America's 100 Best Wine Restaurants of 2019
With an eye toward deliciously creative flavor pairings without borders, Chef Jason Paluska has a little something for everyone, from pimento cheese sliders to his signature Brussels sprouts. On the drinks side, Wine Director W. Hayden Felice has rounded out a California-centric list with an exciting array of Old World and natural wines.
From The Sommelier: “The heightened demand and trendiness of natural can lead to a lowering of the bar for ‘correct’ wines, so that some wines being sold and served just aren’t interesting and/or good. In some cases the ‘hipster paradox’ effect goes to work, where too many wines are expressing their ‘natural’ qualities but ultimately becoming uniform in their desire to be different, and not necessarily communicating a sense of place first, with some of those funkier elements rounding out the wine and giving it complexity. Ultimately, just like everything else, there are profound natural wines, and terrible ones.” —W. Hayden Felice, The Lark
Dish We Loved: California lamb ribs with hibiscus glaze, saffron yogurt, plums, grilled zucchini, pistachio, flowering cilantro
