At Terroir Murray Hill, Cozy Plates in Familiar Company Elizabeth D. Herman for The New York Times From left, Jane Kim and Emily Barrett. The burgeoning Terroir empire of site-specific wine bars concocted by Paul Grieco and the executive chef Marco Canora has touched down in Murray Hill. The two have become known as providers of cozy, comfy small plates that allow imbibers to go all experimental on beverage selections. The narrow room has de rigueur exposed-brick walls, Parson-style tables and rustic wood shelving meant to suggest a Revolutionary War-era farmhouse atmosphere: to wit, the neighborhood is named for the 29-acre farm belonging to the Murray family that once occupied this section of Manhattan. As a tribute to the late Murray Hill Hotel, Mr. Canora plucked, and tweaked, four "historic" dishes from a menu in the New York Public Library archives: smoked beef tongue pastrami, fried scallops, the ever-hardy French dip and an oyster sandwich. IN THE SEATS Two non-native New Yorkers, Jane Kim, 41, an ex-Chicagoan who lives in Murray Hill, and Emily Barrett, 39, who moved to the city five years ago from Australia and lives in Chelsea, were perched on the only type of seats offered in this house - metal stools. They met when both worked for Dow Jones and reported on the credit market. Ms. Kim, married with two children, now works as an investment writer at J.P. Morgan, and Ms. Barrett holds a similar position at Goldman Sachs. ON THE PLATES With friendly advice from their server, both women started with a glass of red Bordeaux, the 2009 Pessac-Leognan Chateau Vigneaux ($14 each), deciding it was the perfect foil for a bitterly blustery evening. They shared the three veal and ricotta meatballs ($17), and the pear, pecorino, walnuts, escarole Lola Rosa salad ($10). The next and final course, accompanied by another pour of wine, was the brussels sprouts, potato and leek frittata ($6) and the oyster sandwich with fennel slaw, radish and pickled carrots ($12) exclusive to this Terroir. WHY THEY CAME For the reputation: an extensive, adventurous wine list accompanied by savvy suggestions from the waiters. Ms. Kim had noticed the newcomer to her neighborhood, checked some reviews and discussed an exploratory visit with her husband. But when she and Ms. Barrett were planning this girls" night out and Ms. Barrett mentioned Terroir unprompted, they immediately decided to sample it themselves. Ms. Kim is a practiced runner, and last fall she inveigled Ms. Barrett, who had never run any race, into training for the marathon. "And then she finished her first marathon in under four hours!" exclaimed Ms. Kim, who described herself as a slow but dedicated runner. Ms. Barrett hadn't trained since her coup in November; Ms. Kim ran 22 miles in the cold just last weekend, starting at 5:30 a.m. The underlying motive behind this dinner, she admitted, was to get Ms. Barrett back in action. Some arm-twisting was required. Despite her obvious knack for it, Ms. Barrett does not envision herself as a marathoner for all seasons.