Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 <a href="https://www.jamesbeard.org/awards">James Beard Awards!</a> These talented individuals and establishments have demonstrated exceptional skills and contributed to the culinary world in remarkable ways. Here&#39;s a praise for each winner:

&nbsp;

Outstanding Chef: Rob Rubba of Oyster Oyster in Washington, D.C., showcases a mastery of flavors and a commitment to sustainable and plant-based cuisine.

Outstanding Restaurant: Friday Saturday Sunday in Philadelphia, PA, captivates diners with its impeccable service, innovative dishes, and an inviting atmosphere.

Best New Restaurant: Kann in Portland, OR, brings a fresh and exciting culinary experience to the city, pushing boundaries and delighting taste buds.

Outstanding Restaurateur: Ellen Yin, the driving force behind High Street Hospitality Group, including Fork, a.kitchen + bar, and High Street Philly in Philadelphia, PA, has created a dining empire known for its exceptional quality and diverse offerings.

Outstanding Hospitality: The Quarry in Monson, ME, stands out for its warm and welcoming atmosphere, ensuring that guests feel truly cared for.

Emerging Chef: Damarr Brown of Virtue in Chicago, IL, has emerged as a rising star, showcasing culinary creativity and a deep passion for his craft.

Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: Margarita Manzke of R&eacute;publique in Los Angeles, CA, creates stunning desserts that are as visually captivating as they are delicious.

Outstanding Bakery: Yoli Tortilleria in Kansas City, MO, crafts artisanal tortillas that elevate any meal with their authentic taste and texture.

Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program: Ototo in Los Angeles, CA, offers an impeccable selection of wines and other beverages that enhance the dining experience with every sip.

Outstanding Bar: Bar Leather Apron in Honolulu, HI, is a haven for cocktail enthusiasts, delivering exceptional libations with skill and flair.

Best Chef: Midwest: Itaru Nagano and Andrew Kroeger of Fairchild in Madison, WI, create a culinary symphony, fusing local ingredients with inventive techniques.

Best Chef: Mountain: Kris Komori of KIN in Boise, ID, showcases the diverse flavors of the region, combining culinary traditions with contemporary flair.

Best Chef: South: Natalia Vallejo of Cocina al Fondo in San Juan, PR, celebrates the vibrant flavors of Puerto Rican cuisine with a modern twist.

Best Chef: Northeast: Sherry Pocknett of Sly Fox Den Too in Charlestown, RI, captivates diners with her creative dishes rooted in indigenous ingredients and traditions.

Best Chef: Southwest: Andrew Black of Grey Sweater in Oklahoma City, OK, dazzles diners with his innovative approach to regional ingredients and bold flavors.

Best Chef: Southeast: Terry Koval of The Deer and the Dove in Decatur, GA, showcases a deep understanding of Southern cuisine, blending tradition with contemporary techniques.

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic: Chutatip &ldquo;Nok&rdquo; Suntaranon of Kalaya in Philadelphia, PA, takes diners on a culinary journey through the flavors of Thailand, beautifully balancing authenticity and innovation.

Best Chef: New York State: Junghyun Park of Atomix in New York, NY, crafts refined and intricate dishes that pay homage to Korean cuisine with a contemporary twist.

Best Chef: California: Justin Pichetrungsi of Anajak Thai in Sherman Oaks, CA, showcases the rich and complex flavors of Thai cuisine, creating a memorable dining experience.

Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific: Vince Nguyen of Berlu in Portland, OR, presents a menu that celebrates the bounty of the Pacific Northwest, highlighting local and sustainable ingredients.

Best Chef: Texas: Benchawan Jabthong Painter of Street to Kitchen in Houston, TX, brings the vibrant and diverse flavors of Thai street food to the heart of Texas, creating an unforgettable culinary experience.

Best Chef: Great Lakes: Tim Flores and Genie Kwon of Kasama in Chicago, IL, craft innovative Filipino-inspired dishes that celebrate the flavors and traditions of their heritage.

&nbsp;

Special mentions for the wine-related categories:

&nbsp;

Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program: Ototo in Los Angeles, CA, impresses with its curated wine selection, showcasing a diverse range of varietals and regions.

Outstanding Bar: Bar Leather Apron in Honolulu, HI, offers an exceptional selection of wines, spirits, and cocktails, ensuring a memorable drinking experience for all.

&quot;At CorkRules we&rsquo;d like to congratulate&nbsp;the winners of the 2023 James Beard Awards! You inspire us with your passion and innovation. The restaurant industry continues to reimagine itself and these winners are leading the inspiration&rdquo;, Robert Tas, CEO/Founder of CorkRules.

Cheers to all the winners.&nbsp;

Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 James Beard Awards! These talented individuals and establishments have demonstrated exceptional skills and contributed to the culinary world in remarkable ways. Here's a praise for each winner

2023 James Beard Award Winners Spotlight

1803 is a Cajun restaurant that brings a little of New Orleans’ eclectic culture to the streets of New York. It’s a sexy, sultry space with a penchant for Deep South decadence and jazz. For a memorable culinary experience, this is the place to bring a date.

