Bestia

Wine director: Ryan Ibsen Floor sommelier(s): Ibsen, Brett Watson, Jake Malmberg

Number of wines on the list: Roughly 125 Number of white/red: Currently 65 red, 45 white and some rosé and fizzy stuff

Least expensive: $45 Most expensive: $750 Median bottle price: $100 Percentage of domestic/imported: 25/75 Number of wines by the glass: 21

A pairing: Slow-roasted lamb neck with arugula, pickled fennel, black sesame, dill and salsa

verde; paired with Caves Cooperatives de Donnas 2016 Nebbiolo Rosato ‘Larmes du Paradis’ Valle d’Aosta. “Many folks will see ‘roast’ and ‘lamb’ and move toward putting together a hearty, rustic red wine pairing experience. That would work if you removed all other accouterments from the plate; the

salsa verde, the pickled fennel, the dill, the arugula and the chile lemon vinaigrette are all at odds with 95% of red wines. And yet, underneath all that, is a large piece of very slowly cooked lamb. The Donnas rosato provides a red wine-ish oomph to meet the lamb, yet all the freshness and brightness that the remaining ingredients need.” Wine the chef has with dinner: “Menashe often has a grilled branzino at the end of service, covered in fried herbs and accompanied with grilled lemon. I’ve given him a glass of Pigato or Vermentino (from Bisson, Punta Crena, etc.) from Liguria. Something that works in harmony in terms of flavor, and connects geographically.” Advice for the adventurous diner: “A complete Bestia experience can be had without so much as a drop of red wine, or a heavily oaked white, or anything so assertive that it commands you, instead of you it. We try to use what we might call ‘big’ wine sparingly, preferring a kind of slow build that allows for plenty of bright, supporting refreshment up front.”