyone because there’s nothing else like it in Westchester, and because it’s just so darn cozy. Remember how George Costanza wanted to be ensconsed in velvet? You’ll want to be ensconsed in Pour.
I caught up with Anthony Colasacco, the owner of Pour, and we chatted about the place, the wine and the food — don’t forget about the food!
HT: How did the whole idea for Pour come about?
Anthony: I frequent a lot of wine bars. I just love the cool little vibe of getting to sit and hang out. When this place came, I always loved the space, and it’s just perfect. And honestly I think it was the Italy-Spain trip my son and I took that really kicked me in to the manifesting of this place. Where just everything was revolved around sitting at the bar, small plates, food, wine…
Speaking of food, I don’t think a lot of people realize how good the food is here.
They don’t get it. It’s all the small plate stuff. You can come here for your meal. Grab a bean dip or one of those cheese plates, you’re full. And I am first and foremost a foodie. Above and beyond wine, booze, everything, I’m a fanatic for food. And some of the stuff we have is really interesting, like the flatbread with the guanciale on it. That’s awesome! I go out of my way to find interesting food, and do things that are a little different. The flatbread with the speck and the gruyere and the caramelized onions. There’s a lot of food here! That’s the one thing I think needs to be recognized.
Everyone I know who’s been here absolutely loves this place. What makes it so unique?
The vibe, for sure. The atmosphere. It’s chill, there’s no tv, the music’s low enough you can actually talk. It’s a house. People are relaxed. You get people that come and they kick their shoes off, I mean they put their feet up, it’s really like hanging in a house. You are in a house.
Is your clientele mostly hardcore wine aficionados?
No, definitely not. We get a couple, but on a whole I’d say 5 % wine snob, wine geek, 95% regular people. They just want to come and try out wine. They kind of want to be told what to drink almost. Not told, but guided.
And you have wine tastings here?
Oh yeah, we’ve got the Pinot Noir one coming up. December 2nd. We did that one 8 months ago, that was the biggest of all the wine tastings. People love the Pinot. We’ve done chocolate tastings, beer and cheese, scotch, bourbon, we’re doing the absinthe, all kinds of things. We’re definitely going to work out some interesting ones.
You’ve mentioned to me that your customer base is mostly women.
During the week, a lot of ladies night out. Birthdays, book clubs, mom’s clubs, whatever reason just groups of girls. That’s usually what it is during the week, and it’s date place on the weekends. I wouldn’t say it’s a singles scene by any means. You know what’s cool though you can come single and have a great time. I honestly have a lot of women customers who come in by themselves. They come in, grab a glass of wine and hang out all night alone because they’re always going to meet somebody to hang out, chat with someone where it’s not a meat market.
So the guys should really be taking advantage of this male/female ratio.
You would think. But they’re just not getting it. I think when the guys come here they’re usually with a woman. We get the guys, they love to come and have the scotches and the bourbons, but no, it’s usually dates.
With everyone trying to save money these days, are people cutting back on wine?
I think people are still willing to spend a little extra for a good quality glass of wine. We’re paying attention to the fact that times are tough. But you can come here for a lot less than it’s going to be in a restaurant. You’re gonna come, you’re gonna have a cool time.
Pour Cafe and Wine Bar
241 Main St.
Mt. Kisco, NY 10549
914-864-0606