Inside Stars, New Wine Bar From the Claud Team in East Village

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 connectio