Under Beverage Director David Kolvek, Sons & Daughters Will Emphasize Alpine Wines and Expand the Wine List to Complement the New-Nordic Inspired Menu
San Francisco, CA | October 24, 2023 – Sons & Daughters, the beloved Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighborhood, is pleased to introduce David Kolvek as its new Beverage Director. Opened in 2010, Sons & Daughters recently introduced Harrison Cheney as Executive Chef, who became the 2023 Michelin Guide California “Young Chef “ and the team is looking forward to welcoming Kolvek’s influence on the beverage program.
With a new focus on wines from mountainous regions, both the Alps and here on the West Coast, David Kolvek’s wine list pays homage to the winemakers toiling in those challenging alpine conditions. In addition to recalibrating the focus of wine regions, the format of the wine list is changing. “I wanted to create a wine list that reads like an atlas. Grouping wine regions not primarily by the country they’re in, but by the mountains, rivers, and coasts that influence them,” says David Kolvek.
“We’re excited about David’s vision for our beverage program at Sons & Daughters. Like myself, he has a unique upbringing with international travels and experiences that will contribute to the evolution of our restaurant,” says Chef Cheney. “He has an acute understanding of how the Alpine regions of Switzerland, France, Italy, and others influenced winemaking in the U.S. and we’re looking forward to what he will bring to our table.” Kolvek and Cheney are working to challenge each other’s palates and expand the connection between food and drink.
Kolvek’s passion for hospitality, food, and wine brought him to San Francisco and ultimately into his role as Beverage Director at Sons & Daughters. His gravitation towards creative thinking and educating guests about wine is what drives him.
“I find joy in learning about wine: its history, place in culture, and the people that make it. It’s up to us to relay that knowledge in a way that our guests can connect with,” says Kolvek. “Wine has taught me a lot about the world. It’s like a liquid liberal arts education, and that’s what I want to share.”
Kolvek grew up primarily in the Sea-to-Sky Corridor in British Columbia, after a short time living in Slovakia where his parents immigrated from. The Coast Mountains of the Pacific Northwest have been influential to his perspective. His family owned and operated a pizzeria and later a café outside of Vancouver, B.C. where Kolvek learned first-hand the importance of work. Later, Kolvek studied Computer Science & Business at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. Since moving to San Francisco over five years ago, he has held managerial positions at West Coast Wine Cheese and Birba Wine Bar before joining the Sons & Daughters team in October 2022. In 2023, Kolvek became a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers and received his WSET-3 Certification. He was named 2019 “Top 10 Sommelier in the Bay Area” in the Bordeaux Supérieur Wine Competition and is a California Wine Appellation Specialist.
At Sons & Daughters, Kolvek is looking forward to creating an Alpine driven wine list that pairs well with Chef Cheney’s cuisine. The new focus dovetails with the updates to the restaurant’s beverage program, which now features a new non-alcoholic beverage pairing that utilizes sustainable practices and techniques like lactic fermentation. With Kolvek’s influence, the wine list will expand its bottle selections, and feature labels that shine light on this often-overlooked wine category. Kolvek is confident that these unique Alpine wines pair perfectly with Chef Cheney’s acid-driven, New Nordic cuisine which highlights Northern California’s seasonality.
Sons & Daughters is located at 708 Bush St. San Francisco, CA 94108, and is open Tuesday through Saturday for dinner starting at 5:30 p.m. The tasting menu is priced at $229 per person served over the course of two and a half hours with an optional beverage pairing for $165 per person and the Non-Alcohol beverage pairing is $115 per person. Reservations can be made on Tock.
SONS & DAUGHTERS (San Francisco, CA) — Sons & Daughters is an elevated, intimate 16-seat Michelin-starred restaurant in Nob Hill within walking distance of downtown San Francisco. Sons & Daughters, which earned 3.5 stars from the San Francisco Chronicle, offers a 18-serving tasting menu inspired by new Nordic flavors and is anchored in classic techniques and the seasonality of Northern California. Chef Teague Moriarty opened Sons & Daughters in 2010 and has since stepped away from the kitchen completely as the owner paving the way for Harrison Cheney, who joined the team in October 2022 and was appointed Executive Chef in January 2023, in the interim spending time taking the reigns and creating a new menu that reflects the restaurant’s ethos and his own culinary background. Chef Cheney is a force to be reckoned with having spent a moon quarter of his culinary career at two Michelin-starred Gastrologik in Stockholm. His pedigree also includes working with acclaimed Michelin-starred chefs Phil Howard at The Square in London and Michael Tusk at Quince, and at The Ledbury at Notting Hill. Cheney’s elevated and thoughtfully composed menu showcases modern, progressive dishes that imbue Nordic influence through acidity and balance, and highlight the abundance of locally sourced ingredients. Most recently, Harrison received the prestigious 2023 MICHELIN Guide California “Young Chef Award” and is honored to be in a position to inspire future generations within the restaurant industry. The wine program showcases an extensive, boutique selection of both classic and New World wines. Sons & Daughters is focused on sustainability by working directly with local growers, farmers and purveyors, minimizing food waste by using every part of the product and composting, and implementing mixed recycling – all with the goal of reducing the restaurant’s environmental footprint. Diners can anticipate a warm, welcoming atmosphere and high attention to detail when dining at Sons & Daughters. For more information, please visit www.sonsanddaughterssf.com, follow @sonsanddaughterssf on Instagram, and like on Facebook.
