BAR V

Toward the entrance of 10 Morton Street, beneath a Harley-Davidson clock, a carved flower petal juts from a lime stone. Flip the stone and you’ll find the initials V.S. etched on the back. It’s a quiet signature, a marker that you’ve arrived at Bar V—a West Village bar like no other, cast by Veli Sirt, a man from Hemsin, Turkey, with an artist’s soul, a sommelier’s taste, and a builder’s hands.

I use the word ‘cast’ deliberately: every element inside Bar V plays its part like a character in a play at the Lucille Lortel. A 1970s Hoboken diner booth, a 120-year-old speakeasy bar rumored to have ties to—let’s call it—“waste management,” and the 80-year-old Art Deco centerpiece that first stole my heart when I walked in. Practically everything has been salvaged and reimagined, foraged from forgotten corners of America. That eclectic patchwork is what gives Bar V its singular soul.

But you can’t talk about Bar V without talking about Veli. At first glance, he cuts a striking figure: thoughtful, intense, brooding. After escaping the Turkish draft, he arrived on the West Village wine scene with an effortless fashion and a magnetic presence. He cooked for Leonard Cohen two days before he passed away; he served Robert Pattinson in an underground covid era sushi joint. His favorite writers are Mikhail Lermontov and Yaşar Kemal. If you come early on a weekday or lazy weekend, you might catch him spinning vinyl— Orbison, perhaps, or Bowie.

Veli is many things: sculptor, carpenter, photographer, restaurateur, philosophy teacher. But above all, he’s a craftsman. That passion manifests as near-spiritual devotion to the wine and food served here. The fish is fresh. The Rieslings are delectable. The curry is as comforting as your grandmother’s finest dish. Yes, they serve food.

“Our motto is ‘more than a wine bar,’” Veli tells me, while keeping track of his customers’ inquiries. The sign in the bathroom also offers food for thought. “Different Eyes See Different Things.” I certainly see a bright future for Bar V. 10 Morton Street, barvnyc.com, @barvnyc.

-Cade Callen