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Three awards were handed out at this year’s ceremony in Mexico City. Discover which chefs are pioneering the future of gastronomy.
Let’s start a journey to alternative restaurants inspired by the best chefs who decided to spot promising talents and invest in them. First stop: Europe.
An international line-up of top chefs will be cooking in the countown to Christmas at three Michelin starred Meadowood in California. Be sure to book a table.On Sunday, beloved Napa wine-industry pioneers like Jacob Schram and Charles Krug briefly rose from their graves and walked among the living, brought back to life not by sorcery, witchcraft or other interventionist methods, but by the spirit of historical celebration through reenactment, and a touch of dramatic flair.
The annual “Spirits of St. Helena Cemetery Discovery Walk,” put on by the St. Helena Historical Society, celebrates—and reanimates—the historical figures that lived, died and are buried in the small city in California wine country. For each of the past 16 years, the event has highlighted a different aspect of the community’s past, including Civil War vets in 2016 and Chinese immigrants in 2017. This year’s theme: “Gesundheit! German Stories in St. Helena.” And where there were the Germans in Napa history, there flowed das wein, from the famed winery founders to the laborers who planted many original vines and rootstocks.
Portrayed by drama students of St. Helena High School, figures like Mr. Krug, Mr. Schram (and wife, Anna, founders of Schramsberg) and the Lemme family (who built La Perla winery, now part of the Spring Mountain Vineyard estate) were among the notables in attendance. Though themselves not old enough to drink, the young thespians depicted the achievements, trials and tribulations of the 19th-century German immigrants right there among the tombstones, steps away from where they are laid to rest in the St. Helena Cemetery. About 100 townspeople and tourists came out for the cemetery walk-though, a turnout that the St. Helena Historical Society called “a tremendous success.”
But if you missed the chance to commune with Napa’s dead last weekend at the St. Helena Cemetery, fear not: There are plenty more spectral vintners doomed to roam the terroir for all time (it’s been said some Napa winemakers even sold their souls), and not a few so-called “ghost wineries” they’re thought to haunt. The old Rennie Brothers Winery, completed in 1900, is one—the once-thriving wine factory sat derelict through Prohibition before its rebirth as Flora Spring Estate. On Oct. 28, the winery is bringing in local paranormal investigators/Napa history fiends Ellen MacFarlane and Devin Sisk, who most recently appeared together on the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures, to lead a haunted tour and wine lunch in the old stone cellars and caves. “As one of the few remaining Napa Valley ‘ghost wineries,’ we are constantly reminded that there are phantoms and spirits who walked here before us,” noted general manager Nat Komes to Unfiltered.
As in past years, Flora Springs is also releasing a set of Halloween-themed wines next month with limited-edition label art from painters and illustrators: All Hallow’s Eve Cabernet Franc, Ghost Winery Malbec, Black Moon Cabernet Sauvignon and Drink in Peace Merlot (glow-in-the-dark label; comes in coffin-shaped gift box) are a few representative treats.
The Willamette Valley’s Argyle Winery has spiritual ties to the Portland, Ore., hipster-artist scene going back to Rollin Soles‘ founding moustache in 1987, but in the past few years, the Dundee sparkling specialists have made their ties to the art community more formal (though no less fashionable) than in the early days.
When the winery was opening a new tasting room in 2015, it occurred to management that the light-filled space and high ceilings could use some wall art to spruce it up. Soon, a scholarship program with the Portland Northwest College of Arts was underway, and last week, the third annual class of recipient students unveiled Willamette wine–inspired works that will decorate both the Argyle tasting room and bottles of Argyle’s limited-edition Art of Sparkling vintage 2015 brut wines.
The scholarship program begins each year in January, with PNCA and Argyle reps selecting three student recipients. The trio this year—students Jeff Cravath, Rebecca Giordano and Levi Hylton—made the trip to Argyle in April to find inspo in the vineyards and cellars, and get a brief crush course in how traditional-method wine gets made. “After visiting the vineyard and winery I was taken aback by how simple and elemental the process was,” said Cravath to Unfiltered via email. “Since then, I’ve thought a lot about how little I know of what I consume daily. Where and what it comes from, its maker, and how far it travels to get to me.”
