From the outside, Kitchen Istanbul, in San Francisco’s primarily residential Inner Richmond district, appears to be a low-key corner neighborhood eatery. Inside, however, is a wine program newly recognized with a Best of Award of Excellence for a growing list of over 375 selections. But it wasn’t always this way.
When owner and executive chef Emrah Kilicoglu opened Kitchen Istanbul in 2013, it quickly gained a reputation for its cozy atmosphere and warm hospitality. The restaurant offers a comforting Turkish-forward menu, and in those early years, Kilicoglu developed a passion for wine. He began compiling an impressive list, including Middle Eastern selections alongside modern European and California classics.
Wine director Joseph DiGrigoli joined Kilicoglu last year to help take Kitchen Istanbul’s wine program to the next level. Born in Massachusetts, DiGrigoli studied literature at New York University and became interested in wine while working in restaurants. He and his wife eventually made their way to San Francisco—where, on a lark, DiGrigoli emailed Verjus, a now-shuttered wine bar from Quince & Co., the restaurant group behind Quince, a Best of Award of Excellence winner, and its more casual neighbor Cotogna. He did some copywriting and worked as a wine assistant at Quince before serving as the managing sommelier, and eventually wine director, at Cotogna. He held that position until 2023, when he joined Kitchen Istanbul.
DiGrigoli chatted with senior editor Aaron Romano about expanding an already impressive wine list, making wine more approachable, being generous about serving rare bottles, and more.
What is your strategy for creating the wine list at Kitchen Istanbul?
My goal is to have a producer-driven program that features low markups and covers a lot of ground. We certainly try to have a solid roster of food-flexible wines that highlight the cuisine, but the list is more guided by the people who make the wine. I also prefer that our wines are farmed sensibly and fermented with native yeasts, but I am not dogmatic about it. Our wines are either classical in style or forward-thinking. The only things excluded are industrial wines.
We have a diverse group of guests, and it’s important to me that everyone who comes into the restaurant finds something that makes them happy. I tried to build the list as if I were a guest coming in who wanted to drink a nice bottle and didn’t want to spend a rent payment on it! We have a few special things for when those occasions do arise. But our job, and our goal, is never to alienate anybody. We are not a restaurant that attracts all young people or all older people, all wine nerds, or all people spending a ton of money. And it’s important to me that the list reflects that.
How have you changed the wine list since joining?
The restaurant, as it is today, is a product of the pandemic. Emrah has always been an intrepid wine drinker with an incredible palate. But I don’t know that he’s ever worked with a wine director who can steer the program. He and I are old friends, and I was there eating one night, and he said, “Hey, could you maybe come help Friday nights?” I said, no problem, and then two weeks later, he said, “Hey, maybe wine director?”
I’ve systematized the list in a way that is more wine-drinker focused. I am not a ‘sommy-somm’ type of guy, and I’ve always tried to maintain a sort of outsider drinker’s perspective. The list hasn’t been radically reinvented, but I would say it’s significantly revamped in terms of the selections—maybe 30 or 40 percent of it is new. I’m here to find the wines, get them in front of people, be a presence on the floor and embolden what Emrah was already doing.
Sometimes people are like, “Oh, I just came into this neighborhood restaurant, and I’m looking at a 40-page wine list!” It’s like, no, no, we’re here to help. I often bring bottles to tables and ask, “What are you in the mood for? What price point? OK, let me grab four things that we can talk about.” Just make it fun for people, which should be the program’s heart.
There are some specific areas where we can improve, like Italian reds, red Burgundy, Bordeaux and more interesting, full-bodied Southern Rhône wines. There’s a huge opportunity to expand globally and have a more widely representative list. We’re close to 400 selections, but 600 or 650 is not out of the realm of possibility.
Kitchen Istanbul used to feature more Middle Eastern wines, but you’ve moved away from that. Why?
