March 17--Sommelier Richard Hanauer is well-known locally for his work at the former L2O restaurant and, currently, at RPM Steak (66 W. Kinzie St., 312-284-4990).
Now he's known nationwide.
Hanauer is one of only seven named to Food Wine magazine's 2015 Sommelier of the Year list, announced Monday.
Hanauer was lauded by F for having "raised the bar for the modern steakhouse wine list, allowing guests to drink decades-old California Cabs and older-vintage Bordeaux for less than $100 per bottle."
That point, Hanauer said, is what's most important to him.
"There's such a plethora of amazing wine out there that's readily available," he said. "It's so easy to go the path of least resistance, to pour what's popular and new and publicized, and not put that much effort into it. But I have an awesome team, and they work so hard to scour the city, state and country for great wines for our guests to enjoy.
"It's totally independent of any kind of price bias," he said. "We serve what we think is in our guests' best interest, because those are the wines re really believe in."
pvettel@chicagotribune.com
