Restaurant: Spago, BEVERLY HILLS [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
Location: 176 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210 | +1 (310) 385-0880
Date: October 10, 2025
Cuisine: Californian
Rating: An Epic Wine-Fueled Celebration!
Sometimes the stars align: the right restaurant, the right people, the right occasion. This October evening at Spago was one of those nights—a dinner with Walker and a bunch of new wine friends, the kind of gathering where the bottles flow faster than conversation and the conversation flows like vintage Burgundy. When you’re breaking bread (or, more accurately, sharing agnolotti) with fellow oenophiles, you know the cellar’s going to get a serious workout. And boy, did it ever.
Spago needs little introduction to anyone who’s spent time in Los Angeles. Wolfgang Puck’s flagship has been a Beverly Hills institution since 1982, defining California cuisine for generations and setting the template for what farm-to-table fine dining could be. Under current Executive Chef Ari Rosenson, who rose through the ranks from line cook to the top spot, the restaurant continues to evolve while maintaining that signature Spago magic: pristine ingredients, global influences filtered through a California lens, and just enough invention to keep things exciting without losing sight of flavor.
Rosenson’s background at BORDER, Vincenti, and Valentino shows through in his confident technique and respect for both tradition and innovation. His menu reads like a love letter to seasonal California produce, but with a worldly sophistication—Japanese touches here, Italian influences there, always in service of the ingredient rather than the ego. It’s the kind of cooking that feels both celebratory and deeply rooted, perfect for a night when the wine is as important as the food.
Tonight’s refined, contemporary menu.
We started with a true taste of fall luxury.
Matsutake Mushrooms with Sea Urchin, crowned with miso aioli, nori crunch, and shiso. The earthy, almost pine-like funk of matsutake against the sweet brininess of uni—a pairing that shouldn’t work as well as it does, but the miso aioli bridges the gap beautifully. The nori adds textural snap and the shiso lifts everything with its minty freshness.
Frog Hollow Farms Warren Pears with buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto San Daniele, roasted pear butter, and aged balsamic. This is autumn on a plate—the sweetness of perfectly ripe Warren pears (Frog Hollow knows their stone fruit) playing against salty prosciutto and creamy mozzarella. The roasted pear butter intensifies the fruit’s natural sugars while the balsamic cuts through with just enough acidity.
Japanese “Buri” Yellowtail Sashimi with pomegranate leche de tigre, ají amarillo, cucumber blossom, and tapioca crisp. Rosenson goes Nikkei here, marrying pristine Japanese fish with Peruvian firepower. The yellowtail’s buttery richness gets a wake-up call from the citrus-forward leche de tigre and gentle heat of ají amarillo, while pomegranate seeds burst with tart sweetness and the tapioca crisp adds necessary texture.
The classic Jewish pizza. You know the one—smoked salmon, crème fraîche, all the good stuff on a crispy base. Pure nostalgia done right.
Then came the pasta course, and this is where Spago really shines.
Agnolotti del Plin filled with butternut and kabocha squash, toasted pine nuts, crushed amaretti, and sage brown butter. These little pillows are textbook perfect—thin pasta encasing sweet, silky squash filling, the nutty richness of brown butter clinging to every fold. The amaretti adds a subtle almond sweetness and pleasant grittiness, while the pine nuts bring toasted depth. This is the kind of dish that reminds you why Italian technique matters.
Briganti Pasta with Maine Lobster, heirloom cherry tomatoes, preserved lemon, cipollini onion, and basil. The lobster is generous and sweet, the pasta perfectly al dente, and the sauce walks that fine line between rich and bright—the preserved lemon doing the heavy lifting to keep things from getting too heavy. Cipollini adds a gentle sweetness that plays beautifully with the tomatoes.
Custard Pastry with Strawberries—very old fashioned and delicious strawberry cake with very intense (Harry’s Berries?) strawberries. This is dessert as it should be: not overthought, not deconstructed, just damn good. The custard is silky and rich, the pastry flaky and buttery, and those strawberries are so concentrated with flavor they almost taste like strawberry essence. If these aren’t from Harry’s Berries, I’d be shocked.
But let’s be honest—the real stars of this evening were the wines. When you gather six wine geeks at one table, things escalate quickly. And I mean that in the best possible way.
