Bar Pilar

Bar Pilar Newsletter (August 28)

Pilar Brito — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 15:03:02 GMT

Hi BP Crew!

Since starting a new job, my summer has been significantly less glamorous than last year’s — which, for those keeping track, involved approximately two months in France and a bunch of parties and castles and boats. This summer has been more of a “baking in Los Angeles, working, occasionally going to a very good restaurant” situation, and honestly, it’s still been really nice. The heat here in August is its own kind of experience.

But! I am leaving for a final bit of EuroSummer over Labor Day weekend, which I’m very excited about, and will report back in full on where I stayed and what I ate and drank. I will say this has been the most last-minute I have ever tried to plan a trip anywhere during peak season, and while it is going to work out thanks to some very gracious and well-connected friends, I would not necessarily recommend my approach to anyone!!

If you had any wine, food, or hotel highlights from your summer travels, please share in the comments — I want to hear everything.

Bar Seat with Bobby Stuckey: Co-Founder of Frasca Food & Wine, Master Sommelier, and Multi-Time James Beard Award Winner

Pilar Brito — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 16:01:29 GMT

There is a moment in the early days of researching a career change — with limited connections or insights, still skeptical of your own instincts, and still largely invisible to the world you want to enter — when one unreturned email or one dismissive phone call can quietly end the whole dream before it begins. Bobby Stuckey is the reason that moment didn’t happen to me when I was finding my own path into the wine world. A mutual friend passed along my name via email,, and Bobby, one of the most decorated figures in American hospitality (a man who has served Julia Child, Thomas Keller, and thousands of guests who count Frasca Food and Wine among the great experiences of their lives), simply picked up the phone. No public profile required. No credentials to speak of. No reason whatsoever to extend that kind of generosity to a complete stranger. He did it anyway. That, as it turns out, is exactly who Bobby Stuckey is.

His career arc is one of the most remarkable in the American hospitality industry. He started bussing tables in Arizona in 1983 and has, by his own cheerful admission, never really stopped. He spent five celebrated years at The Little Nell in Aspen before moving to The French Laundry under Thomas Keller — where, within his first year, he led the team to the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Wine Service Award and was named Wine Director of the Year by San Francisco Magazine. It was at The French Laundry that he met his future business partner, chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson, and where the two began dreaming about a neighborhood restaurant rooted in the food and wine of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In 2004, they opened Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado. Twenty-one years later, Frasca holds a Michelin star, four James Beard Awards, and the 2025 Outstanding Restaurant honor, and Bobby still cheerfully works the floor five nights a week. In 2024 he received Food & Wine Magazine’s Mentorship Award, the same year the award had been given to Jacques Pépin, and in 2025 he was named the eleventh recipient of the Julia Child Award — the most significant recognition in American gastronomy — presented to him by Thomas Keller himself. He directed the accompanying $50,000 grant to an endowed scholarship for first-generation hospitality students at Northern Arizona University, his alma mater. Bobby Stuckey is what this industry looks like when someone takes its traditions seriously enough to carry them forward, and takes other peoples’ dreams seriously enough to pick up the phone. He is, as a result, exactly who you’d want to sit next to at a wine bar. Pull up a stool and pour a glass.

Let’s start with our usual fun introduction - can you describe the first experience you had that really opened your mind to the magic of wine? (It can be a bottle, a specific visit, a specific dinner, something someone said to you that stuck, etc.)

Bar Pilar Newsletter (August 2)

Pilar Brito — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 16:02:27 GMT

Hi BP Crew!

I spent the past week in New York, which means I spent the past week drinking an objectively unhealthy (but subjectively fabulous) amount of Champagne and getting considerably less sleep than I do in LA. What I’ve been finding comforting as I’ve swapped between the two cities is how irrelevant the LA versus New York question is becoming for me personally. I seem to see everyone between the two cities at a reasonable cadence. The sleep deficit, I’m working on.

I also spent last weekend at my ten-year college reunion, which was actually very, very lovely. One of the more touching moments: being stopped repeatedly by people who had been watching and enjoying my wine content over the past few years. At a school that was, let’s say, better known for its beer pong scene than its sommelier culture, that felt particularly heartwarming. Overall the weekend was nostalgic in the best possible way — low-key, kind, and a good reminder that the people you came up with tend to find their way back to you. If you’re on the fence about going to yours, I’d recommend it.

One more note before we dig into this newsletter: I have a very exciting “Bar Seat” interview for you guys going live in the next couple of weeks. I’m featuring one of the most respected voices in hospitality and wine, and someone who relishes his role as a mentor to younger generations more than almost anyone I’ve met. I’m so excited for you guys to hear from him soon, so keep an eye out!

Alright, let’s get into it!

Bar Pilar Newsletter (July 17)

Pilar Brito — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:01:13 GMT

Hi BP Crew!

