Boulder
The restaurant list
Where we’ve filmed
This is not a directory of wine bars. It’s the 17 restaurants on the episodes — Denver first, New Orleans, Boulder and San Francisco now on the list. When we film another, it grows.
San Francisco
Californios
San Francisco
Mister Jiu’s
Denver
Hey Kiddo
Caroline calls it good and fun wine. Then she handed us a non-vintage Grüner and a Colorado Riesling and nobody got a single grape right.
Wine pro: Caroline Clark
Dish: Smacked cucumber salad
Denver
Dear Emilia
All Italian, all red, and Scott changed the scoring on us for one night.
Wine pro: Scott Thomas
Dish: Gemelli, lion’s mane, pinto-bean miso
Denver
Tavernetta
Carlin picks for Frasca’s tables. She brought chicories and truffle and did not make it easy on anybody.
Wine pro: Carlin Karr
Dish: Chicories, truffle, hazelnut
Denver
Coperta
Paul cooks here and picked the wine here, which is not usually how this goes.
Wine pro: Paul Reilly
Dish: Mushroom-and-bean soup
Denver
Pig and Tiger
Cold sesame noodles in October. Travis went somewhere I would not have gone.
Wine pro: Travis Masar
Dish: Cold sesame noodles
Denver, RiNo
BearLeek
Carlos poured, Rema cooked, and the tomato-and-melon plate is the one I still think about.
Wine pro: Carlos Meza
Dish: Tomato and melon
Denver
Somebody People
This is where Sam and Justin actually work, so it is the room we keep coming back to. Vegetable-forward, and nobody there makes a thing about it.
Wine pro: Sam Maher
Dish: Vegan pot pie · roasted carrot with Thai chili garlic
Denver
Odell’s Bagel / The Counter
Bagels in the morning, handrolls at night. Paul picked around all of it.
Wine pro: Paul Lysek
Dish: Vegan handrolls
Denver
Hop Alley
Jacob poured three and the dish was snow pea leaves. I did not know snow pea leaves were called dragon whiskers until that day.
Wine pro: Jacob Roadhouse
Dish: Dragon whiskers
Denver
ESP Hi-Fi
A record bar that pours real wine. We shot Chefs vs. Sommeliers here and it got loud.
Wine pro: Aiyana Thoma
Dish: Bar small bites
New Orleans
Saint-Germain
First one outside Denver. A star on St Claude Avenue and a French omelette I am still thinking about.
Wine pro: Marie-Louise Friedland
Dish: French omelette, white asparagus
Episode 15 — on YouTube
New Orleans
Zasu
Pimento cheese inside a pierogi. Sue Zemanick’s kitchen, and it works.
Wine pro: Chris Cuddihee
Dish: Pimento-cheese pierogi
Episode 16 — on YouTube
Denver
Safta
Alon picked the wine and made the dish, which broke the format in the best possible way.
Wine pro: Alon Shaya
Dish: Wood-oven cabbage on muhammara
Episode 17 — on YouTube
Denver
Beckon
Eighteen seats, one Michelin star, and a kohlrabi course. Andrew poured.
Wine pro: Andrew Bouton
Dish: Kohlrabi with truffles
Episode 18 — on YouTube
The one-liners are the studio’s drafts off the episodes, checked 16 Aug 2026; Chris rewrites any he wants.
The list