Pairing Wine with Cajun Food at 1803

Drops of God, the popular manga series by Tadashi Agi and Shu Okimoto, has been adapted into a television series by AppleTV and has some buzz in the wine world. The AppleTV series tells a story about a competition between Camille's (Fleur Geffrier) estranged daughter and Issei (Tomohisa Yamashita), the protégé after the death of Camille's father, a famous wine collector, to win his world-renowned wine collection valued at $100M+.

Drops of God: The AppleTV Series That Could Save the Wine Industry

Certified sommelier and CorkRules’ resident Somm, Michaela Quinlan shares her expertise on the wine list of il Buco. il Buco’s wine cellar holds a selection of over 400 wines and includes an exciting range of lesser-known, artisan wines from Europe. This restaurant has been called "one of the best and most exciting in America" by Gourmet magazine and the wine list has won Wine Spectator’s "Award of Excellence" several times.

Artisan Wines at Il Buco

Orange wine is made from white grapes, but the skin stays in contact with the juice longer during the maceration period, which increases the tannins and turns the normally white wine a more golden hue. The longer the contact,  the darker the hue, which increases the tannins and a stronger intensity. Pinot gris and malvasia are two common grape varieties used to make orange wine, but if you dig a little deeper, explore a little further, you can find some delightful orange wines along the border between northeastern Italy and Slovenia where orange wines are madefrom indigenous grapes on the region, including sauvignon vert (friulano), ribolla gialla, and pinot grigio.

Pairing Orange Wines at Pasquale Jones

The Lobster Club in the Seagram Building, New York City is a Japanese Brasserie that is renowned for its unique interpretation of Japanese cooking and Sushi, and what’s even more exciting is that it has an extensive wine list.

Fine Wines at The Lobster Club

Unless you are born into a vineyard, grow up in wine country, a career in wine is not a go-to profession for most graduates. But for some people, their love of wine and career path are intertwined. This is how it was for Jane Lopes, sommelier, co-founder of Legend Imports, and author of Vignette: Stories of Life and Wine in 100 Bottles.

Stories of Wine & Life with Jane Lopes, Sommelier, Author and Co-Founder of Legend Imports

CorkRules has been presented with the BMMA ‘Best New Mobile App” Platinum award, the highest award achievement in category.

CorkRules Wins the 2023 BMMA Platinum Award for "Best New Mobile App"

Pairing wine with Asian food is a common dilemma. Just what should you order with the Spicy Yellowtail Yu Sheng or the Mongolian Lamb Chops? How do we make palatable choices that cross cultures and bring out the best in each location’s use of herbs and spices?

Pairing Wine with Asian Food at Buddakan

Terra Wood Fired Kitchen

Grace Hood, wine educator and certified sommelier, and Robert Tas review the wine list at Terra in Los Angeles

Wine List Review of Terra, Los Angeles

Grace Hood

Terra

Terra

RT: Hello and welcome to CorkRules!&nbsp;

A podcast where, in each episode,&nbsp;we will review a winelist from your favorite restaurants. I&rsquo;m your host Robert Tas along with Grace Hood, wine educator and certified sommelier. Hello Grace,&nbsp;it&rsquo;s great to have you!

GH: Hey hey Robert!

RT : Before we jump in, let&rsquo;s talk about CorkRules. We created CorkRules to demystify wine list&rsquo;s because we know from experience, that sometimes when we get that list handed to us, well&hellip; it can be intimidating, and even a little daunting.

Our aim is to help prepare you to navigate that list, find those hidden gems, or value wines or that special bottle that will take your dining experience over the top.

RT:&nbsp;So, sit back and listen as we review your favorite wine list. So, Grace you&rsquo;ve been spending more time eating and drinking all over Los Angeles, is that correct?

GH: That it is indeed Robert! I&rsquo;ve loved being able to have these firsthand experiences to be able to bring to the podcast.

RT: We love that for you Grace. Appreciate your time, mind and liver ha-ha so what are we reviewing today?

GH: Today we will be chatting about Terra, which is the beautiful rooftop restaurant that is inside the Eataly marketplace! I had lunch there the other day and it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon &nbsp;

RT: The life you lead Grace. Where would you like to start us?

GH: So as many industry insiders know, Eataly is part of the Batali and Bastianich restaurant group. And I note this b/c for every restaurant wine list in this company, it will match the cuisine. So for instance, I was a sommelier at the Batali and Bastinach Spanish restaurant Casa Mono in New York City. And since it was a Spanish menu, it had an Spanish wine list. The same goes at Terra, except it&rsquo;s an all-Italian menu with all Italian wine list.

RT: Bellisima! I love it. So where would you start us on this all-Italian list?

