At Stars in the East Village, Wine Gets Top Billing

At Stars, the premise is simple. “Grab a glass, grab a bottle, chill out. Talk to your friend,” says Chase Sinzer of his new East Village wine bar. Sinzer and business partner Josh Pinsky, who first met working at Momofuku Ko, are opening Stars just two blocks away from their beloved wine-forward restaurants, Claud and Penny. Stars channels the creativity of downtown New York, and is named in homage to Frank Stella, whose work is featured prominently in the space. Stella’s two pieces, an enamel “No Smoking” sign that hangs in the bathroom and “Noguchi’s Okinawa Woodpecker, from the Exotic Bird Series” displayed in the main bar room, are both on loan from the family. “He was asked one time why he always does stars, and he’s like, it’s my name,” says Sinzer of the Stars-Stella connection. “The story of him being like, ‘this is my name, and I just wanna make stars,’ we were like — this is a wine bar. We just want it to be a great wine bar.” The Stars team has the credentials to make it great: Sinzer was named Michelin Guide’s New York Sommelier of the Year in 2024, and in tandem with wine director Julia Schwartz and other

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