Mason Pacific Brings On Serious 'Somm' Talent In Bid to Become Drinking Destination

Mason Pacific has long been a go-to neighborhood spot, but owner Jay Thomson is on a quest to make it more. So he’s tapped master sommelier (and ‘Somm’ star) Dustin Wilson and Eric Railsback (RN74) to up the bistro’s wine program, and there are a doozy of changes ahead. Wilson and Railsback are aiming to "turn up the dial a lot on the wine sides of things and make Mason Pacific more of a wine destination both for guests and people in the neighborhood and around the city, but industry people as well," Wilson told Eater. To do that, they’re overhauling the program, and Wilson, who is based in New York City, will fly to the restaurant on a monthly basis for master classes and dinners. Here’s a full rundown of the changes:

• A new late night bar menu (below, served until midnight) designed by chef Sean McTiernan with input from Wilson and Railsback on wine-friendly foods. The new late night menu comes in tandem with some half-priced bottles after 9 p.m. (and from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.).

• A "Desert Island" list with Wilson and Railsback’s picks for the wines they’d want to bring to drink on a desert island. "We're putting together a reserve list of things that are going to be back vintages of great burgundies and California wines as well as pretty nice collection of a lot of our favorite producers from around the world, Europe as well as the U.S.," Wilson said.

• Bi-weekly "Winemaker Wednesdays" with producers at the restaurant to pour the wines themselves.

• Monthly master classes from Wilson. "My more concrete involvement personally will be in the form of education," he said. The classes will cover a wide range of topics, like how to blind taste, regions, specific grape varietals and more.

• Monthly "Desert Island" wine dinners led by Wilson that feature a particular region or producer.

Mason Pacific's Late Night Bar Menu