Chambers

I want to like wine as much as I know some other people do. They flip through the wine list with conviction, confidence, charisma. My fingers stumble. Their wine whirls around the glass, exhaling its fruity aromas. Mine is still like a sidewalk puddle. Their palate can discern every nook, cranny, and crevice. To me, the wine is smooth like a marble. I’m just not a wine guy. But I know I can become one.

Dante, our waiter at Chambers, loves wine and better yet, he knows what to say about it. Dante co-runs a wine club called @preshiftnyc and writes a newsletter called Drop Lines - all about wine and other things that bring him joy. This week’s edition of the Served Supper Club is inspired by him, his writing, and his new mantra: “every day the sun won’t shine, but that’s why I love tomorrow.”

When I think of the sun “shining,” I think of those moments where everything slows down and you feel like you could just stay there forever. Usually this happens for me during an amazing meal, being with family, or seeing Superbad is playing on VH1. Chambers is an unbelievable restaurant with exceptional food, but I feel like I should have felt even more sun there. The towel was laid out for me, beach umbrella in the sand. Dante, the man with the mantra, was there to cut through through the various vines that entangle the wine list. Looking back, there has probably never been a better opportunity for me to really dig into wine, ask questions, and try to learn at least the basics.

I just have never been a wine guy, and I regrettably wasn’t a wine guy that night. But maybe I am now. I want to taste the sun in my next glass.

Dante’s mantra has taught me to open up to new experiences, new places, new skills - to teach myself to find sun in places that I haven’t felt it prior. That optimism, the appreciation of tomorrow, is a mindset. One that I will try to embody. All of this is a drawn-out way of saying: I’m going to start drinking more wine.

You can read the full story on Chambers below, and stay tuned for next week’s on Red Hook Tavern in Brooklyn.

With grapes in mind,

The Supper Club