Taste Wine-Beer-Kitchen—the cozy little spot tethered to Olives Gourmet Grocer—has officially been resurrected after a five-year nap. From 2015 to 2020, it was one of those quintessential neighborhood joints: intimate, creative, and quietly confident. Then the pandemic hit, and the owners and loving couple, Erin O’Hagan and Laurie Semon, opted to shutter the space. But now, with their longtime collaborator, Chef Brad Neumann, they have reopened the doors with a rotating, seasonal menu and a wine program led by sommelier Chad Alger.
“We’re pretty excited to be back open,” Erin said. “With the new menu and the changes we’ve made, it’s going to be fun for the community. How can you not like a mini-tasting menu with wine pairings?”
Taste’s wonderfully affordable wine flights’n’bites
Erin’s words are true: They now have what is kind of the perfect Girl Dinner with their wine “flights and bites.” Shifting monthly, three wines are paired with three accompanying bites. It not only reflects Chad’s love of vino but Chef Brad’s growing interest in learning how wine pairs with food.
“I used to be a strictly beer guy, but as I’ve gotten older, the complexity of wine is fascinating,” Chef Brad said, noting how odd it is that many chefs don’t know how to pair themselves and lean entirely on their sommeliers rather than working with them.
This month’s flight? First up is a Viognier from Yves Cuilleron, where stone fruit meets floral for a bright finish—perfect with Chef Brad’s tempura cauliflower doused in a sweet, slightly spicy chili sauce. Then the two reds. A Pinot Noir from Ruby Vineyard in Oregon—blueberry and spice meet beautifully light tannins—with a mushroom, brie, and caramelized onion tart. (Give me a million of those tarts.) And a Californian Petit Syrah from Peirano Estate, a gorgeously dark, berry-forward wine, paired with a roasted lamb meatball. (To the surprise of my palate, it was slathered in an orange zest marinara that worked shockingly well, with the subtlest hint of cinnamon. A wild sauce should be used with lamb more often.)
For $32? Pure awesomeness.
Why Taste Beer-Wine-Kitchen reopening is a win for Long Beach.
The original Taste was born out of practicality and passion—a storage space transformed into a small but mighty dining room where locals could get a solid glass of wine and a thoughtful plate of food. It was, when it opened, a space unlike any other. Chef Brad would often represent the space at farm dinners, while Erin and Laurie could extend their culinary image beyond Olives.
When COVID made takeout the only lifeline, Taste bowed out gracefully. It was never meant to be eaten from a to-go box. But over the past few years, the space quietly started hosting monthly wine dinners—multi-course pairings that drew a loyal crowd and kept whispers of Taste alive.
Every dinner ended with the same question: “When are you reopening?”
The decision had to be righfully calculated. With Chad leading wines, Chef Brad dusting off his apron, and the community behind them, Taste reopening genuinely feels like a friend coming back home. But rather than just pure nostalgia, they also bring a sense of renewal. The menu—simpler, tighter, more seasonal—lets Chef Chad’s food and Chad’s wines dance together.
“I don’t think in life you get too many second chances,” Chef Chad said. “This is ours—to be the best possible version of what Taste was always meant to be.”
Taste Wine-Beer-Kitchen is located at 3506 E. Broadway.