In May, the students unveiled their designs on canvas, then the Argyle team fired up the label printer, the vintage bubbly rounded out its third year of aging, and the Art of Sparkling bottles were launched. The pop of bubbly wine completed the cycle of art-world patronage, from commission to exhibition, and the young creatives got a brush with the business side that was less commercial-crass than warm and, uh, fizzy. “In addition to generous scholarships, students have a true client experience—researching and exploring how their creativity can be deployed to represent the essence of the Art of Sparkling and Argyle,” Don Tuski, PNCA president explained to Unfiltered.
Seizing the torch of wine swashbuckling from last week’s genteel Scottish cave smugglers and carrying it into the 21st century is an Australian man whose contraband enterprise was grounded earlier this month by the Australian Border Force. The man was apprehended at Sydney International Airport after two bottles of wine in his baggage tested positive for an unusual and most illegal enological additive: cocaine. $808,000 worth of cocaine.
“While there are ever-changing and creative attempts to beat our border processes, criminals continue to be undone by our mix of intelligence, officer skill and state-of-the-art technology,” ABF regional commander Danielle Yannopoulos said in an Australian police press release. Points for creativity then, but a D for execution on the perp’s part: The ABF estimated they collected more than 7 pounds of cocaine from the 2-bottle bust, but most wine bottles, full (of wine), weigh noticeably less at 2 to 3 pounds. The smuggler was remanded into custody and charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug; let him be a reminder to all you kids out there reading who the real wine ghouls and gremlins are.
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Looking for delicious pumpkin soups? Celebrate autumn with these five pumpkin soups made with ingredients like Jerusalem artichokes, pears, apples and curry.
Watch the world’s best chefs make the classic -aise sauces: mayonnaise, hollandaise and béarnaise.When’s the last time you whipped up a tagine? If the answer is “never,” don’t panic. “For the novice tagine-maker, I would say, first of all, don’t be afraid. If you can make a soup or stew, then you can certainly make this,” Perry Hendrix, chef of Avec in Chicago, assures us. The very name “tagine,” as he points out, roughly translated from Arabic, is “stew.”
Typically cooked in an earthenware pot, a North African-style tagine can also be made on your stovetop—but the results are far from ordinary. “What differentiates it over [other stews] is probably the spices,” Hendrix reflects.
During the numbing Chicago winters, Hendrix serves a version at Avec that combines cauliflower, chickpeas, olives and golden raisins, flavored with tomato paste and a complex spice blend from New York’s La Boîte spice shop. “He’s pretty secretive about it,” Hendrix says of La Boîte owner and spice blender Lior Lev Sercarz. “He gives a few descriptors.” Tasting it and trying to figure it out, Hendrix gives us five spices—cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cinnamon, cardamom and saffron—in the recipe that follows.
After you’ve softened some onions in hot oil, you’ll rain a small mountain of spices down into your pot—about five teaspoons’ worth, including salt and pepper. “Don’t be afraid of the amount of spice,” Hendrix counsels. “That’s one thing that Avec has taught me.”
While the preparation is straightforward and relies on ingredients you can find at any well-stocked supermarket, bringing the meal from start to finish can take a few hours.
Don’t rush it. “That low, long heat really brings out the flavor of the spices, so it’s not that you’re just throwing these spices on at the end and getting the top, more acrid notes; it’s really developed flavor,” he says.
The spices and onions may stick to the pan initially—and that’s OK, Hendrix advises, as long as you don’t smell full-on burning (in which case, it’s burned, and you should start over). “There’s a line between being burnt and being charred,” he notes, “but I always ask the cooks [at Avec] to make it more rustic.” The flavors and aromas of the spices will darken with the initial pan contact, and you can trust your nose and eyes on how far to take it. “When you add the wine, it’ll deglaze and all come up from the bottom,” he says.