I’m getting settled back into life in LA, which I expect will be home base for a while. As much as I love New York (and have a million people I love there) I’m really happy about it. I’ll spare you the full personal update for now (things are still evolving and I’d rather talk about wine and restaurants and hotels, which is why you’re all here anyway!), but I promise I’ll give a fuller picture soon. What I will say is that LA in the summer is reminding me of why this place feels so much like home: the light in the mornings, the bougainvillea, the ability to step outside without ever checking the weather, the farmer’s markets (the produce here is hard to give us), the casual beauty. After the pace of New York, it feels like a long exhale.

Before we get into our newsletter: last week’s Bar Seat featured Eric Asimov, the Chief Wine Critic of the New York Times, and I really do hope you read it if you haven’t. Eric has spent more than forty years at the Times and more than twenty as its Chief Wine Critic — an increasingly rare position in today’s media landscape. His self-taught, curiosity-driven path to one of the most influential wine voices in the country, and his longstanding argument against the scores and tasting-note theater that the wine world hides behind, make for a conversation I’m very honored to have had. He’s also been a wonderful friend to this community.

As always, this post is probably too long for email. Be sure to click “View Full Message” if you’re receiving it to your inbox.

Bar Seat with Eric Asimov: Chief Wine Critic of The New York Times

Pilar Brito — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 14:02:21 GMT

There are wine critics, and then there is Eric Asimov. Across more than four decades at The New York Times (a tenure pretty much unheard of in today’s day and age), including more than twenty years as its Chief Wine Critic, Asimov has become one of the wine world’s most influential voices and one of the few full-time wine critics still working at a major American newspaper — a position that carries weight precisely because it is increasingly rare in a sea of “influencers” (like yours truly).

But despite the fact that Asimov’s platform is increasingly rare, his self-taught, non-linear path to his current position represents a highly contemporary attitude towards wine. He has had no formal training in food, wine, or journalism — he came up through American Studies and national news editing, fell in love with wine as a graduate student in Austin, and gradually carved out one of the most consequential positions in food media entirely through curiosity, self-education, and a very particular instinct for what good writing sounds like.

His book How to Love Wine built an entire argument against the anxiety, point scores, and tasting-note theater that the wine world tends to hide behind, and that same philosophy animates his column. He is a champion of the small, the overlooked, and the affordable. He writes about wine as a cultural journalist first and a technical authority second, which is exactly why his voice cuts through where so many others don’t. He’s also a long time friend of Bar Pilar and the community we’ve built here, which has been an incredible honor. In the short time I’ve known him personally (my familiarity with his writing spans many years), he’s proven to be thoughtful, kind, unpretentious, nuanced, and rightfully opinionated.

Eric is, in short, one of the best bar-seat companions the world of wine has to offer. Pull up a stool and grab a glass!

Bar Pilar Newsletter (June 28)

Pilar Brito — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:57:41 GMT

Hi BP Crew!

I’m back in LA for a while, getting back on my feet after a tumultuous few months of personal change. I’ll still be in New York quite a bit, but I’m happy to be re-stabilizing in what really feels like my hometown at this point — it’s been a joy to get a slower pace of daily life than in NYC. I’m still debating how much of my personal life to share here (I know the whole thing with being an “influencer” is being open and vulnerable, but I’m naturally pretty private and posting online at all is already a big stretch for me!) — but I do appreciate those of you who have checked in when you’ve noticed I’ve been posting less. I’m definitely on the other side of things at this point, and looking forward to getting back into making some videos again soon.

Let’s get into it.

As always, this post is too long for email. Be sure to click “View Full Message” if you’re receiving it to your inbox.

WINE

Académie launched this week, which I think is one of the most exciting new labels in American wine in a long time. I should be transparent that two of the founding members are close personal friends who have been unbelievably supportive of my journey, so I have a particular soft spot here — but the project speaks entirely for itself.

Bar Seat with Graeme and Alex MacDonald of MACDONALD Vineyards

Pilar Brito — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 17:00:37 GMT

Some people (mostly outside of this community) won’t understand why I’m doing this interview. And guess what? I don’t care about those people. Because when it comes to MACDONALD, those who know, know. And those who know will absolutely freak out that I got this interview. Huge thanks to Alex and Graeme for taking time away from the vines for this very special feature.

In a valley full of bold names, flashy labels, and eight-figure marketing budgets, Alex and Graeme MacDonald make perhaps the most sought-after wine in Napa with almost no public profile at all. Uncompromising and visionary are words often used when trying to describe them. The MacDonald story begins four generations back, when their great-grandparents, reluctantly, paid $400 an acre in 1954 for a parcel of land in Oakville that sat within what would become known as the historic To Kalon Vineyard. For the six decades that followed, the family quietly and expertly grew Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and sold them exclusively to Robert Mondavi (who himself called the family “the best grape-growers in the Napa Valley”) — on a handshake — fruit that became the backbone of his legendary Reserve and To Kalon bottlings. For years, nobody outside the Valley knew who the MacDonalds were, and they were fine with that.

