1. Nobody’s – 222 Walton St., Syracuse
A new addition to Armory Square opened last week – a wine bar that serves a variety of hard-to-find wines.
Co-owners Bob Leonard and Jonathan Lasala said Nobody’s is the first wine bar of its kind to open in the city.
Bob Leonard pours wine at Nobody’s. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)
“What I like to say is we save the best wines for nobody,” Leonard said. “We open up everything, like 60-plus-year-old wine by the ounce just to give people the opportunity to try something they probably would never get the chance to otherwise.”
Leonard, a sommelier, said he tries to pick wines from different regions that customers might not have heard of or tried.
“We try to highlight wines that I’d say are from more obscure regions and regions that kind of fly under the radar,” he said.
Additionally, he likes to highlight wines that incorporate unique grape varieties and are made by sustainable producers.
Leonard says he has wines available at different price points, with their most expensive bottle being between $800 and $900 and others around $20. They sell their wines by the half and full glass, and by the bottle.
Some of the seating available in Nobody’s. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)
Nobody’s is mainly a wine bar, but they have some smaller food items like canned fish and charcuterie boards. They also offer a curated selection of beer and cider. Leonard said they encourage people to bring in outside food.
“Over time we will look at expanding our food offerings, you may see some pop-ups here and there,” he said.
2. Gong Cha and Mojo – 144 Walton St., Syracuse
Two new food and drink options in one storefront are what visitors can find at Gong Cha and Mojo in Armory Square.
“The Korean corn dog and mochi donuts are both really popular and kind of a new trend,” said Ellie Le, the owner of both new restaurants. “Gong Cha is really popular in Taiwan.”
Brown sugar milk tea from Gong Cha. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)
Gong Cha is the Taiwanese version of Starbucks, Le said. Drinks vary between $5 and $9, depending on flavors and toppings. There are multiple Gong Cha locations in the United States. However, Mojo is her own creation, and she has developed the recipes from scratch.
“Mochi is like sticky rice. We make the dough fresh daily. We make one in the morning and the afternoon,” Le said.
Mochi donuts from Mojo. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)
There are a variety of flavors of mochi donuts, including chocolate, churro, matcha, strawberry and fruity pebble. Le said she tried to make a mix of flavors to cater to peoples’ different tastes.
The mochi donuts start at $3.10 for one, $9.30 for three, $18.60 for six, and $37.20 for a dozen. In addition to mochi donuts, Le is offering Korean corn dogs made with her own dough recipe.
A potato Korean corn dog from Mojo. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)
“Korean corn dog is different than what you have here, so we use a beef hot dog and mozzarella cheese then we coat it in my dough recipe and with different flavors like potato or Hot Cheeto,” she said.
The corn dogs range in price between roughly $4 and $7.
3. Ji-Woo’s Korean Seoul Food – 8140 Brewerton Rd., Cicero (Coming soon)
Opening in mid-October, Ji-Woo’s Korean Seoul Food will be serving Korean takeout. Lisa Roberts opened her food truck serving her mother’s food in June 2022, and it exploded in popularity.
“Everyone was loving her food, I couldn’t believe it then social media just got crazy and as soon as summer hit, we exploded,” Roberts said.
Lisa Roberts stands for a portrait in front of her new restaurant Ji-Woo’s. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)
Last winter, Roberts served food out of her truck around Oswego and Fulton, and she decided it was too cold to do that again this year, so she found the location of her restaurant.
“My wife and mom are the ones that really pushed me to do it and they told me to quit my job of 10 years, so I wouldn’t be able to do it without the help of my friends and family,” Roberts said.
Her menu features traditional Korean dishes like BimBop with a choice of beef, chicken or pork, Mandu— a Korean dumpling— and ramen.
4. Noble Cellar – 304 E. Onondaga St., Syracuse (Coming soon)
Sometime this fall, a bar-restaurant will be filling the space previously occupied by The Mission and Luna Loca.
Co-owners Sarah Pelligrini and Rob Zaccaria have kept the concept a mystery with a slow drip of clues about the space.
“I know nothing like this has been done in Syracuse, it’s definitely a very different approach,” Pelligrini said.
Pelligrini said they’ll continue to drop hints until they open.
Source : Spectrum News 1
