Happy Holidays, Humans!
Bear here. I was first inspired to create a dinner party experience experiment while traveling by foot in Buenos Aires. Having given up on the cheffing game at a dark point in my life, I stumbled upon a parrilla grilling the fattest, juiciest steak I'd ever seen. This is where I fell head over heels for cow. That same evening I attended a puertas cerradas dinner at a private residence that changed my life.
Food has always been central to the experiences I create, but I also make sure to pair it with the finest wine I can get my paws on. And few realize that wine was my first love, even before I became the chef you know me to be.
I was an adolescent bear when I had my first gulp of wine. I remember like it was yesterday, stolen from a human campsite by my older, bad bear cousin Rico (RIP). Red wine – I loved the stuff and spent the next year or so devouring campsites, flipping over airstreams, and digging through Coleman coolers to find it. Years later when I arrived in France, my love for wine was refined. French wine opened up my pallet in a way I couldn't have imagined when I was drinking the boxed stuff from Alaska in my youth.
From this love I created an experimental Wine by Bear program in the late 2010s, where we hosted educational Tuesday night tastings with myself and my sommelier friend. During the COVID lockdown, we continued that experiment with Virtual Wine by Bear, where Osito and his friend delivered handpicked wines and paired plates to your homes throughout San Diego and then gathered you all for a virtual tasting.
I’ve been feeling rather nostalgic lately – and wanting to offer you all something special for the holiday season – so I’ve decided to revive my Wine by Bear campaign in a new iteration for the end of 2023!
From December 20th to 23rd, our partner restaurant, Nolita Hall, will be assisting me with the Wine by Bear Pop-up! You can order wines through our website and pick them up at the Nolita Hall between 3pm and 7pm – I’ll be there on Wednesday December 20th (at Nolita House, 2314 India Street) offering bear hugs too, or a holiday high five if you prefer! That Wednesday we will be handing out orders and offering a retail shopping experience--I hope to see you there!
We have a variety of super hard to find and delicious offerings, and I think you’ll find something for everyone who will be at your holiday table. (I do want to specifically mention have one single magnum bottle of Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo that retails at $1200 but my team and I are offering it for $600.) If your tastes are a little less refined, don’t worry, we have affordable bottles you will love. Head on over to our ordering page and take a look at the full offering of wines - you won't be disappointed!