Then, in 2010, Alex and Graeme — brothers who had grown up playing in that vineyard as children and who had to convince their own family to sell them the fruit at full price before they could begin — released their first vintage under the MACDONALD label (just 92 cases). Today, with annual production capped at around 350 to 500 cases, sourced from vines aged 50 to 70 years old, and a waiting list of over 14,000 names grown from word of mouth marketing only, MACDONALD has a reputation that places it in the same breath as (or, some would say, a whispered breath above) Screaming Eagle and Harlan. My posts featuring their bottles or visits to their vineyards have been met with a flurry of DMs from in-the-know wine collectors exclaiming “you got off the waitlist?!” or “wait you actually got to meet them?!”

I had the privilege of meeting Graeme — who holds a degree in viticulture and enology from UC Davis, manages every vine himself with meticulous GIS mapping and organic dry-farming methods — and Alex — who expertly runs the business — last summer in Napa through a mutual friend, fellow winemaker Chris Morisoli. For people of such acclaim in a notoriously (and often mistakenly) snooty industry, they’re remarkably laid back, humble, and fun. They’re the kind of people you could be sitting next to at the bar, and have no indication of who they are or what they’ve accomplished. Neither of them seems particularly interested in attention. Their wine, however, commands it absolutely. Pour a glass and pull up a bar seat!

Bar Pilar Newsletter (June 11)

Pilar Brito — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 20:25:24 GMT

Hi BP Crew!

First, a quick programming note following up on my last newsletter: I’m settling into a new phase of life (a good one! we are out of the woods!) and finding my rhythm as I do. Going forward, you can expect two newsletters per month with a Bar Seat interview dropping in between them. It feels like a sustainable and exciting cadence which allows me to invest the proper amount of effort into securing and executing on great Bar Seat interviews for you guys.

Speaking of Bar Seat: our next interview comes out next week and I am so pumped for you to read it. It’s wine-focused, it’s not an easy one to secure, and I think a lot of you are going to freak out about it. I feel very lucky to be able to share this one with this community.

In the meantime, I’m spending these last weeks in New York eating my way around the city before heading back to California for a stretch this summer — just in time for the humidity to roll in — and there is a lot to cover. Let’s get into it.

As always, this post is too long for email. Be sure to click “View Full Message” if you’re receiving it to your inbox.

WINE

My farewell-to-New-York eating and drinking has been nothing short of spectacular, with two dining rooms in particular producing wine lineups I need to run you through in some detail.

The first is Roscioli, which has quickly become one of my favorite places in the city. Hugo, Mattia and the whole team put together a wildly thoughtful wine lineup.

Bar Seat with Marc Blazer: Former Executive Chairman of Noma, Co-Founder of PRIOR, and CEO and Co-Founder of Boutique Homes

Pilar Brito — Fri, 15 May 2026 12:05:20 GMT

It’s an extremely nuanced and unusual person who has the vision to be a dreamer, the taste to recognize genius early, the restraint to permit the creative process to unfold, and the business acumen to build an architecture around it. Marc Blazer is one of those rare — and quite private — figures in the world of food and hospitality. A serial entrepreneur, Blazer left his prestigious investment banking job in 2007 to invest in businesses that fueled his love of creativity and culture. This pivot led him to serve as the Executive Chairman of Noma — the restaurant that was voted the best in the world five times and largely defined contemporary fine dining — from 2013 to 2019, providing the requisite capital and business rigor to the organization. Under his stewardship, Noma grew from a single, lauded location on a Copenhagen dock into a global phenomenon with residencies in Tokyo, Mexico, and beyond.

But what would have been the magnum opus for most was just Blazer’s opening chapter. Since 2017, Blazer has served as the Co-Founder of PRIOR, a travel company built for the world’s most curious and sophisticated travelers with an impressive book of celebrity and tastemaker clients. Further, since 2022, he has led Boutique Homes as CEO and Co-Founder — a curated platform of handpicked homes and small hotels for the most discerning and design-minded travelers (Molly Baz is known to be a fan). He also sits on the board of the Australian Agricultural Company, one of the largest beef producers in the Southern Hemisphere, completing a professional portfolio that stretches from the world’s best dining room to the land where the food begins.

My conversations with Marc, who I met back in June of 2025, have been insightful, inspiring, and at times brutally honest. He’s one of the few people in the world who has managed to turn his dreams - and the dreams of others - into the functioning businesses they need to be to become reality, without compromising on quality or creativity. I hope this interview makes you feel like you’ve also had the privilege to be mentored by him over a glass of wine at the bar. Pull up a stool.

In the past couple of weeks, Marc has also launched his own Substack to share his unique perspective on the intersection of business, taste, and luxury hospitality. He has a wealth of insight that this one interview couldn’t possibly cover in full, so I highly encourage you to check out his page — The Considered Journey — as well.

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Bar Pilar Newsletter (May 9)

Pilar Brito — Sat, 09 May 2026 20:09:23 GMT

Hi BP Crew!

