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Photo: Melissa Hom
On a recent trip to New York, there was one place I knew I must visit: Pearl & Ash. A testament to the power of social media, for months I’d watched nearly every cork-dork I know posting wines that pull at my heartstrings. Indeed the wine list was filled with first loves, dream bottles, and countless mystery strangers. New York has no shortage of amazing wine lists, and Pearl & Ash certainly has one of them. What they also have is a ridiculous amount of fun. Standing at the helm of both is Managing Partner and Wine Director Patrick Cappiello.
Over an afternoon coffee (next time Coche!), I spoke to Patrick about how he got into wine, and what fuels his magnetic enthusiasm for it.
How wine took Patrick from chucks to suits…
It’s easy to imagine Patrick as the skateboarding Rochester kid he was. Typically clad in t-shirt, jeans and converse, what’s harder to imagine are his 15+ years buttoned up in suit and tie.
Patrick: I come from an Italian family. Wine was around, but it wasn’t fine wine. I started working in restaurants at 15 just to earn some cash to buy punk albums and skateboard stuff.
Cleveland of all places. That’s where fine wine came into the picture. Patrick moved there in 1999 and met his first mentor Nathan Wesley (now a Senior Editor at Wine Spectator) while working at the landmark Baricelli Inn. It was Patrick’s first exposure to a comprehensive wine program and a serious cellar, and he’s not strayed from either since.
Patrick: When I moved back to New York, the plan was to make documentary films, but I had to work full time. I got a job at the Tribeca Grill, quickly got interested in wine, and things just progressed from there. I was very spoiled; early in my career I was drinking crazy shit.
Um, yeah he was… game changer bottle: 1990 Domaine Leroy Clos Vougeot. That’s serious juice folks.
Patrick: I didn’t buy a bottle of wine (for a restaurant) until I was 36. When it comes to learning about wine, I learn from watching other people.
He was clearly watching the right people. Patrick’s roster of mentors are all Wine Spectator Grand Award winners: David Gordon and Yoshi Takamura at Tribeca Grill, Tim Kopec at Veritas, Daniel Johnnes, Wine Director of Dinex Group (Daniel Boulud) and creator of La Paulée. When Patrick built the list in his first Wine Director position at the Palace Hotel’s GILT, his goal was to follow in their footsteps. That he did. In 2011 Patrick won the Grand Award for his program at GILT and even got a tattoo of the award’s three-glass logo to commemorate it.
Classical training:
…and then back to chucks
Cutting to the chase: GILT closes, and Patrick takes on the list for what will be the Palace Hotel’s next restaurant by Michel Richard. Patrick is on a sabbatical of sorts while the restaurant is in the works; off the floor but still putting together a very serious cellar. He gets a call from chef Richard Kuo and General Manager Branden McRill, they are opening a restaurant on the Bowery. They asked Patrick to put together the wine program.
Patrick: Small programs are not what I’m interested in. I told them that I needed to have at least a 200 bottle list or I wouldn’t do it. So I brought one of my collectors in, and bought a bunch of weird shit inspired by what the industry likes to drink. So I was at lunch with Levi Dalton (NYEater.com, illdrinktothatpod.com), and he wrote an article and then before I knew it we were packed with wine geeks and critics.
And yes, the wine folks came ‘a drinking. And then the New York Times came ‘a reviewing. The piece wasn’t just a glowing review of Pearl & Ash, it was an ode to Patrick and his list. Wells had never centered a review on the wine service before. Celebratory expletives would be warranted here; let’s just say it was a big deal.
Patrick: I sit down with people. That’s my style of service. I took a trip to Paris last August and they were all super casual. I decided if I ever opened my own place, it was going to be a fun place that’s well priced and with a big list.
Pearl & Ash didn’t start out as Patrick’s place, but after the Times review, he was brought on as a partner. It is so clearly his home, and standing side-by-side with GM Branden McRill, they are the gracious hosts. They are your new best friends welcoming you in.
Geek-out:
A gift for making people happy
A wine list like Pearl & Ash’s could easily be intimidating. At first glace it may seem asinine for such a small restaurant to have such an extensive list. But there is a point to it: happiness and service. Patrick isn’t in this to force some obscure hipster wine on every patron (unless you’re into that stuff, which I am, so yes please douse me in Poulsard). Patrick is pouring wine to make you happy. And he’s put together a list big enough to make sure there are many somethings in there that will do so without that lurking “I guess I’m supposed to like this” feeling.
Patrick: I like the fact that it’s an experience for other people. I love the experience of being in the restaurant, the wine is just a vehicle to make that fun. Maybe it’s a bottle that’s super small production, hard to find, old… I like putting these things in reach for regular customers. Wine should be fun and delicious. [The wines] are always for the people sitting in the restaurant, it’s not about what I like. I’d rather just be drinking beers and eating tacos.
Bringing it back to the two-foot saber
It was the party after the Times review that planted the flag on SabertownUSA. A flag in the form of the “demon slayer sword” Patrick found on eBay, and #SabertownUSA christened by friends and regulars Dean Santon (AKA @RockandRhone) and Bryan Garcia (AKA @Corkhoarder). At some point in every night, the show kicks off. A bottle of bubbly is ordered, or perhaps Patrick just gets the sabering itch. There’ll likely be nostalgic new wave jams playing. People are happily dining, drinking, maybe even a few Molly Ringwald-esque dance moves will be happening. And Patrick will hop up on the bar. The saber is handed to him. With a victorious stroke and boyish grin, the cork is flying, the crowd is cheering, and glasses are filled. If you’re standing close enough, one will probably be handed to you.
Patrick: There always seems to be a party. It’s a nightly tradition.
So go - eat, drink, be merry and meet the King of SabertownUSA.
Pearl & Ash
220 Bowery
New YorkPatrick also hosts monthly wine dinners at Pearl & Ash: Renegade Wine Dinner
Tasty saberables:
Text: Julia Weinberg
