Meet the Experts: 3 steps to food and wine pairing with John Eric and Vanessa Klein, owners of 36 Restaurant & Bar

Wednesday, June 8, 2022 ~ Updated 5:22 PM

Vanessa and John Eric Klein, owners of 36 Restaurant & Bar in Cape Girardeau

Photo by Aaron Eisenhauer

John Eric and Vanessa Klein’s love for wine began approximately 15 years ago, while they worked at Celebrations Restaurant. It was there they first began to taste different wines and study flavor profiles. Through study, trial and error, and gathering feedback from their friends while they entertained, they were ready to build their own wine list when they opened 36 Restaurant & Bar in downtown Cape Girardeau in 2015.

With 352 wines on their list, 36 Restaurant & Bar has won the Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator Magazine from 2017 to 2020. In 2021, they won the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence, which, according to Wine Spectator’s website, is awarded to wine lists that display “excellent breadth across multiple winegrowing regions and/or significant vertical depth of top producers, along with superior presentations,” restaurants that are “destinations for serious wine lovers.”

Here, learn to pair food and wine well with these tips from the Kleins:

1. Stick to the basics.

Generally, white wines pair well with fish and light foods like salads, while red wines pair well with meat and heavier dishes. The goal is for the wine to complement the food.

As an example, Vanessa says a white burgundy would pair nicely with the farmer’s market mixed green salad currently on their menu. As a contrast, John Eric says his favorite pairing is a cabernet with a ribeye steak.

2. Don’t be afraid to break the rules.

Spicy foods pair well with rieslings, John Eric says, since the sweetness of the wine offsets the heat in Creole, Indian and Latin American cuisines.

When selecting wine for a meal, considering the tone and physical setting of the event is also important; selecting a wine for rain or heat, a celebratory promotion or negative event can help complement the emotional element of a meal.

3. Drink what you like.

At the end of the day, it’s all about enjoyment. Trial and error can help you understand what you like and don’t like.

“Try to step out of your box a little bit,” Vanessa says. “Explore wines you probably wouldn’t normally try on your own.”

36 Restaurant & Bar

36 Main Street

Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Hours of Operation

Monday - Thursday, 5 to 9 p.m.

Friday & Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m.