When I lived in the East Village, it was always electric whether it was 10PM or 2AM. One of my favorite restaurants in the city which has an unbelievable wine selection for such a petite space is "The Tasting Room." Always get reservations because it really has limited seating. It can be tricky to find because it's off of First St and First Ave. Remember Kramer from Seinfeld in that famous episode where he found himself lost in NYC because he was in that vortex called first and first. Editorial: One of the greatest sitcoms of all time.

What I liked about it other than the wine selection? Couple owned - service that actually cares. For all the dishes, you can either order a tapas/appetizer portion or select a dish as the entree. Just because size is flexible doesn't mean quality goes down. The dishes are outstanding and therefore, you end up ordering multiple appetizer size dishes. My opinion is that it's one of the best date restaurants. It's cozy with great food and attention to service. The wine selection is long that you feel like you're at a tasting in concert with the food. The intimate setting certainly helped the great conversation and laughter we had for 2.5 hours while at The Tasting Room. Oh, and I forgot to mention it's a pretty good value relative to similar restaurants.

Afterwards, you could head North for some desserts at Veniero's on 11th or head east for some underground jazz or to an upcoming lounge in the quickly developing lower east side. Some of the lounges are a bit grungy, but that's the appeal of the LES.