Horses for Courses
by Tejal Rao
May 2007

After Gregory Cheval was asked to leave college, "for undisclosed reasons", he got into dishwashing and bussing at restaurants. Cheval met master sommelier and mentor Ira Harmon and everything changed, “he told me to meet him in the wine cellar and he would teach me everything he knew!” Cheval took him up on the offer. Now at The French Room in The Adolphus in Dallas, Texas, Cheval’s pairing philosophy is to not over-think his choices and instead focuses on one or two individual flavors to pair. “I think it’s important to think outside of your own palate and get out of the whole wine ‘geekdom' thing.” It’s an unlikely philosophy at The French Room, a grand dining room of gilded sconces and Venetian glass chandeliers, where one would expect a stuffier sort of service under the 18 foot tall cherub frescoes. But Cheval, in his three-piece suit, still picks reasonably priced, exceptional bottles.