What else makes for a great home-cooked tagine? “Make sure that your spices are fresh,” Hendrix says. “And just go for it.”
[videoPlayerTag videoId=”5840454243001″]
Visit our YouTube channel to watch a version of this Perfect Match video with closed captions.
For more tips on how to approach pairing this dish with wine, recommended bottlings and notes on chef Perry Hendrix’s inspiration, read the companion article, “A Perfect Match: Cauliflower Tagine With a Sicilian Red,” in the Nov. 15, 2018, issue, via our online archives or by ordering a digital edition (Zinio or Google Play) or a back issue of the print magazine. For even more wine pairing options, WineSpectator.com members can find recently rated Sicilian reds in our Wine Ratings Search.
For the tagine:
For serving:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Coat the bottom of a large Dutch oven with olive oil and heat over medium. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until slices start to soften, about 4 minutes. Add cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cardamom, saffron, salt and pepper. Cook until onions begin to brown, about 10 minutes more. Add tomato paste and cook until it darkens, about 5 minutes. Spices may begin to stick to pan.
2. Add white wine and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer over medium-low heat. Reduce sauce by half, about 35 minutes. Add chickpeas, raisins and olives. Return to a simmer and cook until raisins are soft, about 5 minutes. Place cauliflower cut-side down on a cutting board and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Transfer to pot, cut-side down.
3. Cover pot with a tight-fitting lid and transfer to oven. Cook until cauliflower is just tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Baste the cauliflower with the cooking liquid and cook, uncovered, until cauliflower is glazed and taking on a nice golden-brown color, another 15 to 30 minutes, roasting to your desired degree of doneness.
4. While the cauliflower finishes cooking, bring 1 1/2 cups water and 1 tablespoon oil to a boil in a medium pot. Remove from heat, stir in couscous and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cover. Let sit 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork, cover and set aside in a warm place.
5. Remove pot from oven. Cut off tough bottom of cauliflower and discard. Break up remaining cauliflower into florets and add back to tagine. Divide couscous among four plates, top with tagine and finish with a dollop of yogurt, a scattering of cilantro and a squeeze of lemon. Serves 4.
The Pacific Northwest is home to some of the United States’ best wine regions—and some of its best wine restaurants. All 70 Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners across Washington and Oregon contribute to the thriving wine scene in this corner of the country, but these 12 stand out. From classic fine-dining experiences to casual neighborhood joints and an underground concert venue, the destinations here offer benchmark wines while championing producers in their own backyard.
To check out more wine-and-food destinations around the world, see Wine Spectator’s more than 3,700 Restaurant Award–winning picks, including the 91 Grand Award recipients worldwide that hold our highest honor.
Do you have a favorite you’d like to see on this list? Send your recommendations to restaurantawards@mshanken.com. We want to hear from you!
CANLIS
A time-honored tasting menu
2576 Aurora Ave. N., Seattle, Wash.
(206) 283-3313
www.canlis.com
Open for dinner, Monday to Saturday
Grand Award
Wine list selections 2,600
Inventory 18,000
Statement space Designed by local architect Roland Terry, a pioneer of modernist architecture in the Pacific Northwest, Canlis became a near-instant icon of Seattle’s modern architecture movement when it opened in 1950, and its starkly midcentury-modern glass-and–cedar timber façade continues to gain acclaim. The view out from the dining room is nearly as impressive, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Lake Union, Gas Works Park and the Cascade mountains.
Ongoing legacy Canlis has been a celebrated Seattle dining destination for more than half a century. Brothers Mark and Brian Canlis are third-generation owners, and the restaurant earned its first Grand Award in 1997.
Wine strengths The wine list has stunning selections in Burgundy, California, Bordeaux, Washington, the Rhône, Italy, Oregon, Germany and Champagne. While maintaining these strengths, wine director Nelson Daquip continues to bolster the list in areas like Friuli and Côte-Rôtie, as well as natural and orange wines.
