Ordinaire (wine bar)

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Coordinates: 37°48′48.8″N 122°14′47.1″W / 37.813556°N 122.246417°W / 37.813556; -122.246417
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Ordinaire
The exterior of Ordinaire. There is a barrel, a small table with stools, and a small sign with the word "wine" on it in the shape of a whale
Ordinaire's storefront on Grand Avenue
Map
Restaurant information
EstablishedAugust 22, 2013 (2013-08-22)
Owner(s)Bradford Taylor
Street address3354 Grand Avenue
CityOakland
CountyAlameda
StateCalifornia
Postal/ZIP Code94610
CountryUnited States
Coordinates37°48′48.8″N 122°14′47.1″W / 37.813556°N 122.246417°W / 37.813556; -122.246417
Websiteordinairewine.com

Ordinaire is a wine bar, wine shop, and bistro-style restaurant in the Grand Lake District of Oakland, California. Ordinaire specializes in selling natural wine produced from organic grapes with minimal chemical and technological intervention. Owner Bradford Taylor opened Ordinaire in September 2013. Taylor is also an organizer of an annual natural wine festival in Oakland called Brumaire, which has held events at Ordinaire.

Ordinaire periodically partners with chefs to open as a pop-up restaurant called Bistro Ordinaire. Food and wine critics have praised Ordinaire for its selection of wines and hip yet unpretentious atmosphere. Amid a wave of interest in natural wine in the United States, Ordinaire has helped to establish Oakland as a natural wine hub. The shop has been described as an important site for natural wine culture within the East Bay, the San Francisco Bay Area, the West Coast, and the United States as a whole.

Ordinaire and natural wine[edit]

Ordinaire exclusively stocks and sells natural wine.[1] Owner Bradford Taylor modeled Ordinaire after the caves à manger—small natural wine shops that serve food—he encountered while living in Paris, particularly Le Verre Volé,[2][3][4] Le Chateaubriand, and Le Baratin.[3] "Natural wine" does not have a precise formal or legal definition; however, the term is generally accepted to mean wine produced from organically farmed or biodynamic grapes, without the use (or at least, minimal use) of filtration or additives (except for preservative sulfites, which are still often avoided).[1][5][6] Taylor has said "there's something productive about how nebulous the term 'natural' is, how it opens itself up to debate every time it comes up."[1]

Ordinaire has helped to promote natural wine in the Bay Area and the United States generally, and has become an Oakland destination for tourists.[7][8] Chaney Kwak of The Guardian cited Ordinaire in an article arguing that Oakland was becoming a "New Brooklyn" and a "creative capital to rival" San Francisco.[9] According to Jordan Michelman at Sprudge, there is "no one true home for natural wine in America ... But there are certain addresses that help define the culture here, and among them there's none more important on the west coast than that of Oakland's Ordinaire. ... [Taylor's] vision and influence at the helm of Ordinaire has helped define natural wine in America."[3] Luke Tsai of the East Bay Express said Taylor was "doing God's work in helping dispense with the notion that wine shops are all stuffy, intimidating places frequented only by the rich."[10]

History[edit]

Map of Oakland with mark showing location of Ordinaire
Map of Oakland with mark showing location of Ordinaire
Ordinaire
class=notpageimage|
Location of Ordinaire in Oakland

Taylor opened Ordinaire while he was a doctoral candidate at UC Berkeley, writing his dissertation on the sense of taste in modernist literature.[3][1] Taylor and his wife Nicole Betenia rented the building, a 3,000-sq ft former gym, and began renovations in October 2012.[2] The shop was originally going to be named The Red Whale, but was renamed shortly before opening when Taylor received a cease-and-desist letter from a coffee business with the same name.[11] The name Ordinaire was chosen after the French term vin ordinaire, which refers to everyday, "ordinary" wines that skip bottling to be served by winemakers among their friends, typically in a bistro setting.[11][12]

Ordinaire had a soft opening in August 2013[13] and its grand opening in September.[11] The shop is located on Grand Avenue in the Grand Lake District, a neighborhood of Oakland located at the northwest corner of Lake Merritt. Taylor chose the location because it was less expensive than many of the city's other, better-established commercial districts; he also said he "thought it was ridiculous that this part of Oakland didn't have a shop that was an alternative to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods."[2]

Brumaire Natural Wine Festival[edit]

Taylor helps organize the Brumaire Natural Wine Festival, an annual Oakland-based natural wine festival that began in 2016.[5][14] Brumaire was inspired by wine-tasting salons and festivals in Europe[14] and has featured wines from California, France, Italy, and Spain.[15] Events at Brumaire have been hosted at Ordinaire itself, with other events hosted at nearby bars and restaurants.[15] By its third year in 2018, Brumaire hosted 51 wineries and 500 attendants.[5]

Food and Bistro Ordinaire[edit]

Ordinaire serves small sides for wine and food matching like cheese, charcuterie, and sardines.[16] Ordinaire periodically opens as a pop-up restaurant called Bistro Ordinaire.[10]

For several years, Ordinaire partnered with the nearby pizzeria Boot & Shoe Service to serve pizza at the bar.[17] In January 2018, Ordinaire discontinued the partnership after Boot & Shoe's owner was accused of sexual harassment by 17 former employees.[18]

