USA Today: 3 Easy Holiday Parties
Christopher Bates, a master sommelier and chef/owner of the FLX Table restaurant in New York’s Finger Lakes region, offers an easy way to prepare food for guests to share right after they arrive. Video by Jamie Germano Jamie Germano and Tracy Schuhmacher Read the full article >
Food and Wine Magazine: 2016 Sommeliers of the Year
FLX Wienery and FLX Table, Geneva, New York Why He Won This Master Sommelier is a Finger Lakes change agent: focusing on Syrah and Cabernet Franc instead of the usual white varieties at his Element Winery; operating a fancy hot dog stand (FLX Wienery) with an inappropriately excellent wine list; and launching a new 12-seat […]
Grape Collective: Master Sommelier Christopher Bates on The Evolution of the Finger Lakes and the FLX Wienery
Christopher Bates has taken a circular route home opening Element Winery in the Finger Lakes with his father Bob in 2005. Originally from the Finger Lakes region he worked in the hospitality industry for fifteen years after graduating the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. His stints include General Manager & Executive Chef of Hotel Fauchère, […]
USA Today Review: FLX Table dinner delights all senses
It was already a dinner experience unlike any other. Warmth radiated from the open kitchen. A farmhouse table under a canopy of hanging box-planters of cascading herbs held a runway of wines. Smokiness wafted from bone broth being poured into ceramic saucers. From artistically rural décor to tempting aromas drifting out of the kitchen, entering FLX […]
XXI News: Connections: Summer of Food – FLX Table’s Dynamic Owners
Our Summer of Food series rolls on, with the dynamic husband-and-wife team of Christopher Bates and Isabel Bogadtke. Bates is local-ish; Isabel is French; together, they operate a growing empire of food and wine in the Finger Lakes. Their newest venture opened just days ago: FLX Table in Geneva, a high-end restaurant that has exactly one table, twelve seats, and […]
Forbes: High Heat And Bountiful Farm Stands: What Wines Do America’s Top Sommeliers Drink in August?
Christopher Bates MS, Owner and Operator F.L.X. Wienery, Element Winery, F.L.X. Table and F.L.X. Culture House One of my favorite ones in the world is Domaine Pierre Luneau-Papin Muscadet L d’Or, 2014. I’m absolutely crushing it this summer. I think I’m on my third case already. It’s delicious, with screaming high acid and delightfully low alcohol. […]
The Cork Report: TASTEMAKER: CHRISTOPHER BATES, ELEMENT WINERY, FLX TABLE, FLX WIENERY, ETC.
There was one person I didn’t take into account when I set out to ‘take back’ the term tastemaker from writers and sommeliers with this weekly series: Christopher Bates. He’s also a sommelier — and well-regarded one at that. But he’s also as intrepid and qualified a tastemaker as you’ll find in New York. He’s […]