Cuisine For $125, enjoy four courses of regional American cuisine from chef Brady Williams. The artfully presented plates include salmon glazed in caramelized onion juice, pork with smoked plums and sweet-and-sour cherries with cucumber granita.
METROPOLITAN GRILL
Top-notch steaks and Washington wines
820 Second Ave., Seattle, Wash.
(206) 624-3287
www.themetropolitangrill.com
Open for lunch, Monday to Friday and dinner, daily
Grand Award
Wine list selections 2,900
Inventory 17,300
Wine strengths Washington wines are the star of the program managed by wine director Aaron Wood-Snyderman. The list also excels in California, Italy, Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Rhône and Oregon.
Big on large formats Metropolitan Grill’s wine list also stands out when it comes to large-format labels. More than 150 options represent a snapshot of the greater list, with several vintages of magnums from Château Mouton-Rothschild, Figgins and Harlan Estate.
Cuisine Chef Stan Ross puts his own spin on steak-house classics, supplanting the standby shrimp cocktail with a prawn martini and topping scalloped potatoes with poblanos. The steak selection remains fairly traditional, with cuts like New York strip, porterhouse and filet mignon sourced from local farm Double-R Ranch.
Seattle staple In 1983, Metropolitan Grill was opened by a local family-owned hospitality group, which is currently overseen by the founder’s son, Ron Cohn. The restaurant quickly gained acclaim after opening, earning its first Award of Excellence in 1996.
WILD GINGER
Asian flavors meet a global wine list
1401 Third Ave., Seattle, Wash.
(206) 623-4450
www.wildginger.net
Open for lunch and dinner, daily
Grand Award
Wine list selections 1,800
Inventory 9,000
Wine strengths To play off Wild Ginger’s Southeast Asian flavors, wine director Martin Beally leans toward bright whites and low-tannin reds. The list is strongest in California, Washington, the Rhône, Germany, Burgundy, Italy, Oregon and Bordeaux. A “Market Selection” at the front of the list rounds up 150 labels to make the options more approachable.
Cuisine The dishes draw influence from regions such as Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. From cracking coconuts for milk to grinding spices for curries and creating oyster sauce using fresh oysters, everything is made from scratch.
Three of a kind Wild Ginger shares its wine list and inventory with the Triple Door, a Best of Award of Excellence winner with a similar menu. Owners Rick and Ann Yoder also own a Bellevue, Wash., location of Wild Ginger, which holds an Award of Excellence for a 120-label list.
Everyday destination Even though it boasts a Grand Award–winning wine list, the restaurant has a casual atmosphere and moderate pricing. Twenty-five wines are available by the glass and hundreds of bottles are priced at less than $100.
THE BUTCHER’S TABLE
A luxurious meat mecca
2121 Westlake Ave., Seattle, Wash.
(206) 209-5990
www.thebutcherstable.com
Open for lunch and dinner, daily
Best of Award of Excellence
Wine list selections 510
Inventory 4,210
One-stop shop The two-story space houses a butcher shop, deli, cocktail bar and raw bar, with the main dining room on the first floor. Upstairs, guests can grab inventive, meat-centric fare like steak tartare salad, beef-fat fries and a ribeye flight.
Wine strengths Wine director Jason Sanneman’s list is strongest in Washington labels, from Cabernet Sauvignon staples to less familiar picks like Tempranillos from more obscure producers. California and France are also well-represented.
Cuisine The on-site butcher shop supplies chef Morgan Mueller’s steak-house menu with carefully sourced cuts from family-owned ranches. Non-meat eaters will still find plenty of options, including seasonal salads and a cauliflower steak entrée.
Coveted cuts The Butcher’s Table is part of the Sugar Mountain family of businesses, which also includes Mishima Reserve, where the restaurant sources its Wagyu beef. Enjoy the signature cut in the dining room or pick up a piece at the market to take home.
