Brasero, Chicago’s New Spot For Latin Fare and 100 Bottles of South American Wine Under $100
Wine director Alex Cuper talks about the variety of South American wine, plus Tracy Chapman, Pet Shop Boys, and Grease!
John Manion is having a moment. First, he had a steak named after him (go read this fun story by
). And now he’s opening a new restaurant. The chef behind one of Chicago’s best steakhouses, El Che Steakhouse in the West Loop — and formerly Más, where Drew and I had our first official date back in 1999 (yes, that’s 25 years ago, next week, for anyone doing the math) — is opening Brasero tonight.I got a sneak peek of the Brazilian-inspired (so also Afro-Caribbean and Japanese) restaurant last week and I can tell you it’s fantastic. It also pulls from Argentina, Uruguay, and elsewhere and from Manion’s childhood memories of living in Sao Paolo. Brasero’s menu is an eclectic mix of seafood (a lot of seafood — oysters, lobster, blue crab, prawns), sauces like yuzu kosho and Baiano aioli, and wood-kissed meats and vegetables. Oh and hot sauce. Manion likes his hot sauce.
With a menu that pulls a broad swath of flavors, you need a wine list to match it. That’s where beverage director Alex Cuper comes in. After first building possibly the country’s first 100% South American wine list at El Che, where big, bold malbecs match up with the fatty, charred, juicy steaks, he’s doing it again at Brasero.
So now Chicago boasts two restaurants focusing entirely on the brilliance happening in South American wine. And if you think it’s all malbec, think again. Pais, pinot noir, chardonnay, tannat, skin-contact whites, barbera, low-intervention wines, high-acid wines, trousseau, pedro ximenez, sparkling wines — they’re all on here. And Cuper is excited to share them with you. And pair them with your food. And turn you on to something new that might become your favorite.
I chatted with Cuper last week for about an hour and below is the condensed version of our chat. He talks about what’s exciting him from South America, how the lack of rigid wine laws allows winemakers to experiment, some wine pairings for a few of the dishes on the Brasero menu, and basically reminds us that wine is about having fun.
Talking South American wine with Brasero’s Alex Cuper
So first, I know at El Che, you guys worked really hard to focus the food and the wine list entirely around South America. Was that a challenge and how was that initially received by customers? Was there any pushback that you didn't have Napa cabs and bottles of Burgundy?
In February of 2021 coming out of Covid, John and I were there plotting out the restaurant and getting it back open. We wanted to focus a bit more on South American wine, but still have some of those classic California and European wines and varietals. And we had Stella Crinita barbera (from Mendoza’s Uco Valley) and I grabbed John and had him try it. He loved it. And I'm like, if this exists, we can probably find more South American wines that are like this or cooler. And that just put us on the fast track to do that.
So how did you introduce it to your customers?
We have really found that in South America there is something for everyone, every type of palate from your big bold Napa cab drinkers to Bordeaux drinkers to Rioja drinkers. It usually ends up being a pretty cool experience for people where they have something new they've never had that they didn't think they would. I have countless times where people have said they don't like malbec and my response usually is, “You must not have had good malbec.” And getting someone into a malbec that is truly exceptional, to say the least, and watching their face kind of go like, “Oh, this is really good,” is pretty cool. That happens a lot and it's been a fun journey and experience to see that happen to people. So yeah, overall I think it's been quite well received.
So what is it about South American wine that excites you?
When you go to Europe, there's all these laws and regulations you have to follow in order to make wine. And where I think South America kind of benefits from that is that there is no real law or regulation that holds you in place to only do specific things. You can only do specific grapes in Bordeaux and specific grapes in Piedmont. In Argentina, and I guess all of South America really, you just have free reign to do whatever you please and really experiment with different aging vessels, different varietals they can procure, and it gives them a chance to collaborate together too, which is always fun. It's not just all malbec and cabernet down there. It's a lot of really unique and cool stuff, even down to the natural wines in Chile.
