The Restaurant Guys How Great Wine Programs Get Built — and How They Serve Everyone | Chris Goodhart
This is a Vintage Selection from 2005
Ever wonder how great restaurant wine lists actually come together — and why some completely miss the mark?
The Banter
The Guys tell stories of their “glamorous” lives being restaurateurs that (surprisingly) involves more plumbers than they ever expected.
The Conversation
In this episode, The Restaurant Guys are joined by Chris Goodhart, wine buyer for Keith McNally’s restaurants in New York City, to talk about what really goes into building a wine program that serves both adventurous drinkers and everyday guests.
Chris shares stories from the floor, how he balances budgets with taste, and the quiet pressures behind the scenes when a bottle selection can make or break a dining experience.
The guys also dig into a fascinating moment in time: the impending smoking ban, how it changed drinking culture, and what restaurants had to rethink overnight — from bar traffic to wine styles that suddenly tasted different without smoke in the room.
The Inside Track
The Guys catch up with friend Chris Goodhardt and have a thoughtful, practical, and full of the kind of perspective you only get from people who live inside restaurants.
Timestamps
00:00 — Setting the stage: running restaurants in 2005
09:18 — What’s it like to run a wine program
15:00 — Building wine lists for various venues
20:00 — Chris’ opinion of The Michelin Guide in NYC
26:20 — How to take the pretentiousness out of the wine experience
32:40 — Corks and Screw Tops
35:27 — How Smoking Bans Change the Way People Drink
Bio
Chris Goodhart is a veteran New York City wine buyer, working for Keith McNally’s restaurant group, known for building thoughtful, guest-friendly wine programs that balance discovery, value, and hospitality.
Info
Keith McNally’s Balthazar, etc.
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