PORTOFINO
An authentic Italian go-to since 1990
8075 S.E. 13th Ave., Portland, Ore.
(503) 234-8259
www.portofinoportland.com
Open for dinner, daily
Best of Award of Excellence
Wine list selections 2,000
Inventory 15,000
Wine strengths Portofino boasts the largest Restaurant Award–winning wine list in Portland, excelling in Tuscany, Piedmont, Burgundy, Bordeaux, California, the Rhône and Australia. Owner and wine director Seth Matasar also presents a hefty selection of Oregon and Washington wines.
Cuisine Chef Jason Tom sources ingredients from nearby farms and the restaurant’s own garden. Nearly every component—pastas, sauces, cured meats, cheeses and more—is made in house.
Top-notch Tuscany The wine list contains dozens of strong Tuscan verticals from top producers such as Antinori, Livio Sassetti and Isole & Olena, and Chiantis dating back to the 1960s.
Last but not least Don’t overlook Portofino’s dessert wines. There are more than 120 international labels and numerous vintages of Château d’Yquem, Graham and Bodegas Toro Albalá.
RINGSIDE STEAKHOUSE
A landmark in Portland’s Nob Hill neighborhood
2165 W. Burnside St., Portland, Ore.
(503) 223-1513
www.ringsidesteakhouse.com
Open for dinner, daily
Best of Award of Excellence
Wine list selections 850
Inventory 16,000
Wine strengths The wine program is strongest in California, France (especially Bordeaux), Washington and Oregon, and the list includes corresponding maps to provide context for guests browsing the list.
Cuisine There are a plethora of seafood dishes, but RingSide Steakhouse specializes in steaks aged and hand-cut in house. Chef Beau Carr’s menu provides a plethora of seafood dishes, but RingSide Steakhouse specializes in steaks aged and hand-cut in house. The restaurant’s celebrated onion rings are billed as a favorite of late cooking legend James Beard.
Family management RingSide Steakhouse is operated by the third generation of the Peterson family, which has owned the restaurant since it opened in 1944, and many of the servers are longstanding employees.
Worth the wait General manager and wine director Didier Porteaud prioritizes on-premise bottle aging to ensure wines are available at their optimal drinking time. Many wines have been aging in the cellar for decades, and only about 45 percent of the inventory is available on the wine list.
RN74 SEATTLE
French dining with a Pacific Northwest flair
1433 Fourth Ave., Seattle, Wash.
(206) 456-7474
www.michaelmina.net/restaurants/seattle/rn74-seattle
Open for dinner, Monday to Saturday
Best of Award of Excellence
Wine list selections 2,200
Inventory 9,500
Wine pioneer Chef Michael Mina and sommelier Rajat Parr opened the original RN74 in San Francisco in 2009, earning the Grand Award the following year and adding the second location in 2011. The San Francisco outpost closed in October 2017, but it left a lasting legacy of a serious yet unpretentious wine program that lives on in Seattle. Mina owns eight other Best of Award of Excellence winners: five Bourbon Steaks, two Michael Minas and Stripsteak in Las Vegas.
Wine strengths The program’s crown jewel is its Burgundy collection, which displays exceptional breadth and depth. Wine director Jeff Lindsay-Thorsen also champions local labels; several pages of featured Washington wines highlight producers such as DeLille and Charles Smith.
Cuisine Chef Thomas Griese treats ingredients like local organic produce and seafood from the Puget Sound with classic French techniques. The seasonal menu features smoked bone marrow, escargots à la Bordelaise and dry-aged duck breast with Rainier cherries.
Locomotive influence The space is adorned with railroad-themed elements like lanterns, arched beams and a train-station departure and arrivals board, which lists last-bottle selections at discounted prices. Once a bottle is purchased, the board shuffles its letters with the familiar clattering sound and reveals a new selection.