First, a genuine apology for my quieter-than-usual presence on Substack over the past few weeks. I’ve been going through some personal and life changes that I really wouldn’t wish on anyone — it’s been a whirlwind, and finding my rhythm has taken longer than I’d like. I’m also working on integrating the new Bar Seat interview series into my regular posting schedule, which has required more of my time and energy than I initially anticipated — because the guests deserve it. I’ll be settling on a new, more predictable newsletter cadence over the next few weeks once I’ve figured out what’s both realistic and lets me continue to bring you the caliber of guests you deserve for Bar Seat. In the meantime, I have an extra long newsletter for you today to make up for the silence.

And speaking of Bar Seat: I have a very special guest lined up for next week that I think you’re going to be genuinely thrilled about. We’ve been working on the Q&A together for the past few weeks and he is exactly the type of person I built this series for — the best at their craft and their business, deeply private, not on the podcast circuit, not doing the interview rounds. Exactly the person you’d want to serendipitously to sit next to at a bar. I’m not going to spoil it, but I promise it’s worth the wait.

As usual, this post is too long for email, so be sure to click “View Full Message” if you’re receiving it to your inbox. Let’s get into it.

This week’s Wine & Dine section is above the paywall thanks to the generous sponsorship of Constellation Brands.

WINE & DINE

I need to start in Las Vegas.

I actually love Vegas, but I know many of you don’t — stay with me. Because I want to give you a recap of the Alinea residency at Bellagio. Alinea, for the uninitiated, is the Chicago restaurant that Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas (our first-ever Bar Seat guest, which feels wonderfully full-circle) opened in 2005, with Jason Weingarten joining in 2024 as CEO, and which effectively changed the grammar of fine dining in America. It holds two Michelin stars, multiple James Beard Awards, and a place on the World’s 50 Best list, and it has always operated less like a restaurant and more like a piece of performance art that you also get to eat. This Las Vegas pop-up is the grand finale of Alinea’s 20th anniversary world tour — which has already made stops in Brooklyn, Miami Beach, Beverly Hills, and Tokyo — and it runs at the Bellagio’s Michael Mina space through May 31st.

Walking in is like stepping into a surrealist fever dream, and I mean that in the most flattering possible way. There are helium-filled taffy balloons you’re meant to suck before eating the shell. There is a genuinely anxiety-inducing “fear factor” course you have to earn your way through before arriving at Hokkaido scallops. The tablescapes are decked out with coconuts, palm fronds, and fog, and the whole evening has the feeling of being both utterly absurd and utterly intentional — which is, I think, exactly the point. As Achatz himself has said, Las Vegas has always been willing to think big and take risks, and this residency plays into that energy without sacrificing a single gram of the craft and precision that makes Alinea worth the pilgrimage.

What I want to highlight specifically, though, are the wines. Two of the pairings in particular have been living rent-free in my head since.

The Lingua Franca Sisters Chardonnay 2022 — which longtime readers will recognize, as I’ve featured it before and it’s become a genuine favorite (as is everything from Lingua Franca) — was paired with a snapper, heart of palm, and coconut course, and the match was close to perfect. This is a Burgundian-style Chardonnay from one of the Willamette Valley’s premier producers, fermented with wild yeast in puncheon, and the 2022 expresses that signature Sisters character: musk, incense, lemon blossom, and sea salt, with a textured, almost tactile richness that never tips into heaviness. Against the delicate sweetness of the snapper and the tropicality of the coconut, it was exactly right — complimentary without competing, coastal without being obvious.

The Double Diamond by Schrader Cellars 2022 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon — The widely acclaimed accessible tier of one of Napa’s most legendary wineries, crafted by winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown — was paired with Japanese A4 wagyu, and the fit was luxurious in exactly the way you’d want it to be. The 2022 brings black raspberry, toasted cedar, juicy plum, and a signature note of oolong tea, with intricately layered blackberry compote and dark chocolate on the palate, rounded by lively acidity and refined tannins that give it more structure and elegance than you might expect at this tier. The velvety tannins against the decadence of the wagyu fat created one of those moments where everything clicks. A wine that consistently punches above its weight.

Now, back in New York. The restaurant sprint continues, and I wanted to provide rapid-fire reviews of my latest and greatest hits.

Ambassador’s Clubhouse in NoMad immediately makes you feel like you’ve been let in on something. The restaurant takes inspiration from the party mansions of Northern India — which makes is feel like a warm, glamorous, and highly exclusive club — with a menu highlighting the rich culinary heritage of the Punjab region, from flavors found in roadside stalls and family kitchens, to royal palaces. The wine list, much like sister restaurant Gymkhana in London, is also fabulous (I treated myself to a bottle of Hundred Hills, one of England’s premier bubblies, which felt appropriate in a restaurant hailing from a UK hospitality group).

Stars hit me immediately as one of those rare recent openings that feels fully formed from the jump — very Euro-chic, precise, and generous with a very fashionable sensibility and crowd. It’s the kind of stand-up, beautifully decorated bar where you can linger from a while enjoying the (exceptional) wine list, or pop in for a pre-dinner drink. The kind of place that’s hard to find outside NYC, Paris, and London.

