Piccolo's chef Roberto Ivan (left) and sommelier Pietro Biondi (right)
By Tara de Lis
For dineLA.com
Food and wine go hand-in-hand; any gourmand will tell you that the pairings of the two make for the ultimate dining experience. But is there really such a thing as the perfect pairing? While it’s common for a big, bold trophy Cabernet to be matched with a New York strip steak, or an obscure off-dry Alsatian wine pitted against spicy Asian fusion, it’s not written in stone. So rather than focusing on the ingredients, we turn our attention to the personalities behind them, how the chef and sommelier work their magic together.
At West Hollywood’s Sona, the menu is seasonal Californian with Asian influences. Advanced certificate sommelier Mark Mendoza speaks about his ability to play well “on and off the field” with chef/owner David Myers for the past five years. Mendoza buys heavy on Burgundy, Bordeaux and Rhone blends for the nightly dual tasting menus. But it works the other way, too; if a customer brings in a special bottle, Mendoza says that “knowing David’s repertoire,” he can make basic suggestions on dishes, and then David “will kick it up a notch.”
Also celebrated in the fine-dining world, seafood restaurant Providence teams up chef/avid-fisherman Michael Cimarusti with self-described “classicist” French-trained sommelier Drew Langley. Cimarusti makes sure his wine guy of four years is one of the first people to taste new dishes. Because of the fish-focus, the wine list is heavy on whites; in spite of his formal roots, he’s not opposed to introducing beer or sake, too, but only when he reads his guests as adventurous types.
Chez Melange partners Robert Bell and Michael Franks represent the picture of collaborative spirit, literally. Their caricatures grace the restaurant’s private-label wines. The South Bay staple was founded 26 years ago; Bell works his seasonal-eclectic magic in the kitchen, while wine-guy Franks collaborates with top-notch vintners like Steve Clifton and Norman Yates. These aren’t your typical mass-produced ‘house’ wines. He points out, “They are high quality wines from exceptional vineyards.” The Pinot Noir is a stunner with many menu items, from hearty lamb meatballs to playful figs on a blanket (of prosciutto).
The Melrose Bar & Grill folks have also enjoyed 20-plus years of teamwork. Priced accessibly, all menu items at this popular neighborhood pub are under $25. The “short list” and by-the-glass wine selections were designed with it in mind. There’s the added benefit of the “cellar wine list,” too, a holdover from the fancier Doug Arango days. Chef Chris Bennett “defers to the palate” of his brother-in-law and wine director Robert Evans. Not limited to wine, a popular pairing is the house-made duck burger, whose cherry ketchup melds nicely with a Lindemans Kriek lambic Belgian beer.
Caitlin Stansbury has been called a “rock star sommelier,” and she’s currently recalibrating the wine program at Charlie’s chophouse in Malibu. The menu features chef Daniel Atkin’s straightforward, high-quality American fare, which she refers to as “a comfort zone for [herself] as well as patrons.” Stansbury’s theory is that complex, intriguing wines go best with familiar foods. Versatility is also key (both the seared scallops and baked brie pair with a small-production Chardonnay—from Santa Clara County!). While she’s accredited in her field, she “vehemently eschews the old-school stuffiness … it’s at odds with having a good time.”
Peter Birmingham is another top shelf wine director capable of making you fall in love with a wine before you even taste it. He’s currently flexing his prowess at Pourtal, where enomatic wine dispensers and inexpensive small plates make pairings fun and affordable. Over an endive salad of blue cheese, fruit and candied walnuts, he’ll introduce you to a Spatlese that “wraps and envelopes the nose,” while also relating its producer’s pioneering biodynamic and organic history, this on top of the fact the land has been passed down maternally for 400 years. He and chef Sean Takaki are in constant collaboration on the menu.
It may seem strange to place a well-known restaurant like Crustacean into the up-and-comers category, but it wasn’t until Chris Bradford joined the team in that the beverage program really rose to prominence. When he started, there was a lone German Reisling on the list; now there are about 20. Working close with An Family chefs, he has crafted an award-winning list that marries the secret-recipe spices of their specialty Vietnamese-fusion foods with many manners of Austrian, Alsatian and German wines, creating what he considers “a blanket for the food to lie on.”
The guys at Piccolo are all about the “buono sera” hospitality, a commitment that extends to their wine pairings. In addition to regular sommelier duties, Pietro Biondi partners with chef Roberto Ivan to create monthly “cena al contrario” or “reverse” wine pairing dinners. Guests are given a menu solely consisting of Italian wine varietals, which are broken up by region. Based on the picks, Biondi takes you on an unexpected journey, passionately detailing each milestone. It’s a great way to try, say, a Lacrima Di Morro D’Alba Burscareto—and to be pleasantly surprised by its pairing with sweetbreads and quail egg.
Charlie’s, 22821 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, 310.456.3132
Chez Melange, 1611 S. Catalina Ave, Redondo Beach, 310.540.1222
Crustacean, 9646 S. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, 310.205.8990
Melrose Bar & Grill, 8826 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, 310.278.3684
Piccolo, 5 Dudley Ave., Venice, 310.314.3222
Pourtal, 104 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, 310.393.7693
Providence, 5955 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, 323.460.4170
Sona, 401 N. La Cienega Blvd, West Hollywood, 310.659.7708
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