53
Burgundy and black truffle dumplings, together at last
Midtown · New York · Asian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 8, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
The wine list at 53 lands like a first-class upgrade you weren't expecting — 400 to 600 bottles anchored in France and California, sitting inside a rotating art installation next to MoMA. It's the kind of list that makes you want to linger over it with a glass of Champagne before you've even looked at the food menu. Named sommelier team, serious cellaring, and a Best of Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator since 2023: this program is not messing around.
Selection Deep Dive
France and California are the twin pillars here, and both are treated with genuine respect. The Burgundy section alone is worth the price of admission — Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Leroy sit at the top end, while the Rhône delivers with Guigal and the always-elusive Château Rayas. Bordeaux First Growths (Lafite, Margaux) make their expected appearance, but the California side earns equal footing: Ridge Monte Bello and Kongsgaard Chardonnay alongside the big-ticket Screaming Eagle and Opus One. The Alsace section — Trimbach and Zind-Humbrecht — is a genuinely smart call given the kitchen's spice-forward, umami-rich Asian cuisine.
By the Glass
With 20 to 35 options ranging from $15 to $40 a glass, the BTG program is one of the better reasons to pull up a stool and let the sommelier team guide you. The range is broad enough to cover both the table splitting appetizers and the person who ordered the kung pao quail. We'd push the somms toward the Champagne and Alsace pours — both fit the menu better than a heavy red and tend to show up at the more approachable end of the price scale.
Billecart-Salmon Champagne — $15-$40 by the glass
Billecart-Salmon is a serious house — precise, food-friendly, and consistently underrated next to the Krug on the same list. By the glass, it's the smartest way into the Champagne section without committing to a bottle.
Trimbach Alsace
Most tables at an Asian restaurant reach for something big and red out of habit. The Trimbach — Riesling or Gewurztraminer — is exactly what the kitchen is begging you to order with it. Aromatic, precise, built for spice and umami, and flying under the radar while everyone else fights over the Bordeaux list.
Screaming Eagle California Cabernet Sauvignon
It's here because it has to be here — this is that kind of restaurant in that kind of neighborhood. But paying cult-Cab prices at a restaurant markup for a wine that competes with black truffle soup dumplings is a losing proposition. Save Screaming Eagle for a steakhouse.
Zind-Humbrecht Alsace + Soup dumplings imbued with black truffle
Zind-Humbrecht's richly textured Alsatian whites — think Pinot Gris or Riesling Grand Cru — have enough body to hold up to the truffle and enough acidity to cut through the fat in the dumpling skin. It's the kind of pairing that makes you feel genuinely clever.
🔥 The Bottom Line
53 is one of the more ambitious wine programs attached to a modern Asian kitchen in New York, and the sommelier team earns their keep. Markups reflect the Midtown zip code, but the depth, the staff knowledge, and the sheer thrill of matching Alsace to truffle dumplings make it worth every dollar.
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