GH: Well, it&rsquo;s a pretty reasonable 3 pages, and I love that not only have they broken it down by the usual red White sparkling rose, but they also have subcategories for the aromatics in the wine. So, for the sparkling they have &ldquo;fizzy and stimulating&rdquo; as well as &ldquo;Complex and elegant&rdquo;&nbsp; &nbsp;

RT: Which are definitely descriptors for this podcast hahaha

GH: hahaha absolutely Robert! Under the fizzy and stimulating, I would go with this Bollicinie rose from Serafini and Vidotto, and under the complex and elegant I would pick the Trento Doc Brut from Ferrari vineyards &nbsp;

RT: Oh yum those sound really unique and interesting. Can&rsquo;t wait to hear from they have for the white categories. &nbsp;

GH: So, starting with &ldquo;light Bright and floral&rdquo; I would choose this gruner veltliner from Alto Adige, mainly b/c you don&rsquo;t see a lot of gruner veltliner production outside of Austria. Or if you wanted a more classic light bright floral Italian white &ndash; can&rsquo;t go wrong with vermentino 

RT: Oh, Italian Gruner sounds amazing. Def interested in trying that. &nbsp;&nbsp;

GH: And then we move into their next category for whites which is &ldquo;rich and lavish&rdquo; aka what I aim to be hahaha and under that I would pick the Etna Bianco from Sicily 

RT: We&rsquo;ll all be rich and lavish once this podcast takes off Grace! &nbsp;

GH: Love that for us Robert! I think next category describes my current state &ldquo;complex and m&eacute;dium bodied&rdquo; hahaha and for my wine pick I would go with this Fruiliano from the House of Bastianich

RT: I see the last category is &ldquo;unusual and esoteric&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;

GH: Color me intrigued in this category for sure! They&rsquo;re skin contact whites aka Orange wines! I think this Verdiccio Reserva would be an interesting choice.

RT: Awesome. Does that bring us to reds?

GH: It sure does Robert. Starting off we have &ldquo;soft and medium bodied&rdquo; and I would go with the 2013 Dolcetto from Piedmont. Moving right along into the next category which is &ldquo;elegant full and sophisticated&rdquo; they have a Bollicinie rose from Serafini and Vidotto which def caught my eye.

RT: Very cool. Those are two I haven&rsquo;t heard of in a while. Always fun to revisit some styles we haven&rsquo;t tried in a while. Is the last red category something like &ldquo;full bodied and rich?

GH: Very close! It&rsquo;s &ldquo;full and luscious&rdquo; which sounds like a hair care advertisement hahah but also def describes the wines in this category. My pick would be the 2013 Brunello di Montalcino. And that&rsquo;s amore!

RT: hahahah grazie mille &ndash; Grace, thank you so much for helping us navigate the wine list at Terra. &nbsp;To our audience, thank you all for joining us here on CorkRules.&nbsp; If you would like us to review one of your favorite restaurants, please send us email to: <a href="mailto:Info@corkrules.Com">Info@CorkRules.Com</a> or visit our web website where we have a request form available and we will do our best to get it in the queue as quickly as possible.

We are looking forward to being with you on another CorkRules episode soon. In the meantime, please check out our website for other episodes of your favorite restaurant wine lists. Follow us on social media @CorkRules and @wineswithgrace

&nbsp;

And finally, drink what you love and please make sure you drink responsibly.

&nbsp;

Thank you.

&nbsp;

End

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&nbsp;

Meson

Dear Annie

Rossoblu

Lago

Le Farfalle

Petit Trois

The Red Dory

Audrey

Cowboy Star

California/Mediterranean-influenced American cuisine & many wines in a contemporary setting.

Cracked by Chef Adrianne

Chef Adrianne's

Dear Margaret

Brennan's Restaurant

Brennan's

Freya

Elvie's

COTE Miami

Cote Miami

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Join us each week as we pour a glass and share top restaurant ‘wine list’ picks, providing you with the knowledge to confidently navigate the ‘wine list’ through somm recommendations, suggested food pairings and masterclass insights.

Porter Creek Hardwood Grill

CK Mondavi

Cabernet Sauvignon NV

California, USA

Canyon Road

Moscato NV

California, USA

Honoro Vera

Garnacha NV

Calatayud, Spain

Columbia Crest

Grand Estates Syrah NV

Columbia Valley, USA

Francis Ford Coppola Winery

Diamond Collection Claret NV

California, USA

Berton Vineyard

The Black Shiraz (Metal) NV

South Eastern Australia, Australia

McManis

Petite Sirah NV

California, USA

Hinojosa

Malbec NV

Mendoza, Argentina

Charles & Charles

Rose NV

Washington, USA

Hinojosa

Don Silvestre Malbec 2014

Mendoza, Argentina

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Indian Wells Cabernet Sauvignon NV

Washington, USA

The Hess Collection

Shirtail Ranches Pinot Noir NV

Central Coast, USA

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Pinot Gris NV

Columbia Valley, USA

The Hess Collection

Shirtail Ranches Sauvignon Blanc NV

North Coast, USA

Piattelli

Premium Torrontes NV

Cafayate, Argentina