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DOREEN WINKLER, Orange Glou
CULTURE & LEISURE • Friday Routine
DOREEN WINKLER • founder • Orange Glou
Neighborhood you live in: Lower East Side
It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?
I’m a sommelier and obsessed with orange wine. In 2019, I launched Orange Glou as an orange wine subscription, and then, opened a store on the LES dedicated to skin contact wines in 2021. The year after, I launched the Orange Glou Fair with over 100 orange wines, and we held two fairs in NYC in 2022 and 2023. I’m very excited to launch the first Los Angeles fair this weekend with orange wines from the West Coast and Republic of Georgia.
I work a lot. I get a lot of in-store business happening over the weekend, so I'm usually rolling into the weekend making sure we’re ready for our Friday tastings and busy Saturdays and Sundays. If by Monday I have my shipments in order for the Orange Glou Wine Club, I may give myself a half-day off.
Where are you drinking or dining this weekend?
You can usually find me supporting my neighbors on the Lower East Side. I love going to Somm Time and Skin Contact, great wine bars that usually call me in whenever I’m walking by. My friends call me out on my obsession with Wu’s Wonton King by Seward Park, but I can’t get enough of their king crab, spiced lamb chops, garlic crusted chicken, and lobster noodles, and usually, we have the best wine — because they’re byo, and I bring it! I just got to try Nami Nori on Carmine Street with my friend, and we really enjoyed the temaki, especially the one with Hokkaido uni. We also loved their spicy tuna dip. The next place I need to try is Dame in Greenwich Village.
How about a little leisure or culture?
I host a lot of events at the Orange Glou store, so hopefully I'm bringing some culture and leisure to everyone else! We just had an amazing pop-up series with Allora Pasta Co., where we paired handmade pastas with some great orange wines. And we also just brought in the winemakers from Cantina Giardino, a natural winery in Italy, for a deep-dive tasting event.
Any weekend getaways?
A lot of my traveling is, you guessed it, wine related. I just came back from Chicago where I attended the Third-Coast SOIF, an annual event celebrating natural wines along with beers and ciders. I did get to check out some great restaurants while I was there, though. I really enjoyed Kasama for breakfast. It’s a Michelin-starred, fine-dining Filipino restaurant, but it also has some excellent baked goods and Filipino breakfast foods. Lunch was at Boeufhaus, where I had an amazing French onion soup and shared the savory short rib beignets with jus.
What was your last great vacation?
All of my trips are a combination of work and play but I always make sure to stop somewhere fun. When I go to France for the Le Dive wine fair, I add a stopover in Paris. I always stop in Clamato for razor clams and then get a glass of wine around the corner at Septime La Cave. Bistrot Paul Bert has an amazing souffle you shouldn’t miss. I also love the delicious, beautiful pastries from Cedric Grolet’s shop near the Opéra.
In Los Angeles this weekend, I’m looking forward to checking out some new places like Ètra and Bowery Bungalow in Silver Lake. Jon & Vinny’s is a standby, of course. And in August, I’m going to the Czech Republic for the harvest season and to visit many, many wineries in Europe.