THE TRIPLE DOOR
Superior wine and food in an intimate music venue
216 Union St., Seattle, Wash.
(206) 838-4333
www.thetripledoor.net
Open for dinner, daily
Best of Award of Excellence
Wine list selections 1,800
Inventory 9,000
Dinner and a show In a historic underground theater in Seattle’s financial district, the Triple Door hosts a broad range of performers—from indie groups and jazz trios to comedians and rock ‘n’ roll bands—along with full-service dining.
Wine strengths The Triple Door offers the same wine list as its Grand Award–winning next-door neighbor, Wild Ginger, built by wine director Martin Beally. Be sure to ask for the extended list; there’s also a shorter list with 45 selections available by the bottle and about 15 available by the glass.
Cuisine The abbreviated menu has many of Wild Ginger’s signature dishes such as fragrant duck and Thai passion tofu, as well as items exclusive to Triple Door like shumai dumplings and vegetable curry.
Two venues in one In addition to the main stage in the theater, the Triple Door has another stage in the lounge, where guests can enjoy the Best of Award of Excellence–winning wine list in a bar setting, and glassed-in suites are available for private events.
AVA GENE’S
Italian wines complement hyper-seasonal cuisine
3377 S.E. Division St., Portland, Ore.
(971) 229-0571
www.avagenes.com
Open for dinner, daily
Award of Excellence
Wine list selections 260
Inventory 2,250
Wine strengths Overseen by beverage director Caryn Benke, the wine program is a diverse and comprehensive showcase of Italian regions, rounded out by some domestic wines made with traditional Italian varieties.
Cuisine Chef Joshua McFadden puts contemporary, seasonal twists on Italian classics. The September 2018 menu features burrata with nectarines and hot peppers, bucatini with cherry tomatoes, and beef short ribs with corn, scallions and horseradish.
Respecting roots Ava Gene’s takes exceptional care when sourcing ingredients, working with dozens of local purveyors—listed by name on their website—and milling their own flour to create pastas completely from scratch. The menu features a rotating “producer highlight” introducing diners to the restaurant’s partnering farms.
Sharable experience In true Italian fashion, Ava Gene’s offers a family-style menu of frequently changing dishes for $75 per person. The restaurant requires parties of eight or more to dine with this prix-fixe format.
CASCINA SPINASSE
A piece of Piedmont in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood
1531 14th Ave., Seattle, Wash.
(206) 251-7673
www.spinasse.com
Open for dinner, daily
Award of Excellence
Wine list selections 95
Inventory 1,100
Regional theme From the rustic, trattoria-inspired dining room to the traditional menu and focused wine list, Cascina Spinasse is a love letter to Piedmont.
Wine strengths General manager and wine director Angela Lopez oversees the all-Italian program. The approachable wine list is confined to one page, but it’s filled with strong vintages and renowned producers.
Cuisine Chef Stuart Lane, who attended the Italian Culinary Institute in Piedmont, incorporates local ingredients into Northern Italian specialties such as handmade lamb agnolotti and pan-roasted rabbit meatballs.
Casual counterpart Lane also serves as chef at the adjacent bar, Artusi, which serves Italian-inspired cocktails and small plates in a more laid-back setting.
COQUINE
Big wines and bold flavors in a small space
6839 S.E. Belmont St., Portland, Ore.
(503) 384-2483
www.coquinepdx.com
Open for lunch, daily and dinner, Wednesday to Saturday
Award of Excellence
Wine list selections 430
Inventory 1,500
Wine strengths Owner and wine director Ksandek Podbielski showcases an outstanding selection of Oregon wines. You’ll also find standout French picks, especially in Burgundy and Champagne.
New Age labels Alongside classic labels, Coquine offers plenty of orange and vin jaune from regions around the world.
Cuisine Chef Katy Millard draws influence from global cuisines while putting local ingredients in the spotlight. The menu items are seasonal but may include dishes like chicken-liver mousse with rhubarb jam, artichoke soup with flowering oregano and lamb loin with a nectarine sauce.
Happy medium The restaurant strikes a balance of comfort and refinement through the informative, moderately-priced wine list covering a range of prices and bottle formats, inexpensive food menu and cozy, neighborhood feel.
