Inside Commis Bar: Michelin Dining & Wine Pairing

One of the great things about living in the Bay Area is the variety of dining experiences you can find here and accessibility to top-notched restaurants with Michelin dining experience. Fine dining in Oakland is also becoming more of a thing now. We finally decided to try out the pre-fixe bar tasting menu at Commis Oakland, a Two-Star Michelin-rated fine dining restaurant, on a casual Saturday night and figured it would be worth checking out. So here is my review of their bar menu and sommelier experience.

Menu & Wine

Personally, I enjoy the challenge of picking my own wines to pair with what I eat so I did not naturally opt for the wine pairing. After all, I tend to pick my wine or drinks based on my mood so I wanted to factor that in. Looking at the menu at first glance, I was intrigued by what I could pair the first starters on the menu to go with - scallop and eggs. Both can give a creamy rich character but the chili water is throwing things off a bit. After speaking with the sommelier, I decided to go into a more adventurous pairing and went with an orange wine for my first glass.

Queen of the Sienna Amber,

CA

This is actually a local wine from the Sierra Foothills wine region consisting of a blend of Verdelho, Albarino, Muscat and Chardonnay, all organically grown on the Rorick Heritage Vineyard. The winemakers took great care in minimizing oxidation when making this wine while showcasing the elegance and aromas of the white grapes and limestone, and it really shows. This is truly an elegant, well-balanced and refreshing summer wine I must say. I love the balance in acidity and tannins, overlaid by aromas of dried apricots, toasted nuts and ripen fruit flavors.

Pairing with food was surprisingly good, the Hokkaido scallop in chili water paired perfectly well with this wine in my opinion. The salinity in the wine counteracted the spiciness but enhanced the scallops. The creamy egg yolks and smoked dates married nicely with the acidity and tannins from the orange wine.

Hokkaido scallop at Commis Bar

Commis pork belly course

Bodega Lanzaga, Spain

For this amazing and luxurious pork belly course, I decided to pick the Spanish red from the Rioja region. This 2021 LZ Rioja had a nice bright acidity from black and blueberries that balanced off the fattiness in the pork belly. The light vanilla and oak flavors from this wine adds to the pork belly.

At the end, it was a pleasant and well designed asian-inspired meal. My favorite dishes were the Hokkaido scallops and bread, the pork belly could have done better as it was a little tough to bite into. For a petite asian woman, I think the portions were just perfect. The sommelier was very knowledgable and helpful to share some notes about the wine to help me with my decision. My other half really only enjoyed the levain bread paired with chicken skin butter as the one thing that stood out for him. It was extraordinarily good bread I must say but we weren’t convinced if we would come back just for the bread.

If you have dined or are planning to dine at Commis, we would love to hear about your experience. Drop your comments below or connect with us if you like to be notified of future posts.