SF is getting a new wine bar inspired by a bulldog — and your pooch is invited, too

When a wine expert names his beloved dog after a grape variety, it’s only fitting that he opens a pet-friendly wine bar.

Joel Arias, until recently the wine director at Embarcadero seafood restaurant La Mar Cocina Peruana, is set to open a bar this month in the corner space on the Noe Valley-Mission border that was formerly the Turkish restaurant Tuba. The bar will be called Frenchie, after Arias’s 18-month-old French bulldog, Dolcetto, whose name was borrowed from a dark-hued grape that means “little sweet one” in Italian.

Frenchie’s list will focus on organic wines made by family-owned producers with minimal intervention, from Old World sancerre to pinot noir from the Russian River Valley. Arias is drawn to bottles with a distinct terroir — which is to say, he prefers biodynamic over natural wines. Some farmers, he says, use the cycles of the moon to guide them as they cultivate the vines. It may not be scientifically proved, “but they really go into that philosophy that there’s better days to spray the vines. Those wines express differently, and that’s what I like.” 

As inspiration, Arias cites two of the city’s most plant-filled wine bars — Hayes Valley’s Birba and the Mission’s Arcana — adding that Frenchie will maintain an international flair as well. (Side note: A French bulldog was the mascot for El Bulli, one of the world’s most renowned restaurants and a place that Arias says has loomed large over his career in hospitality.)

Arias, who is 39 and hails from Peru, says he and his then-fiancee spent a year combing the city for a spot with the right layout. (It had to include a small kitchen.) One evening, they ate dinner at Fenikkusu, an omakase restaurant on Guerrero Street, and observed that the adjacent space was for rent. “We came in and saw the high ceilings and said, ‘This is the place!’” Arias says.

During happy hour at Frenchie, he plans to maintain the pup-first vibe by enlisting an on-site dog-walker, along with another friend who runs a grooming company. Arias recognizes he’s taking a risk in leaving a comfortable job to strike out on his own — several friends were surprised he jumped ship, he says — but he had to follow his passion.

It’s been a busy summer: In less than two months, he got married, quit La Mar, and is opening Frenchie. “It’s never the right time to start a business in San Francisco,” he says, “but it’s the right time for us.”