Great meal. All this wine was about 6 guys! An absolutely ridiculous lineup that would make any sommelier weep.
The parade began with Krug Champagne, its dark label partially obscured but its pedigree unmistakable. Krug’s signature blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, always a statement of intent. We also opened 00 Wines from Oregon, a modern bottling with minimalistic design, likely a Chardonnay or Pinot Noir showcasing the producer’s clean, focused style.
The white Burgundies came out in force: Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 2011, a benchmark white Burgundy with Ramonet’s signature richness and minerality—2011 was a lovely vintage, showing beautifully now with some age. On the red Burgundy front, we dove deep: Domaine Dujac Morey-Saint-Denis 2011, elegant and perfumed as Dujac always is; Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny, showing that village’s signature silky texture and floral aromatics; Clos de Tart, the Grand Cru monopole from Morey-Saint-Denis, always one of the most complete and age-worthy Pinots in Burgundy.
We kept climbing: Château de la Tour Clos de Vougeot, one of the more reliable bottlings from this sprawling Grand Cru; Domaine Leroy, though the specific bottling was obscured, brought that unmistakable Leroy concentration and purity. And then the big guns: Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the Grenache-based icon from the Rhône, always an experience with its earthy complexity and deceptive power.
The procession continued: 00 Seven Springs from Oregon; Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne 2013, the Grand Cru white Burgundy benchmark; J.F. Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny, refined and classic; Domaine Armand Rousseau Morey-Saint-Denis; Georges Roumier single vineyard bottling.
Then we moved to Bordeaux: Château Margaux, the elegant First Growth from Margaux; Château Cos d’Estournel, the powerful Second Growth from Saint-Estèphe with its exotic label.
From the Rhône: Guigal Côte-Rôtie 1999, showing that vintage’s structure and the appellation’s savory Syrah character; Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle 1999, a legendary bottling from a great vintage, all dark fruit and mineral density.
And from Australia: Jasper Hill Georgia’s Paddock Shiraz 2001 from Heathcote, showing what Australian Shiraz can do with age—earthy, complex, still vibrant.
More treasures emerged: Morey-Saint-Denis estate bottling; Echézeaux Grand Cru, one of Burgundy’s most prestigious appellations; Vosne-Romanée, probably the most famous village in all of wine; another Clos de Tart; another Château Margaux; another Cos d’Estournel.
Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie 2001, a producer’s Syrah showing the Northern Rhône at its most elegant. Château Rayas 2012, another bottle of this Grenache masterpiece. And Chassagne-Montrachet, rounding out the white Burgundy selection.
The final assault included: Domaine G. Roumier Chambolle-Musigny, possibly from 1990, showing how great Burgundy ages; Domaine Jean-Marc Millot Vosne-Romanée; DRC La Tâche (yes, another one—we weren’t messing around); Château Margaux (third bottle); Château Cos d’Estournel 2000, the legendary millennium vintage showing perfectly; Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 2001, part of the famous “La La” wines, rich with Syrah and a touch of Viognier; Château Rayas (another bottle); DRC Richebourg Grand Cru, celebrated for its depth and complexity; and Domaine Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet 2011, the Grand Cru white with Ramonet’s rich texture and stunning minerality.
This is what happens when wine lovers gather: bottles beget bottles, and before you know it, you’ve worked your way through some of the greatest wines on earth. DRC, Roumier, Rayas, Margaux, Cos—this wasn’t a dinner, it was a masterclass.
The food at Spago was excellent—Rosenson’s cooking is confident, seasonal, and deeply satisfying. The matsutake and uni starter was a revelation, the agnolotti textbook perfect, the lobster pasta generous and bright. But on this night, the meal was almost a supporting player to the wine extravaganza unfolding in our glasses.
What made the evening special wasn’t just the quality of the bottles (though my god, what bottles) but the company and the sharing. Walker and the crew brought their A-game from the cellar, and watching these wines open up, comparing vintages, debating appellations—this is what wine culture is all about. Not hoarding, not keeping score, but opening, sharing, and experiencing together.
Spago proved once again why it’s been a Los Angeles icon for over four decades. The food is still excellent, the space still buzzes with energy, and it remains the perfect stage for nights like this—celebrations that turn into marathons, dinners that become memories. When you’ve got DRC flowing and friends around the table, you’re not just dining out. You’re living.
