19 AUGUST 14-20, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | Vines and Vibes RAISE A GLASS TO SOMEBODY PEOPLE, A VEGAN RESTAURANT...AND MUCH MORE. BY ANTONY BRUNO Somebody People made its mark on the Denver dining landscape as one of the few vegan restaurants in the city, even though owner/operator Sam Maher has never really led with that classifi cation. “That’s not going to be its defi ning point,” he says of the vegan moniker. Instead, when asked what’s most notable about his fi ve-year-old eatery at 1165 South Broadway, he just smirks and, with a thick Australian accent and mischievous twinkle in his eye, replies with this: “massive vibe.” “I really just wanted to create a great res- taurant,” he continues. “Everyone has a great wine list and great cocktail list. I just wanted to create a place where you can have a lot of fun.” Central to Somebody People’s mission is the wine program that Maher leads and deserves more attention than it gets in most conversations about the restaurant. Sure, the wine list gets the obligatory mention in re- views and profi les, often for its equally-vegan approach, but the true depth and impact it has on the “massive vibe” Maher and team remains largely overlooked. Vibes and Vines For starters, yes… the wine list is all vegan, just like the menu. But few diners know what that really means. Obviously, grapes are ani- mal-free products, but many mod- ern winemakers use egg yolks or fi sh products as part of the fi ltering process to create a clearer wine free of sediment or other byproducts of the fermentation process. That’s beginning to change, how- ever, as winemakers embrace more traditional or “natural” methods like clay fi ltering, or just leaving the sedi- ment intact (which some say even enhances the fl avor and complexity). As for the list itself, you won’t see the words “vegan” or “natural” anywhere. What you will notice is how the list is broken down not by region, but by characteristics. For instance, white wines are listed with such descriptors as “light and zesty,” “funky or textural” and “full, rich and fun.” The reds section features “pop and disco” or “spicy and alternate” and “big, rich, and bold.” Each section includes wines from multiple regions, including Italy and France; perhaps unsurprisingly, Somebody People has the largest selection of Australian wines in the area. The list is also highly affordable. Of the 116 bottles, about two-thirds are available at under $100 (only 5 percent are $200 or more). More Fun, Less Fuss The result is an experience much different than the traditional wine service as envi- sioned by the Court of Master Sommeliers, which evokes images of suits and ties, white tablecloths, and dusty bottles of indecipher- able French labels. Somebody People is more like a beach party fueled by wine, with casually dressed hosts whose knowledge of the product is surpassed only by their passion for it. It’s both approachable and easygoing without cutting corners on the details or the depth. In other words, think more fun, less fuss. This combination of accessibility with good times is perhaps best refl ected in the restaurant’s semi-regular Winemaker Din- ner series. During these events, diners sit shoulder to shoulder at long communal tables, enjoying a four course menu, each with a wine pairing (sometimes two), usually for under $100 a ticket. Maher spends the evening cradling up- wards of four bottles, skipping from seat to seat to fi ll glasses and discuss the wine, as- sisted by the winemaker or distributor of the wine featured, bottles of which guests can purchase at the end of the evening. The spirit of those dinners continues this summer with the newly launched Some- body’s Enoteca series designed to put the wine list fi rst. Every Monday, the restaurant features a small plates menu paired with select bottles, which diners can purchase for half off or choose six dishes and a bottle for $40. Food & Wine Pairing Matching the right wine to any dish is a mix of art and science, and that’s particularly true for a vegan restaurant. Pairing a tannic Cab- ernet Sauvignon with a fatty ribeye steak is an easy go-to combination (hence the axiom “cab and a slab”), but no such hard and fast rules exist in the meat-free world. Lacking a dominant fatty protein to anchor a dish, it becomes all about the balance of fl avors and textures between not only the com- ponents on the plate, but also how the wine becomes an ingredient in that equation. And that requires a far more symbiotic relationship between chef and wine director, which is the centerpiece of the Somebody People formula. Maher and executive chef Justin Free- man meet regularly to discuss this delicate balance. Often, Freeman’s menu sets the tone, which Maher then comple- ments with the wine choices. For the wine dinners, it’s the opposite, with Freeman developing a menu to help showcase the characteristics of the wines being featured. “I think the collaboration be- tween the two of us on pairings is really, really important, because we look at things from different per- spectives,” Maher says. “I love col- laborating with Justin and I love collaborating with cooks, because their idea of their dish is just totally different to what I would perceive it as. Chefs just taste wines differently.” As a Mediterranean restaurant, Somebody People leans heavily into Mediterranean wines — coastal, lighter in body, and with zingy, zippier fl avors. Here are a few of the top-selling dishes at the res- taurant, and the wines Maher recommends to pair with them: Arancini in porcini broth and saffron soy milk aioli: “I’m going Southern Italian with that. Fiano or Greco di Tuffo. Those wines have texture and good acidity, but with more orchard fruit mixed with a little baking space, which I think combines really well.” Grilled broccolini with Calabrian chili, or- ange/lime garlic sauce, and a creamy almond paste: “For that I’d hit up like a Barbera from Piedmont. It doesn’t have big tannins, but you can get these smokey notes to complement the smokiness of the broccolini. For a white, I’d lean to a Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley, because it has those herbaceous grassy notes that like with the broccoli.” Tiramisu: “I’m gonna say an Amaro (a liqueur), like a Sicilian blood orange Amaro that combines really well. Or for wine, a little sparkling Brachetto from Braida. It’s like sparkling chocolate and cherries in a glass. It’s a red grape they make in a kind of Moscato style. But it’s just red, cool, and stunning.” Maher also hosts a wine-focused game show on YouTube called Three Blind Wines, in which chefs and wine experts compete to correctly guess the grape and region of three wines, which they then pair with a selected dish and discuss which work best. It’s a remarkably fun and informative series that deserves a watch, as it provides a fascinating insight into how restaurants evaluate and incorporate wine into their menus. “We always have a chef tasting wines and we always also have a wine professional tast- ing wines, and we try and get their different perspectives on wines that we’ve chosen for a specifi c dish,” says Maher. Sounds wonky? It is. But somehow Maher and Freeman make it fun, funny and full of the same “massive vibe” you’ll experience at Somebody People on any given night. Somebody People is located at 1165 South Broadway and is open 5 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 4 to 9 p.m. Friday through Sunday. The next wine dinner is on Wednesday, August 20, and features Portland Wine Co. For more information, visit somebodypeople.com. CAFE FIND MORE FOOD & DRINK COVERAGE AT WESTWORD.COM/RESTAURANTS Somebody People owner/operator Sam Maher is after just one thing... “massive vibe.” Vegan food and vegan wines are paired to perfection at Somebody People. CHELSEA CHORPENNING CHELSEA CHORPENNING
