In 2023, chef Srijith Gopinathan and restaurateur Ayesha Thapar opened Copra, where they offer one of San Francisco’s most impressive new dining experiences. In recognition of the strengths of the restaurant’s wine program, Copra earned a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, its first, earlier this week when we announced our 2024 Restaurant Awards.
Copra draws inspiration primarily from the culinary traditions of India’s southernmost states, Kerala (where Gopinathan originates) and Tamil Nadu, as well as Sri Lanka. The restaurant’s name pays tribute to these influences: Copra is a term for dried coconut flesh, an ingredient used widely across the southern reaches of the Indian subcontinent. Yet, Gopinathan also shows the evolution of Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine beyond those countries’ borders by preparing dishes not often seen in California and embracing global ingredients. For instance, he serves his tamarind and coconut gravy (paruppu urundai) with asparagus.
Gopinathan’s dinners start with kadi, or small snacks, ranging from oysters topped with fermented chiles and tamarind to a black truffle–topped appam, a pancake-like dish featuring a soft egg surrounded by fried, fermented rice batter. Smaller plates on the menu include crispy sambal peppers topped with pumpkin seeds, grilled bone marrow with a chukka masala spice mix, and a quartet of seasonal chutneys for the table (served with papadams). Guests will find a range of vegetarian and meat-based entrées, such as a crispy dosa with coconut and tomato chutneys and a coarse podi spice mix, as well as a lamb shoulder rubbed in a Chettinad-style masala and braised with copra and stone flower lichen.
Simplifying the Wine Philosophy
Captaining Copra’s wine program is wine director Andre Sydnor, who looks to break away from a “wine dichotomy” between conventional and natural winemaking to help guests understand the world’s wines and winemakers on a more “holistic” level. Sydnor aims to strike a chord between classic and less well-known regions by listing them side by side on an equal playing field—grand cru Burgundy next to, say, smaller-production California Grenache or cult-favorite Oregon reds.
Highlights from the program include a prominent selection of grower Champagnes and other sparkling wines from Germany, Oregon and farther afield. Sydnor breaks down the rest of the list by style to help complement Gopinathan’s array of spices and gravies, from “light and soft” whites like Sicilian Zibibbo to “full and rich” reds like a Nebbiolo made by Piedmont’s Roagna. Sydnor also offers a list of reserve bottles, including Grosses Gewächs (GG) German Rieslings, Camille Giroud Burgundy and Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.