Reception[edit]

Within a year of its grand opening, Ordinaire received positive reviews in Eater San Francisco,[11] San Jose Mercury News,[19] SF Weekly,[20] Oakland Local,[21] Wine & Spirits,[22] The San Francisco Examiner,[23] and Saveur.[24] In December 2013, Eater named Ordinaire one of the 19 "hottest" wine bars to open in the United States (plus one in Montreal) in the preceding year.[25] Ordinaire has been listed as one of the best wine bars in the United States by Thrillist (in 2014),[26] Bon Appétit (in 2015),[27] and Food & Wine (in 2017).[28] In 2018, Esquire named Ordinaire one of the 21 best bars in the United States.[29]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Mobley, Esther (March 9, 2016). "Ordinaire in Oakland a shrine to natural wine". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Brown, J.M. (September 25, 2013). "New shops creating buzz on Grand Avenue". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on May 3, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d Michelman, Jordan (September 26, 2017). "Natural Wine Lives at Oakland's Ordinaire". Sprudge. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  4. ^ Signer, Rachel (July 21, 2017). "Are Americans Doing the Wine Bar Thing Right, and Does it Matter?". Eater. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Mobley, Esther (March 15, 2018). "Is natural wine ready to mature in the Bay Area?". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  6. ^ Casey, Collin (May 30, 2017). "Everything you wanted to know about natural wine". Berkeleyside. Archived from the original on August 22, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  7. ^ Busch, Pamela S. (July 21, 2017). "Oakland: The Natural Wine Capital of the West". The Vinguard. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018. Link is restricted to readers 21 years of age or older and requires input of birthdate for age verification.
  8. ^ Gordinier, Jeff (April 27, 2017). "Natural Wine Is About to Take Over the U.S." Esquire. Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  9. ^ Kwak, Chaney (December 13, 2014). "Oakland: the city stepping out of San Francisco's shadow". The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 11, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Tsai, Luke (July 14, 2014). "Chris Kronner's Bistro Ordinaire Is the Best Pop-Up I've Been to This Year". East Bay Express. Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d Pape, Allie (September 9, 2013). "Ordinaire, An Oakland Wine Bar". Eater San Francisco. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  12. ^ Goddard, Nikki (November 15, 2017). "On the Glou-Glou Trail: A hop into three local 'natural wine' bars". Edible East Bay. Edible Communities, Inc. Archived from the original on March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  13. ^ Jordan, Dixie (August 22, 2013). "Ordinaire Wine Bar Opens Today on Grand Avenue". Piedmont Patch. Patch Media. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  14. ^ a b Sprudge Wine staff (February 8, 2018). "Brumaire: Oakland's Natural Wine Fair Returns March 11th". Sprudge. Archived from the original on April 30, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  15. ^ a b Mamoon, Omar (March 9, 2016). "Foodie Agenda: Frito Pie Churros at Staff Meal + Wine Tasting at Crissy Field". 7x7. Archived from the original on June 25, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  16. ^ O'Mara, Kelly (August 9, 2016). "Bay Area Bites Guide to Wine Bars in San Francisco and the East Bay". KQED. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  17. ^ Seto, Benjamin (March 15, 2018). "East Bay wine shops tap into growing community". Berkeleyside. Archived from the original on June 13, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  18. ^ Bitker, Janelle (March 15, 2018). "Oakland's Ordinaire Severs Ties with Boot & Shoe Service Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations". East Bay Express. Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  19. ^ Burrell, Jackie (September 20, 2013). "Oakland's Ordinaire wine bar". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on May 3, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  20. ^ Kane, Pete (September 25, 2013). "Ordinaire, Oakland's New Wine Bar and Shop, is Far From Ordinary". SF Weekly. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  21. ^ Sosnoff, Granate (January 29, 2014). "Ordinaire Wine Shop and Bar in Oakland". Oakland Local. Archived from the original on October 24, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  22. ^ Sykora, Luke (May 15, 2014). "Wine Shop Review: Ordinaire". Wine & Spirits. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  23. ^ Busch, Pamela S. (July 25, 2014). "A worthwhile journey to Ordinaire Wine Shop & Wine Bar". The San Francisco Examiner. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  24. ^ Cohen, Chris (July 28, 2017). "Where Saveur's Editors Traveled in July 2017: Oakland, California". Saveur. Archived from the original on September 8, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  25. ^ Forbes, Paula (December 12, 2013). "The 19 Hottest Wine Bars Across the Country Right Now". Eater. Archived from the original on November 18, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  26. ^ Cristaldi, Jonathan (September 15, 2014). "The 21 Best Wine Bars in the Country". Thrillist. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  27. ^ Cushing, Belle (April 14, 2015). "7 Wine Bars You Need to Drink at Now". Bon Appétit. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  28. ^ "The Best Wine Bars in the U.S." Food & Wine. March 31, 2017. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  29. ^ Gordinier, Jeff (May 30, 2018). "The Best Bars in America, 2018: Oakland: Ordinaire". Esquire. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.

External links[edit]

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