The Golden Swan is, I think, a near-perfect neighborhood restaurant. Located in a gorgeous West Village townhouse with a noticeable lack of tourists and a truly fabulous wine list (and knowledgeable team) - it’s cozy and and confident in a way that makes you want to become a regular.

Soothr is a Thai restaurant that I went into after having it recommended to me three times in one week. The cooking here has a real point of view — bold, fragrant, and genuinely exciting — and the room has an energy that matches it. It’s energetic, not overly fussy or expensive, and not the kind of Thai food that plays it safe or dilutes for a downtown crowd.

Chez Fifi is exactly the kind of French bistro that’s perfect for its discreet UES locale. Warm, intimate, a little romantic, with a thoughtful French wine list and a kitchen that clearly takes the classics seriously without treating them as untouchable. The kind of place you’d take someone on a third date or a friend visiting from Paris.

Shukette — a place which wasn’t on my radar until I needed a last minute reservation in Chelsea — was the real surprise of the past two weeks (though it seems like most others have already caught on, and I just somehow missed this). The Middle Eastern-inflected menu is bold and layered and exciting. The room buzzes with the energy of a night market, and the cooking full of smoke and spice and acid in all the right proportions.

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Finally, a collaboration I have to put on your radar: SingleThread, Kato, and Harbor House Inn are doing a joint dinner on June 18th in Healdsburg at SingleThread, and if you can get yourself there, you should. SingleThread is the three-Michelin-star farm-to-table jewel in Healdsburg that Kyle and Katina Connaughton have been running at the absolute top of their craft for nearly a decade, with a kaiseki-influenced approach to Northern California produce that puts it consistently on the World’s 50 Best list. Kato in Los Angeles is one of the most exciting and singular restaurants in the country, and Harbor House Inn on the Mendocino coast is a property I’ve been dying to get to, with one of the most ingredient-obsessed tasting menus in California. The dinner will trace a journey across the state, course by course, from the waters of Mendocino to the kitchens of Los Angeles to the fields of Sonoma. I’ve been to two of the three and would walk through a wall to go to the third. This is a meeting of California juggernauts, and I expect it to be transcendental.

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Bar Seat with Rob Wilder: Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of the José Andrés Group, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of World Central Kitchen

Pilar Brito — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 12:31:05 GMT

Rob Wilder is, by any measure, one of the most consequential behind-the-scenes figures in American hospitality - a founder and operator whose fingerprints are on multiple institutions that have genuinely changed the industry, even if his name isn’t always the one on the marquee. Starting off baking and selling quiches door-to-door at age 12 and founding an ice cream company out of college, Wilder made the bet that would define his career: in 1993, he hired a young, largely unknown José Andrés to helm a new Spanish restaurant called Jaleo. This was the beginning of a collaboration that has now spanned more than thirty years and produced one of the most celebrated restaurant empires in the world. The José Andrés Group has grown into a global operation with dozens of restaurants across Washington, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, and beyond, earning Wilder two Restaurateur of the Year awards from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington along the way.

But Wilder’s story doesn’t stop at the dining room door. In 2010, he and José Andrés co-founded World Central Kitchen (“WCK”) after deciding together that no existing food NGO was solving the problem of disaster relief the way a chef and an entrepreneur would. WCK has since resulted in hundreds of millions of meals served across nearly fifty countries in the wake of hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, and war.

Beyond all of this, Wilder has channeled decades of operational and financial expertise into the startup world, founding FoodTech Angels in 2015 and joining FTW Ventures as the first Venture Partner, backing early-stage companies reimagining the global food system. He has also been a mentor at TechStars, the Halcyon Incubator, and (as a Yale graduate himself) the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute.

I had the privilege of meeting Rob and his (equally awesome) wife, Robin, on a winemaking trip with The Vines through Mosel, Germany (they’re avid wine lovers and even make some of their own wine). Rob is insightful, candid, and remarkably humble. He is, in short, exactly the kind of person you’d want to be seated next to at a bar. I hope this interview gives you all the chance to feel like you’re able to pick his brain over the glass of wine.

Bar Pilar Newsletter (April 5)

Pilar Brito — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 23:05:50 GMT

Hi BP Crew!

This is a big one, but a few quick notes before we dive in:

First, the inaugural edition of Bar Seat — our new interview series featuring the world’s most accomplished guests across wine, dining, and hospitality — went up last week. Our first guest was none other than Nick Kokonas: co-founder of the Alinea Group and founder and former CEO of Tock. All of the “Bar Seat” interviews will feature guests you know and whose work you deeply respect, but who you’re unlikely to hear from regularly (often no huge social media presence, no podcast circuit). The goal is always to make you feel like you got incredibly lucky and happened to sit down next to these people at the bar and pick their brains over a glass of wine. Based on the messages I’ve received since our first feature went up — many of you saying Nick’s advice “really hit home” — I’m really excited to continue this. Our next interview, which I’m working on now, will feature Rob Wilder: Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of the José Andrés Group, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of World Central Kitchen, and Venture Partner at FTW Ventures. The breadth of what he has built — across hospitality, business, and global humanitarian work — is staggering, and I can’t wait for you guys to hear from him. Please drop a name in the comments if there’s someone you’d love to hear from!