That’s a question we get all the time. Like, why no Turkish wine? The issues with Turkish wine are economic and political. Very few wines that aren’t industrial are imported to the United States—almost none of the really good wine leaves the country. We would not want to present those wines on our list as representative of Turkish wine. When I arrived, my first priority was not to make sure that every region was well accounted for. It’s more like, let’s spend our money on the best wines possible. We do have some great stuff from Greece, Hungary, Slovenia and Georgia.
What about pairing wine with Turkish food? What are some styles that work well?
If everyone came in and started their meal with a dry Riesling or Loire Valley Chenin Blanc and then progressed into Syrah or Nebbiolo, they would have an awesome time. Our menu is excellent for wine because the mezze and small plates tend to lean lighter, and then we have some savory entrees.
I am a sucker for red and white grapes together, and the Eduardo Torres Acosta Quota N from Etna demonstrates why those wines are so good with food. It’s fresh and zippy but still gives red-only drinkers enough to hold on to. Also, Clos des Vignes du Maynes makes something truly special. Made from Pinot Fin, an ancient clone of Pinot Noir, it has depth and a touch of density; it’s nevertheless delicate enough to do double duty for a two-top eating branzino and short rib for their entrees.
Of course, there’s Riesling. Barbara Öhlzelt Ried Heiligenstein is a beautiful single-vineyard dry Riesling for every kind of drinker that combines fruitiness with a mineral backbone.
How do you keep the list fresh?
We have a new arrivals page on the list, mainly so that we don’t constantly have to reprint the full list!
However, a pillar of my philosophy is to do things the hard way. What does that mean? We break cases all the time. It’s more important to me to take on a lot of SKUs than to have a ton of one thing. Unless the wine is special or has good value, we’re not buying more than a full case.
Sometimes, we have a limited-production wine on the list and run out of it in ten days, and we won’t have a chance to get it again until the next vintage. For example, I just got some G.B. Burlotto Barolo and had it on the list for maybe a week. But the philosophy isn’t to wait around and try to realize the maximum value of a wine. It’s to get it in front of people and then find the next cool thing to put in front of them.
We also do a lot of wine events, and we can burn through an entire allocation of one wine by pouring it by the glass. Building a reputation as the place to do stuff like that allows you to do more. We’ve also added a three-glass progression every night.
Tell me more about the three-glass progression. What is it, and how did you develop it?
Some of it comes from doing wine-and-food pairings and thinking about how to replicate that on a smaller scale. So, it’s three half-pours for 30 bucks and three full pours for 60 bucks, using wines that we can’t get in quantity or are maybe too expensive to offer by the glass all the time. We pour these wines for a night or two and get to share them with people, which is the most important thing.
I think a big problem with the wine industry is that with the culty, gray-market wines, people are trying to realize an insane markup—because that’s what people are coming in for. That’s something we’ve tried to avoid. I hate that some of these wines are speculative investment pieces that have become ‘sneaker-ified.’ For us, these wines should be drunk, and so we should pour them. It’s good to be the place where people know that this stuff happens.
Kitchen Istanbul has become known as a great place for wine professionals and wine lovers. When you have a night off, where do you like to go?
There’s always cool stuff kicking around the city, and it’s a great time to be a person going to restaurants to drink wine. The first name out of my lips is always [Award of Excellence winner] Copra. The food is spectacular, and what Andre [Sydnor] is doing there is awesome. His list is one of real perspective and personality.
I have to give a shout out to the work my pals are doing at Quince and Cotogna. Those lists are really great and full of exciting stuff. Also, to Paul [Einbund] and Alec [Cummings] at the Morris. They have an amazing program, especially on the higher end, with a ton of good value. If, say, you want to drink a bottle of Thierry Allemand Cornas, I suggest you go to the Morris.
Finally, I’d love to mention the program at Burdell, over in Oakland, which was built by Omar White. Another low-markup program and a place with great food and great hospitality.