We also feel we're on the forefront of this big movement as more and more South American wineries and varietals get recognized. Last year, Pellegrino's 50 World’s Best Vineyards, Bodega Catena Zapata was number one.
Earlier you mentioned a barbera from Mendoza that blew your mind. I didn’t know anybody was doing barbera down there. It's cool that there are a number of grape varieties being produced throughout South America. Talk a little bit about what you're seeing.
Obviously there's always going to be a ton of malbec and cabernet between Argentina and Chile, and it's always very well represented. But recently they're starting to really experiment with different varietals. Cabernet franc is gaining popularity down there, which is really cool to see in Argentina. Pais is having a moment in Chile. They're starting to dabble in pinot noir and elevation in Argentina. Tannat is having a moment in Uruguay. And you start to get into all these varietals and see things and then you really delve deep into it. And there's some producers that we have on our menu that have some really unique stuff. Bodega Añelo, they own the oldest Trousseau vines planted in 1932 and make a single varietal wine. It likes being down in the cold desert of Patagonia. A producer in Chile owns the oldest black muscatel vines outside of Europe. We're excited because it always feels like we get first crack at a lot of that stuff.
That's really fun. So what are you doing differently with the wine program at Brasero than what's at El Che?
When we set out to do Che's wine list we more or less wanted a steakhouse-sized wine list, but completely South American. Brasero is different in that it is not nearly as big. The concept we came up with was 100 bottles of wine under $100, still all South American. Maybe a bit more of a focus on smaller producers, maybe more esoteric styles of wine, just kind of cool, unique. But the real purpose is to get people excited just to drink wine in general without feeling like you have to pay an arm and a leg to get an incredible bottle. And then just to have fun. I think wine can be a little stuffy at times. I've always been someone who thinks wine should be fun. So that's what we wanted to do with this list and get someone excited about South American Wine specifically.
Why do you think these wines will have more success at Brasero?
At Brasero, the menu has a lot of whimsy and creativity and you can have some really energetic and vibrant wines to go with that and just have a lot of fun.
So how does this wine pair with the food at Brasero?
It's a ton of flavors. A lot of what I love about El Che is just the simplicity of it. And I think that's a lot of what Argentinian cooking is, is just very simple and straightforward. It's about the fire, it's about the meat, and it's about the wine. And those flavors are still delicious to have just a nice fatty steak and everything. But at Brasero, there's a ton of flavors and melting pots and cultural influences. There's Afro-Caribbean and a lot of Japanese influence in Brazil, and that adds a new dimension to the food. You'll get spice and tropical fruits and rich savoriness. Having energetic wines to go with that food is always a good way to go. A lot of these wines tend to have a little bit brighter acidity, a little bit more fruit, and are just very fun to drink.
There’s a wood-fired grill at Brasero as well. And there's a lot more seafood it seems at Brasero. There's more of a melding of global flavors. So do these wines also help bring out the flavors of the food that are touching the wood-fired grill?
There’s a grape called pais that was brought to the New World in the 1500s by the Conquistadors. It can be everything from very elegant and refined and smooth and pinot noir like to just crunchy, chalky, funky, barnyardy, and everything else in between. But what I think it's best for is when you get something off of that grill, it unlocks this savoriness to the wine. And the wine itself is this compliment to that beautiful char and all that fire and smoke that builds up with everything. A lot of these wines do the same thing with all the food, whether it's the seafood and (white wine) corinto or the beautiful thin-cut pork chops and pais. I think it just brings a lot out of it in both the wine and the food.
I’m going to throw out some dishes from the Brasero menu — what wines would you pair with them?
Grilled oysters with Baiano aioli and plantain-cashew crumble:
There’s a beautiful spice and you get a fatty textural oyster with a bit of crunch so something bright and refreshing is the way to go. There’s a grape grown pretty readily across Chile called corinto. It’s such a down-the-middle grape with nice acidity and enough body to stand up to the fattiness of the oyster and the aioli, but light enough that it doesn’t overpower the food.