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Bar Seat with Nick Kokonas: Co-Founder of the Alinea Group and Founder and CEO of Tock

Pilar Brito — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 19:35:15 GMT

It’s a rare person who looks at a notoriously difficult industry and sees not frustration, but opportunity. Nick Kokonas is perhaps the clearest embodiment of that rare archetype the hospitality world has ever produced. A philosophy major turned derivatives trader, Kokonas had no formal culinary training, no restaurant pedigree, and no particular reason to believe he could walk into fine dining and rewrite its rules. He did it anyway. In 2005, alongside chef Grant Achatz, he co-founded Alinea in Chicago - a restaurant that would go on to earn three Michelin stars, appear on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list thirteen consecutive times, and be named the best restaurant in America by virtually every publication that matters.

But he didn’t stop there. Where most restaurateurs saw a fancy dining room, Kokonas saw a system full of misaligned incentives. His fix was Tock - a reservation and ticketing platform built on the radical idea that a seat at a great restaurant should be priced and sold the way a concert ticket or an airline seat is, with deposits, dynamic pricing, and real data flowing back to the people running the kitchen. Tock was acquired by Squarespace for over $400 million in 2021 (and subsequently by American Express in 2024). By 2024, he had both stepped down as the CEO of Tock and sold his stake in the Alinea Group after nearly two decades at its helm.

His next act involves buying a vineyard in Napa Valley (he’s an avid wine connoisseur), and making his mark on the region. I was fortunate enough to meet him for a tour of his new vineyard over the summer, and he has since become an incredible mentor and friend. He’s brilliant, irreverent, fun, and disarmingly honest. I’m excited for you all to feel like you have a seat next to him at the bar here. Pull up a stool.

Bar Pilar Newsletter (March 15)

Pilar Brito — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:36:50 GMT

Hi BP Crew!

Big week over here. I’m officially settling into life in New York City - and tomorrow I started a new job (more details to come soon, I promise). It’s been a whirlwind, but the kind of whirlwind that comes with a lot of good energy and a lot of very good restaurants, which you’ll see reflected in an unusually long Dine section this week.

But first, the news I’m most excited to share: I’m thrilled to announce a brand new Bar Pilar written interview series called Bar Seat. The concept is exactly what it sounds like - I want you to feel like you got incredibly lucky and happened to sit down next to one of the most accomplished people in wine, dining, or hospitality, and got a few minutes to pick their brain over a glass of wine. These will be guests who are the best in the business (people you absolutely know of and whose work you admire) but who you’re unlikely to hear from regularly because they don’t have big social media followings or give frequent interviews pushed by the algorithm. The goal is intimacy and access: real career advice and real industry perspective, from people who have actually built something remarkable.

I’m starting with one interview per month, and I’m honored to announce that our first two guests will be as follows:

Nick Kokonas: Co-founder of the Alinea group, founder and former CEO of Tock, and now the owner of Tangle Ranch Vineyards.

Rob Wilder: Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of the José Andrés Group, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of World Central Kitchen, and Venture Partner at FTW Ventures.

Not too shabby, right?! I have a few more guests confirmed for later in the spring who are equally impressive, but I’ll hold those for a surprise. I’m hoping to have the first Bar Seat up before the end of this month - so keep your eyes peeled. And if there’s anyone you’d love to hear from, drop a name in the comments. I’m always listening.

Now let’s get into this week’s newsletter. As always, this post is too long for e-mail, so be sure to click “View Full Message” if you’re receiving it to your inbox.

WINE

The “Dine” section is long this week, so I’m keeping this section a bit tighter. I did, however, want to highlight two standout bottles from a quick stop I made at the James Suckling Wines of the World event a few weeks ago, plus one of the most memorable dessert pairings I’ve had in a very long time.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Cenerentola DOC Orcia - “Cenerentola” is Italian for Cinderella, referencing the fact that the underrated DOC of Orcia lives in the shadow its two more famous Tuscan sisters: Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. It’s a blend of Sangiovese paired with Foglia Tonda, an ancient indigenous Tuscan variety that had been essentially abandoned, but which produces a potent profile that is the ideal complement to Sangiovese. The result is a distinctly Tuscan wine that doesn’t taste like anything else in the region. It’s warm, harmonious, and has a structure that promises real longevity.

Bar Pilar Newsletter (March 2)

Pilar Brito — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 19:43:37 GMT

Hi BP Crew!

I had one last week in California before my move to New York, and I spent it soaking up the sunshine (the weather has been incredible - better than summer typically is), the produce and perfectly fresh seafood (uni!!!), my favorite California wines that are tough to get elsewhere, and the nature and coast up in Santa Barbara.

