Lori Theis: The Woman Behind the Wine at Westside Tavern

Imagine my dismay at finding out I’d been walking past a wine-centric restaurant catering to minimalist palates for three and a half years without knowing: Westside Tavern, right next to the Landmark Theaters. An email announcing their recent Randall Grahm winemaker dinner finally lured me in, for what turned out to be an exceptional evening of superb cuisine, flawlessly paired.  Glancing at the regular wine list piqued my curiosity; what kindred spirit was behind featuring this biodynamic-leaning, terroir-driven vintner, and curating such a smart collection of California boutique wineries?  

No surprise it’s industry pro, Lori Theis, Westside’s Special Events Manager, whose creds boast working with such luminaries as Wolfgang Puck at Postrio and Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken at Ciudad.  When we sat down for an interview, Lori chuckled with delight describing her duties, "I get to plan all the parties and I get to buy all the wine!" Years of experience at top restaurants make her just the woman for the job, though she came to wine buying somewhat by default. Lori recalled, "As a very young manager in San Francisco, I was on the launch team of Postrio. We had been open for a couple of months, when one morning the general manager said to me, 'We had to let the wine buyer go, so you’ll be buying the wine now.'  I said, 'Oh, well, you know I don’t know anything about that, right?'  He said, 'You’ll learn.'" 

She remembers with relief, "Wolfgang found out and hired his good friend, Stephen Singer, to tutor me. Stephen was part-owner of a local wine shop (now closed), Singer and Foy. Our weekly meetings, and Level 1 WSET training with Evan Goldstein, MS, were the extent of my formal wine education. As you know in the restaurant business, once you have a title you just keep getting it, and I learned more with each new job."  Working with different types of wine lists at Kuleto’s (Italian), Harry Denton’s (Californian) and Boulevard Restaurant (Californian and French), combined with travel to the world’s major wine regions, solidified Lori’s knowledge.    

Describing the evolution of Westside Tavern’s wine program, Lori said, "Our original chef and managing partner, Warren Schwartz, and I built it together. We started with a worldwide list of high quality, good value wines, made up of very unusual things, little French and Italian gems. Shortly after we opened, we recognized our kitchen’s focus had become California cuisine. Warren’s idea was to source everything from within 300 miles of the restaurant, so it made sense for us to change to an all California wine list.  

"Frankly, I was carried there kicking and screaming, really worried that I wouldn’t be able to have as much variety. I was afraid I would be hard-pressed to find the same quality of wine at comparable pricing. As it turned out, I was wrong about all that stuff. Everything’s being grown in California now, and since our winemakers are becoming more terroir and climate driven, more wines are of excellent quality, and they’re coming out of weird places like Clarksburg, Lodi and Lompoc."

While Lori is dedicated to offering selections that cater to all of her guests' palates, she said, "I like to promote smaller wineries. Maybe it’s not true, but one tends to think that larger producers don’t take as much care in the growing of the vines and of the land, as would a small grower who is raising his own family on that farm. Our list concentrates on wineries committed to sustainable, organic and biodynamic practices, people who are mindful of how they’re treating the land for the future. Those are the kinds of wines I want to drink, and I know our guests do, too.      

"I’m always on the lookout for something new and interesting to run on the (specials) board, to highlight the tremendous diversity of wines being grown in California today. l’m also excited about doing more winemaker dinners.  Although we don’t have a date yet, a Bokish Vineyards event is in the works for October.  They’re a family owned, sustainable-certified winery from the Clarksburg delta area, specializing in Spanish grape varieties."

Thank you, Lori, for bringing such a thoughtfully conceived wine experience to the neighborhood.

Westside Tavern, 10850 Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90064. 310-470-1539.