MUCCA OSTERIA
Roman inspiration and organic ingredients
1022 S.W. Morrison St., Portland, Ore.
(503) 227-5521
www.muccaosteria.com
Open for dinner, Monday to Saturday
Award of Excellence
Wine list selections 365
Inventory 2,140
Wine strengths General manager and wine director Carter Hunt presents a balanced list that’s exclusively Italian with the exception of Champagne. In the past five years, Mucca Osteria’s selections have grown from 30 labels to more than 350.
Cuisine Chef-owner Simone Savaiano draws on the cuisine of his hometown of Rome and works with ingredients from local organic farms. Housemade pastas include egg pappardelle with boar ragù and mushroom tortellini.
The boot on a budget Classic bottles can run several hundred dollars, but the wine list has an array of value options. About half the selections are priced at less than $100, in addition to a handful of wines available by the glass or in half-bottles.
Approachable prix-fixe Mucca Osteria offers six courses for $75 or eight courses for $90, a noteworthy value for tasting menus.
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Naples native Aldo Lamberti brings the influences of his Italian childhood to Cherry Hill, N.J., with Caffe Aldo Lamberti. The chef-owner grew up in the seaside town of Monte di Procida and had his first restaurant job at 13, when his family moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., and opened a pizzeria. At 27, Lamberti returned to Italy to hone his culinary skills before traveling back to the United States and settling in New Jersey. There he opened several restaurants, including Caffe Aldo Lamberti, which soon became a local dining staple.
The menu features plenty of seafood—an homage to his hometown—as well as steaks, house-made pastas and other Italian classics. Wine director Chris Wanamaker manages the 1,220-selection, Best of Award of Excellence–winning program that focuses on California, Italy and France, with standout picks from Tuscany, Piedmont and Bordeaux. The restaurant frequently hosts wine dinners with top producers such as Heitz and Pio Cesare, with its 11th annual Opus One dinner slated for this fall. Below the dining room, guests can host their own events in one of three private wine cellars named for prominent wine regions.
This month, the team behind newly minted Wine Spectator Grand Award winner Barolo Grill in Denver opened a casual pasta spot downtown. The new Chow Morso Osteria is replacing Chow Morso, a fixture of North Denver’s Avanti Food and Beverage food hall for the past two years; the team will be closing that location in October.
Owner and wine director Ryan Fletter observed a demand from guests for high-quality Italian cuisine, but an unwillingness to trek to North Denver. Meanwhile, at Barolo Grill, guests frequently request familiar dishes like pasta carbonara and Bolognese, which aren’t on the menu. This sparked the idea for a more laid-back concept, where chef Darrel Truett serves pasta puttanesca, caponata, arancini, salumi and more.
“My No. 1 goal is that we want it to be fun,” Fletter told Wine Spectator. The all-Italian wine list offers about 110 selections from regions up and down the boot, with 20 available by the glass. There are some higher-end Barolos and Brunellos, but accessible picks in the $50 to $70 range, like Rosso di Montalcino and Langhe Nebbiolo, are the bulk of the list.
Fletter will develop the list with guest feedback over time. He said growth will be “slow and steady,” like the wine program at Barolo Grill, which opened in 1992 with a one-page list and now offers 2,120 selections.—J.H.
Restaurateur Michael Mina has a opened a Bourbon Steak in Nashville, the newest location to his Restaurant Award–winning concept. Like its sibling restaurants, Bourbon Steak Nashville will put an emphasis on both Old and New World red wines. “Whether you want a Cult Cabernet to pair with a steak or are looking to be surprised by a varietal that you haven’t tried before, our goal is to have a choice that suits what you are looking for,” Mina Group wine director Benito Martinez told Wine Spectator.
The restaurant currently offers 250 selections and 20 by-the-glass options, but Martinez is hoping to grow the list to 400 selections, based on customer feedback. “I think the most important thing you can do when opening a new concept or a new market is to be a good listener,” Martinez said. “I’m excited to learn about what people want to drink in Nashville.”—B.G.
Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group (DFRG) has struck a deal to sell its 14-location Sullivan’s Steakhouse to Romano’s Macaroni Grill for $32 million.
Sullivan’s Steakhouse is one of three concepts owned by DFRG, which has earned a total of 65 Restaurant Awards along with their Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse and Del Frisco’s Grille restaurants, including a Grand Award in New York City. In May 2018, DFRG bought the Barteca group.
“The acquisition of Sullivan’s Steakhouse is precisely aligned with our strategic plan and vision,” Nishant Machado, CEO of Romano’s Macaroni Grill, told Wine Spectator. “We are focused on brands that provide guests with true hospitality and a unique experience, which the Sullivan’s Steakhouse concept and team embodies.” Machado doesn’t envision any major changes to the wine programs. “Sullivan’s has a great wine list, and we will continue to build on it to meet and exceed our guests’ expectation,” he said.—G.S.
On Sept. 17, Southern steak house Char Restaurant opened in Nashville, Tenn., its third location. The Jackson, Miss., restaurant holds an Award of Excellence for its 160-selection wine list, while this outpost opened with about 100 selections by the bottle and 15 by the glass.
According to co-owner Doug Hogrefe, Nashville’s wine scene has grown “by leaps and bounds” since he moved there in 1999, and he hopes Char Restaurant will contribute to further progress. Managed by sommelier Andy Perry, the wine program at the new Char offers a combination of benchmark wines and less familiar picks, with plenty of bottles under $100.
“Being a small company, money isn’t everything,” Hogrefe told Wine Spectator. “So it’s really important that we provide value in our wine program.” A fourth Char Restaurant is slated to open in Huntsville, Ala., in March 2019.—J.H.
The Marzovilla family behind Best of Award Excellence winner I Trulli in New York opened Ristoro del Cinghiale this month, just a few doors down.
“We would consider it a sister restaurant, but the concepts are as different as they can be in terms of Italian cuisine,” general manager George Hock told Wine Spectator. While I Trulli features mostly cuisine from Puglia, Ristoro del Cinghiale focuses on the wood-burning oven techniques of Tuscany, with a spotlight on meats like wild boar.
The 100-selection wine list follows this theme, focusing largely on Tuscany, with 20 by-the-glass options. “When you pair Tuscan cuisine and Tuscan wine, it is difficult to find a bad wine pairing,” Hock said.—B.G.
Best of Award of Excellence winner Manresa in Los Gatos, Calif., reopened Sept. 19 after a July fire spread to the attic above the kitchen and caused a power outage.
“We do look at it as a rebirth, a rejuvenation,” said wine director Jim Rollston. “The thing about [chef and owner] David [Kinch], too, is he’s somebody who always regenerates the restaurant anyway.” Rollston added that there was no damage to the wine inventory, as a generator restored proper cellar temperatures the day following the outage.
Over the two-month break, the team developed a completely new menu and fresh set of wine pairings. New items include a ground-squid Bolognese with fried capers, tomato and verbena, paired with a white blend from Campania’s Reale Andrea winery in southern Italy.—J.H.
The fall season brings staff changes to multiple Restaurant Award winners. At Grand Award winner Studio, located at the Montage Laguna Beach Hotel in California, Benjamin Martinek has replaced Craig Strong as the new chef de cuisine. Martinek, who has been on the hotel’s culinary team for seven years, is in the process of revamping Studio’s menu for the season, which will highlight fish sustainably sourced from California and Hawaii.
On Oct. 1, Michael Santoro will leave his position as executive chef of the Washington, D.C., Watergate Hotel and its restaurant, Kingbird. His replacement at the Best of Award of Excellence winner hasn’t yet been appointed.
And over at Armani Ristorante in New York, Alessandro Fagorzi succeeds Eleonora Rocca as the Best of Award of Excellence winner’s new wine director. He’ll manage Armani’s 500-selection wine list, which he plans to grow.—B.G.
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