Leaving California feels bittersweet. It’s a place that is seemingly perfect every single day - the light, the weather, the access to nature, the effortless beauty of it all. But I felt I had to extract myself from it (at least temporarily) to continue growing in my career and personal life, and give myself a new adventure in NYC. There’s something about California that can be almost too comfortable, and I started to worry that I’d become someone content to be consumed by long yoga sessions and collagen smoothies for the rest of my life (which, let’s be real, I’m already naturally inclined towards). New York feels like the antidote: a place that demands more from me, that pushes me to be sharper, faster, more engaged. I’m excited for what’s ahead, even if saying goodbye to palm trees and 75-degree February days feels a insane.

I’ll share some personal updates soon on what I’ll be up to in New York and why I’ve been a little more MIA on Instagram lately, but right now I’m focused on getting settled into my new life!

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WINE, DINE & STAY

Bar Pilar Newsletter (February 23)

Pilar Brito — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 06:01:07 GMT

Hi BP Crew!

I’m spending my final full week in California, enjoying the 75+ degree weather and trying to process the fact that I have - of my own free will - elected to move to a place getting over a foot of snow right now (in all seriousness, I’m really excited. But also... yikes.) To distract myself, we’ll be getting right into today’s newsletter, which features:

A tech executive who actually gets great winemaking
Krug continues to be best-in-class in luxury marketing
Another superstar Nordic chef lands in L.A.
Why The Ned in New York misses the mark
A playlist inspired by ancient vines

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Bar Pilar Newsletter (February 17)

Pilar Brito — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 08:33:42 GMT

Hi BP Crew!

I’ve been manically packing up our L.A. home as we prepare to move to New York in March. There’s something bittersweet about seeing a place that we’ve decorated so thoughtfully (and recently!) come apart… watching the art come off the walls, the bookshelves empty out, the furniture lovingly sourced from our favorite vintage markets get wrapped in blankets. That said, I’m so excited to see how everything will look in our new New York space (we got a place with a great kitchen, which I’m thrilled about). Veggie (the dog) is freaking out though. She’s not a fan of boxes, suitcases, or change in general. Every time a new stack of boxes appears, she gives me this deeply betrayed look and refuses to make eye contact for an hour. It’s very dramatic.

But enough about packing, because we have a lot to get to today! In today’s newsletter:

A full review of the experience (and every single one of the wines) from L.A,’s premiere wine pairing
The hottest new hotel is opening in Burgundy this month
A final pilgrimage to the best vintage shop (and the source of half my wardrobe)

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WINE & DINE

We went to Kato for Valentine’s Day this year. We usually cook for Valentine’s Day (for whatever reason it’s not a holiday we usually go out for) but this felt special enough to justify switching up the routine. We were treated to one of the most expansive and best wine programs in L.A. at the hands of co-owner Ryan Bailey.

For those unfamiliar, Kato is chef Jon Yao’s and sommelier Ryan Bailey’s Michelin-starred Taiwanese-American restaurant in the Arts District. The team relocated the restaurant from a modest Sawtelle strip mall to a 4,000 square foot space at the trendy ROW DTLA in 2022, and the ambition of the move shows in every detail. The restaurant offers a 12-course tasting menu inspired by the Taiwanese dishes Yao grew up eating, reimagined through a Southern California lens (with the locally-sourced ingredients to match) and cooked over a central wood-fired stove. It’s been named the #1 restaurant on the LA Times’ “101 Best Restaurants” list twice in a row, ranked 26th on North America’s 50 Best Restaurants, and continues to hold its Michelin star (though I’d argue it deserves a second). The environment is classic industrial-chic. Polished concrete, wood furnishings, soft lighting, and a glowing open kitchen at the center. The service is warm and knowledgeable without ever feeling stuffy.

I started with a white Negroni before my wine pairing began, and it was genuinely the best white Negroni of my life. Perfectly balanced, herbal, bitter, and refreshing. A flawless aperitif.

But let’s talk about the wine program, because that’s what truly sets Kato apart. Ryan Bailey came up through institutions like Eleven Madison Park and NoMad in New York (where he was Head Sommelier) before relocating to LA in 2017. At Kato, he’s curated one of the most thoughtful wine programs in the country; roughly 3,000 selections with particular strength in vintage Champagne, Riesling, white Burgundy, and sherry (!!!). The restaurant has won Michelin’s Exceptional Cocktails award and was named “Best US Restaurant Bar” at the Spirited Awards. Bailey also produces Kato’s own wine with Sonoma winemaker Mike Lucia of Rootdown, including an exclusive Savagnin from Cole Ranch (which I was able to try at our dinner). Here’s the full review of everything we got to try:

R. Renaudin L’Espiègle Champagne 2013 Premier Cru - This was our opening pour, and what a start. Renaudin is a small grower Champagne house, and L’Espiègle (which translates to “the mischievous one”) is their prestige cuvée. The 2013 vintage showed beautiful maturity with toasty brioche, candied lemon peel, and hazelnut, with a creamy mousse and bright acidity that kept it lively. A serious, elegant Champagne that set the tone for the evening.

