James Murphy And His Wife Are About To Open A Wine Bar, Have A Baby

James Murphy And His Wife Are About To Open A Wine Bar, Have A Baby

LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy is opening a wine bar in Brooklyn called Four Horsemen. Presumably, he left “of the apocalypse” out of the bar’s title because he knew the above sentence would already have naysayers gnashing their teeth and he didn’t want to bait them further. Yet The New York Times dutifully reports on the development in all its glory: The 40-seat bar will be in Williamsburg, and it will feature a list of about 160 mostly natural wines, though Murphy aims to have 350 eventually.

Murphy and his wife Christina Topsoe have been consistently vocal about their foodie nature, and Topsoe will be one of Murphy’s partners in their new venture. As the Times piece also reveals, though, Topsoe is due to have the couple’s baby any day, which will surely take her away from the day-to-day running of the bar for a while. But Murphy seems gung-ho to tackle the job himself, joking that he needed “something with really low margins, high risk, brutal hours and which I have no experience at.”

Following LCD Soundsystem’s final gig back in 2011, Murphy has been DJing, making fast friends with celebrity chefs like René Redzepi and David Chang, and eating so well in places like Copenhagen, Paris, London and Tokyo, that he developed gout. Eating “like a 14th-century noble” led to the development of said disease, which he called “far and away the most painful thing I’ve ever had.” Ouch.

Final notes on Four Horseman: former rocker (of Pitchblende and Unrest) Justin Chearno is the wine consultant helping Murphy make his selections, Australian “natural wine advocate” Katrina Birchmeier will serve as the general manager, and there will be food by Nick Curtola of Franny’s.

The Times piece also includes a great story about reformed beer and bourbon enthusiast Murphy falling in love with wine in Paris due to Chearno — his “vinous Yoda” — and another image of that involves Murphy drinking a flat white in a design studio called Sweatshop.

Expect to see Beyonce and Jay Z at Four Horseman within a week of its opening.

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