Pairing is collaboration. The wine director and the chef share authorship of the evening.
We do not believe in wine lists at a residency dinner. Choice, in this context, is a distraction. The guest's only responsibility is presence. Everything else—including what fills their glass—has been considered on their behalf.
This requires trust between chef and wine director that takes time to build. Menus are shared weeks in advance. Conversations happen about acidity, about weight, about the arc of the evening. A dish may be adjusted because a particular bottle exists in limited quantity. A wine may be substituted because the chef changed a preparation at the last moment.
The guest experiences none of this negotiation. They experience a glass arriving at precisely the right moment, containing precisely the right wine, without ever having to ask.
This is the hospitality we are designing for. Not the abundance of options, but the relief of their absence.