Bar Pilar Newsletter (February 10)

Pilar Brito — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 05:30:09 GMT

Hi BP Crew!

I’m spending some time enjoying my favorite spots in LA before departing for a new stage of life in New York. When I really thought about what I would miss most about L.A. to create my departure bucket list, I didn’t gravitate to many of the hot, ultra-creative restaurants or venues. Instead, I found myself wanting to return to the classic Californian joys - a day of reading on Venice beach in the dead of winter, hiking through Bronson Canyon with a view of the Hollywood sign, the bustling weekly farmers’ markets in each neighborhood - and casual restaurants: Great White, Gjusta, and Erewhon for go-to California health food, and places like Villa’s Tacos, Jitlada, and Sushi Fumi for the best of L.A.’s easy and affordable Mexican, Thai and Japanese staples.

If you want to elucidate what you really value about your city, I highly recommend making a one week “hit list,” imagining you only have one week left in your city and you want to enjoy all of the things you won’t get at your next destination. If anything springs to mind for you - in L.A., New York, or elsewhere - I’d love to hear what would be on your list in the comments.

Before getting into our newsletter for this week, a reminder that we swapped last week’s newsletter for the Mendoza guide so many of you have been requesting! If you haven’t checked it out yet.. well, it’s pretty good if I do say so myself.

In this week’s newsletter:

Drops of God gets an anime adaptation on Crunchyroll
Betsy brings a much needed revival to Altadena
The team behind Gymkhana is opening the hottest Indian restaurant in Manhattan tomorrow
Aman Niseko is in development to meet the growing demand for Hokkaido skiing
Inside a boutique farmstay on Sweden’s adorable island
What the heck are “blouge” wines?

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The Bar Pilar Guide to Mendoza, Argentina

Pilar Brito — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 15:03:03 GMT

My favorite wine regions to visit aren’t actually the same ones from which I drink the most wine. I don’t reach for Argentine wines frequently when I’m back in the U.S. (I’m more of a Burgundy, Champagne, and Piedmont girl - cliché, I know), but after two week-long visits to Mendoza, it’s become one of my favorite regions to spend time in. There’s something about the combination of delectable steaks grilled over open flames, the overwhelmingly generous pours of wine that feel like a cultural inheritance rather than a transaction, and the backdrop of the Andes - snow-capped, impossibly close, and almost unreal in their grandeur - that makes Mendoza feel less like a wine destination and more like a place where you remember what it means to truly enjoy yourself. The people here have mastered the art of abundance without pretension, and it shows in every meal, every pour, every moment spent under those endless blue skies. Here’s where to sip, dine & stay to make the most of your time there.

WINE & DINE

One of the best features of Mendozan wineries is the frequent presence of top-tier dining, so I’ve combined these two sections. Whether you’re here for the wine, the food, or both, these are the places you need to visit to truly appreciate everything the region has to offer.

Tikal (Vista Flores, Valle de Uco) — Winery & Culinary Experience
Tikal is unlike anything else in Mendoza (or anything else in the world, really). Created by Ernesto Catena (brother of the legendary Laura Catena), this biodynamic winery feels more like an art installation than a traditional bodega. The entire property is designed around cosmic symbolism - vineyards arranged in vast circles, pre-Columbian-inspired architecture, a rose garden imported from Patagonia, and a philosophy that wine is art. The culinary experience is designed to be enjoyed outdoors under a pergola overlooking the lake, with horses chomping at hay right beside you and a menu that changes with the seasons and works exclusively with local producers. Think fresh salads and soups, flatbreads, and then a full asado with sweetbreads, ribeye steaks, and Patagonian baby potatoes. Everything is paired with Tikal’s natural wines. The tour includes walking among free-roaming llamas and horses, visiting the beehives, and exploring the estate’s rose garden. It can be up to a six-hour experience, and every minute is worth it.

Bar Pilar Newsletter (January 27)

Pilar Brito — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 03:13:53 GMT

Hi BP Crew!

This week’s newsletter is a bit later than usual because I spent the weekend closing on a place in New York (!!!!) and trying to enjoy Sundance with friends simultaneously. I’ll share more on the New York move later, but we have too much to cover in this newsletter and I am already behind!

As always, this post is too long for email. Be sure to click “View Full Message” if you’re receiving it to your inbox.

WINE

First, the big news for wine lovers: Drops of God Season 2 premiered on January 21st! I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet due to the apartment hunting and travel this past week, but I’d be very excited to hear everyone’s takes in the comments. I absolutely loved Season 1 and am excited to get caught up asap. The first season of the show won an International Emmy for Best Drama, and Season 2 follows Camille and Issei as they attempt to uncover the origin of the world’s greatest wine — apparently a mystery so profound that even their legendary father couldn’t solve it. Eight episodes are releasing weekly on Apple TV+ through March 11. Comment below with which wines you’re drinking to watch!