Black-eyed peas fritters with herbs, halloumi criolla, fermented garlic aioli, and hot sauce:
I mean, you can go a million different ways with it, so maybe pais or get a little weird with orange wine. Like the Roberto Enriquez skin-contact semillon that sits on the skins for four to five months. The vines are about 100 years old and it’s complex. The idea here is where I connect some dots; the fritter is meant to be like a falafel and the orange wine started in Georgia. So having that bright acidity and nice surprising tannins on the back of the wine is fun next to those black beans and it’s like a palate reset. And orange wines are cool. It’s starting to take hold a bit. We’re pouring the Pielihueso Naranjo by the glass. It's a blend of mostly torrontes, but there's also a little bit of sauvignon blanc and chardonnay in there. We’re treating that as the intro to orange wine where it's not overly funky, but it does give you all the qualities of orange wine that you would expect out of it.
Last, the moqueca, the Brazilian stew with shrimp, mussels, snapper, nuts fried in dende oil, cilantro, and coconut bomba rice all in a coconut broth:
This might be one of my favorite things on the menu. That broth is so good. The Moqueca is delicious and the normal go-to with seafood would be a white wine, but with where this menu is and getting people to try to branch out we have a couple of red options that do well with seafood and land protein. Ver Sacrum is a producer and they do a wine called Gloria Black Swan; it’s 100% garnacha. Eduardo Soler, the winemaker, loves Rhone varietals and does a lot of work with garnacha. It’s 50% aged and fermented in amphora and 50% aged in concrete. When you think of garnacha you think of big and weighty and dense like Gigondas. While it has complexities, the winemaker dials back the maceration and lowers the alcohol for easier drinking. It’s a blast to have it with seafood, but sturdy enough to stand up to steak or more classic land proteins that come off the grill.
How many different producers are on the wine list — and who are some of your favorites?
It’s a very diverse list and we do represent Roberto Enriquez and he’s become a friend of mine and John’s. We’ve been a huge fan of his and thought Brasero would be cool to really showcase what he does. Eduardo Soler at Ver Sacrum makes incredible food-friendly wines that are easy to drink, with so much complexity. And someone who makes wine that’s meant to be drunk with food. Another really cool winery in Central Chile is Viña Echeverria. They do this second label No Es Pituko – a Chilean slang term for “nothing fancy.” They’re all unfiltered natural wines meant to drink now and it even says that on the label. It’s a nice reminder for us to drink wine and have fun with it.
That’s definitely a nice reminder. Thanks so much for taking the time to chat about South American wine and Brasero.
SG List: Things I’m high fiving this week
Tracy Chapman’s surprise performance at the Grammys [link to video]
Was seeing her face completely light up from the tremendous amount of love that crowd gave her when she started singing “Fast Car” not the most beautiful thing? And then by the next day, her original 1988 release hit the top of the iTunes charts.
Learning that Grease, the musical, debuted in Chicago
And at Kingston Mines, no less! The original musical debuted in 1971 before going to Broadway and eventually becoming the movie we all know and love.
The Jean Banchet Awards celebrated Chicago’s food scene
I’m a week late on this, but it’s never too late to throw some praise on very well-deserving people in Chicago’s food and beverage world. Paul Virant won chef of the year. Galit took home restaurant of the year. Indienne? Best new restaurant. While rising chef of the year went to the trio behind Warlord: Trevor Fleming, Emily Kraszyk, and John Lupton. A number of others won that night. Check the link above for the full list.
Pet Shop Boys’ new single, “Loneliness”
It’s a sexy, sexy banger — with a beautiful yet sad video, that’s almost like a mini movie.
Yayyyy Brasero! Yay Alex! Yay this interview and this wine list! Yay John! YAY! <3
I can’t wait to have the moqueca! Great interview