Robert Dentice is a food, wine, and music connoisseur who loves exploring how these three things come together. Based between New York City and Los Angeles, Dentice also travels extensively, exploring new culinary and cultural experiences. He is the founder of the Rieslingstudy and Spätburgunderstudy series, a collection of events dedicated to celebrating and exploring German wine, which is one of his greatest passions. When he’s not enjoying food and wine, he is often found expanding his vinyl collection.
Please introduce yourself to our members
My name is Robert Dentice. I work in Finance, however my passions are food, music and wine. I love to combine all three whenever I can. I primarily live in NYC but also spend time in Los Angeles and frequently travel the world.
Tell us about your current project
I am the founder of a series of German wine, music and food events known as rieslingstudy and spätburgunderstudy. I am also co-founder of source | material along with Stephen Bitterolf of Vom Boden. source | material is a curated offering of German wine and German wine related events. My goal is to expand interest in German wine globally through an amalgamation of food, music and wine.
Tell us about the restaurant scene in New York
NYC is without a doubt one of the greatest restaurant cities in the world. And when I say NYC I am including all of the boroughs. We have everything from pizza to three Michelin star restaurants and everything in between. It is probably worth noting what is not working these days, which is long tasting menus with luxurious ingredients for the sake of luxury (Caviar, Foie Gras, Wagyu). I think most diners are tired of the tasting menu format, perhaps due to an explosion of them over the last 10 years or so. There are still many great tasting menu restaurants like Aska, Atomix and Blanca which I do love. However what I currently want is what I will call elevated neo bistros. Small comfortable restaurants with incredible food centered around the absolute best simple ingredients, excellent wine in proper glasses, good music and welcoming unpretentious hospitality. Wine is a big component of what appeals to me about a restaurant as is music and the right vibe.
What are your three favorite restaurants in New York and why?
GEM Wine - I love what Chef Flynn McGarry, Paris and the entire team at GEM and GEM Wine are doing. The food is truly scintillating, the hospitality warm and welcoming and the vibe is fantastic. We always say it feels like we are eating in Copenhagen or Paris. We will be hearing about Chef Flynn and his team for many years to come. I will admit these days I really prefer to go to a restaurant where the chef is in the kitchen and this is certainly true of Chef Flynn.
Four Horsemen - Simply put, everything I want in a restaurant. The food is outstanding and has continued to evolve and is just perfect in a simple way. The wine list is designed for me - sometimes I want riesling, sometimes I want something natty and sometimes I just want an elegant Grand Cru Burgundy, and they have it all. Hat tip to Chambers which also has a similar list.
Foxface - Their fluke is the dish I crave most. The couple that owns it are just as serious foodies like us and it shows in their passionate drive to source the best ingredients.
What’s a new restaurant or hidden gem in New York that you think is doing great things?
Hainan Chicken House - Go there for the chicken but prepared to be wowed by the special dishes that frequently are added to the menu by talented Chef Christopher Low. I did a full buyout this year for one of my wine events expecting a few different types of chicken and sides and Chef Christopher served up an omakase experience that was my meal of the year so far!
What’s your favorite kind of restaurant and why?
A Michelin starred restaurant in a strip mall that is BYOB and plays great music through an audiophile system...just kidding. Well sorta. I love great, authentic food without pretension. And in a perfect world I will be able to control the music and drink great wine out of proper stemware. And I love small places where I can say hello to the chef / owner and know who I am supporting. It is an overall vibe that I seek.
What are your three favorite food cities and your favorite restaurants in those cities?
1. Copenhagen
NOMA - Simply put the most influential restaurant of my lifetime. And one that hits me in a cerebral way like no other.
Kadeau (and of course Bornholm) - Our favorite overall food in Copenhagen. And Kadeau Bornholm is heaven on earth.
So hard to pick a third as there are so many great restaurants in Copenhagen!
Nr. 30 Restaurant - Super casual, great ingredient driven food and an outstanding wine list. A nice place to take a rejuvenating break from all of the tasting menu restaurants.
2. Los Angeles
LA to me is the most exciting food city in the U.S. , not because it is necessarily better than NYC which it isn't more because it is so diverse and honestly different than NYC and I am spending more time there and really enjoying the endless opportunity to explore - I highly recommend the documentary on Jonathan Gold - City of Gold it is still just as relevant today.
Anajak - Authentic Thai food with Michelin level flare. Outstanding hospitality. Excellent music. And the best wine list with an array of German wines in Los Angeles.
Baroo - Modern Korean is the most exciting category of food in LA and NY. Baroo is the best example of this in LA. The true hallmark of a great restaurant is one that I want to go back to over and over, and I can't get enough of Baroo.
Destroyer - Chef Jordan Kahn is a culinary genius. The culinary version of jazz composer Sun Ra. I think the limited kitchen and all day format force him to channel and focus his talents in a way that just works for me. My favorite overall food in LA.
3. Paris
Les Enfants du Marché - This could be my choice for last meal on earth. I LOVE everything about this place. There is a reason you see everyone from three Michelin star chefs to Action Bronson eating here. We schedule our flights to Paris so we can land and head straight there so we are first at the counter.
Restaurant AT - Chef Atsushi is a dear friend and honestly a bit of a hero. No one I know loves food more than him nor works as hard. His food is an amalgamation of a life long passion of eating around the world and training at restaurants in Copenhagen, Japan, Paris and Spain. We love his food so much. It is the one restaurant we book for every single Paris trip.
La Tour D'Argent Bar - OK, ok I am going to give you all a secret. There is now a Bar at La Tour D'Argent that is open from 9 am until Midnight. You can order wine from the main list without having a meal. You can also order cheese! This is my personal clubhouse in between meals. One day I will get a hold of the playlist...
I did not pick San Francisco but I cannot NOT mention my favorite restaurant in the world State Bird Provisions!
Lastly my favorite up and coming food city is Detroit!
"Les Enfants du Marché, Paris, could be my choice for last meal on earth. I LOVE everything about this place. There is a reason you see everyone from three Michelin star chefs to Action Bronson eating here. We schedule our flights to Paris so we can land and head straight there so we are first at the counter."
What is your favorite dish and where is your favorite restaurant to have it?These days its poultry! My absolute favorite is my partner, Renée Patronik's Kombu wrapped Chicken from Violet Hill Farms paired with Spätburgunder! I love all types of birds and all preparations: fried, boiled, roasted! BUT it has to be from the highest quality birds! Chef Flynn from GEM is particularly skilled at sourcing and cooking poultry! One of my goals is to do an all poultry wine dinner with him.
Who is an up-and-coming chef you are keeping an eye on?
The two sous chefs at GEM Wine in New York! Juliet Auld and Evan Tamaki. Both extremely talented. And Chef Flynn knows how to both develop and train as well as let them shine!
Who is a food expert whose restaurant recommendations you’d like to see?
Chef Stuart Brioza
