Annie Shi Shows Us What a Chinese American Wine Bar Can Be

1. Lei demystifies and debunks what you thought you knew about pairing wine with Chinese food.

Although wine wasn’t prominent in Shi’s household growing up — she discovered her passion for it while traveling after college — her experience with authentic Chinese flavors began in her youth. Shi’s father, originally from Shanghai, and mother, hailing from Dalian, moved to the United States in 1986 and 1988 respectively, to have a second child, Annie, and pursue a new beginning.

“My mom, who’s from the northern city of Dalian, cooked — and still cooks — Chinese food every day,” she says. Her mother’s dishes continue to inspire her and at Lei, Shi highlights the Chinese cuisine that you don’t often find in New York, and demonstrates how they can pair beautifully with more than just riesling.

Shi describes her approach to pairing wine with Chinese food as “shockingly similar” to how she goes about doing so with French and Italian cuisine. “At King, for example, we don’t offer a tasting menu, so I’m generally recommending a bottle that will carry you through an entire meal, so I also use that philosophy at Lei,” she says.

Her approach is to steer clear of anything too tannic, as well as wines with overwhelming amounts of new oak. “Acidity is great, and it always makes pairing easier,” she says, equally citing texture and fruit as important characteristics. “As long as a wine is balanced across all three of those aspects, and is not heavily manipulated, the odds are that it will taste pretty good with the food.”

2. Contrary to popular belief, almost all of Shi’s wine picks are dry.

While riesling, gewurztraminer, and chenin blanc will certainly be on the list, Shi wants to show a new side to pairing dry wines with Chinese food. The bar’s list, which is set to feature 350 bottles to start, will highlight a global selection of wines, including wines from Burgundy, Champagne, Portugal, Greece, and beyond. “My hope is to take the pairing one step further than what’s already the status quo,” Shi says, affirming that not all Chinese food pairings need to be off-dry (more on that below).

In terms of by-the-glass offerings, Lei will feature three reds, three whites, one rosé, one orange, and one sparkling at all times, and the list will rotate regularly. “We’re going to have a ‘Somm Selection’ [of] whatever the team feels like opening and pouring that day; it keeps things fresh, and it’s a way for everyone to continue to try new things,” Shi explains. “Chinatown meals can be pretty speedy, so you might want somewhere to stop in before or after.” Down the line, Shi also hopes to host classes, events, and educational tastings at Lei.

3. The low-intervention wine list is anything but dogmatic.

In terms of wine selections, Shi leans into low-intervention bottles — those produced from sustainably or organically farmed fruit and vinified with minimal interference in the cellar — though she doesn’t follow any sort of strict guidelines when curating. “We focus on producers that we can really stand behind, meaning they take great care of their vineyards and cellar, and of course, make delicious wines,” she says. Guests can expect to see everything from classic French benchmarks — think Simon Bize, M. & C. Lapierre, and B&S Tissot — to smaller, up-and-coming producers from elsewhere in Europe and beyond, including Domaine Dandelion (Burgundy), and Silver Heights (China).

Above all, it’s taste that informs her decisions. “Even if you know the winemaker and their wines, you need to taste,” she says. Additionally, she knows not all customers will have the same preferences, and that she’ll likely be serving a large range of customers, from novices to collectors and everyone in between. “I try to make sure there’s something for everyone.”

4. They serve Chinese food that’s familiar, but also designed to be wine-friendly.

Shi reveals that she’s been taking notes on Chinese dishes that pair well with wine her entire life — though when she took a step back, she noticed that Shanghainese food, in particular, might be a challenge. “What I was looking for was a harmony between food and wine,” she says, citing the dishes’ sweetness as the primary roadblock. “There tends to be a lot of sugar in the cooking, which is challenging for dry wine, so we had to find a way to reduce the sugar in a way that could make drinking dry wine enjoyable.”

Enter Taiwanese American chef Patty Lee, who previously worked at Mission Chinese Food. Shi reveals that she’d already written most of the menu prior to hiring a chef, and was looking for someone who could perfect the recipes and bring them to life. “When I showed her the sample menu, she knew these dishes, as a lot of it is home cooking or regional cooking.”

Such was the case for the sweet and sour beef short rib, which will be featured on Lei’s opening menu. “It’s a classic dish from the region that my dad is from in Shanghai,” Shi says, noting that typically the dish is prepared with pork spareribs and lots of sugar. However, at Lei, the team is using beef short rib and have modified the sugar component so that it eats better with wine. “The fruitiness of the strawberry jam adds complexity, while the sweetness bolstered with texture and tang hits the palate completely differently than plain sugar — we tried it alongside a glass of [dry] gamay and it was so delicious!” she exclaims.

You’ll also find dishes like sesame shao bing (Chinese flatbread) served with cold butter; a fried “Dali” goat’s cheese toasted with five spice, that’s similar to halloumi; chilled celtuce with shallots and red vinegar; steamed cockles with loofah gourd and Thai basil; and hand-rolled cat’s ear noodles with lamb braised in cumin and tomato.

5. Subtlety was the design directive.

Contrary to the bright and airy feel of King, Shi describes the diminutive Lei, with just 28 seats in a 700-square-foot space, as much moodier. She teamed up with San Francisco-based architectural designer and childhood friend Rachel Vineberg Jones to conceptualize the ambiance. “My starting point was to make the space feel like an homage to Chinese design culture and history, and then the further I got into the project, the more I realized that it didn’t feel quite authentic,” she says, citing that her initial idea to pursue traditional lacquered woods and red/black color schemes ended up feeling kitschy.

Rather than employ obvious callouts to Chinese design, Lei instead features subtle nods to the culture. Shi cites her use of red-hued mahogany wood as a prime example. “Every Chinese kid grew up with lacquered mahogany wood, which is super classic, and while Lei’s is not lacquered, its material and signature red hue is a subtle nod to that.”

Additionally, one wall features handpainted scenes from the 16th-century Chinese novel, “Journey to the West.” “My dad was a dubbing artist, so I grew up listening to his storytelling of it on cassette tapes, so we picked out a couple of vignettes to reproduce; it’s the first illustrative representation of this folk tale,” she says.

6. And it’s a deeply personal project for Shi.

“This project has been very meaningful to me, because I’ve gotten to work with my parents on something in my professional world,” Shi says, citing her mom’s cooking for inspiration, as well as utilizing her dad’s presence within the community — including his network of friends — for a myriad of tasks. “We’re going to have an opening party for all of the Chinatown folks who helped out — I have a huge amount of local customer support in the 70s age range!” she laughs.

The wine bar is also named for Shi’s older sister, Hannah, whose Chinese name was “Lei.” Hannah died 20 years ago in the Southeast Asian tsunami, and Lei is an homage to her, and to her love for hospitality.

Opening Lei in Chinatown is especially meaningful, too, as Doyers Street itself holds plenty of memories for Shi. “The skincare place next door, that’s the first place my mom ever took me to get a facial,” Shi recalls. Now with two kids of her own, she hopes to give them the same opportunities.

“Having kids makes you think twice so hard about identity, so I want them to have a place that they could go and hear the language on the streets, as well as eat the food,” she says. “And of course, I’m really hoping to bring a love of wine to the neighborhood, as well as show that wine can be enjoyed with all cuisines. It’s not just reserved for French or Italian food.”

Lei is open Wednesday through Sunday from 5 to 10:30 p.m. starting on June 6.

Vicki Denig is a wine and travel journalist based between New York and Paris. Her work regularly appears in Food & Wine, Decanter, Condé Nast Traveler, Matador Network, and more. Follow her on Instagram. Follow Resy, too.