Raising the Bar at Saint-Pierre

Anthony Guerra’s new wine shop in Raleigh Iron Works offers elevated selections in a personal, approachable atmosphere
by Catherine Currin | photography by Forrest Mason

Inside Saint-Pierre Wine Shop + Bar, the walls are painted a deep green and the ceiling — exposed pipes and all — is a matte black. The floor is arranged into clusters of four-tops with cane chairs and lounge seating under dim lighting. A marble-topped bar anchors the right wall, while opposite the bar, wine bottles from around the world line the natural wood built-ins.

If it comes as a surprise that this upscale bottle shop in Raleigh Iron Works is the brainchild of Anthony Guerra, the chef/owner of Oakwood Pizza Box, it shouldn’t be. “I was trained in restaurants at the front of the house before I opened Pizza Box,” he says. A sommelier, he previously ran the beverage program at the former An in Cary and his family’s restaurant in Cary, Bella Mia.

Pizza Box is an intentionally casual restaurant, but even so, Anthony couldn’t help but offer a curated wine list of over 50 bottles to drink alongside his expertly-made pies. “Some people come in for the wine first, pizza second,” says Anthony’s wife and Saint-Pierre co-owner, Brett. And when the Southern Smoke Foundation described his successful restaurant as “a wine bar disguised as a pizza joint,” the idea to create an un-disguised wine bar started to take hold. “Saint-Pierre came out of passion, just like Pizza Box did,” Brett says.

Anthony enlisted his friend, industry vet Scott Hardiman Jr., to help run the show as a co-owner. Hardiman had previously served as the sommelier at The Umstead Hotel and Spa as well as in a stint with Crawford Hospitality, and Anthony felt it was important to share the helm of this venture. “So much great talent in my industry leaves because they don’t ever get to the ownership level,” he says. “I want to create opportunities for people who are really talented.”

Saint-Pierre, which opened last September, offers wines by the glass or bottle. Guests can select a bottle from the shelves, enjoy it at the shop and take what’s left home with them. The staff is approachable and knowledgeable and always happy to recommend wines.

The selection is constantly evolving. “We’ll taste more than a dozen wines, and then vote on what’s offered by the glass and on the shelves,” says Anthony. “We’re looking at what people are liking each week and making edits from there.”

For bar snacks, the Saint-Pierre team partnered with chefs Vivian Howard and Charlotte Coman. Howard is known for her Eastern NC roots, PBS series A Chef’s Life and restaurant Chef & the Farmer. Coman is Howard’s chef de cuisine at Theodosia at the Outer Banks’ Sanderling Resort, and she previously worked in Raleigh with chef Ashley Christensen. “The opportunity to work with Vivian is amazing and Charlotte is one of the best in the industry,” Anthony says. Howard and Corman worked with the Guerras to dream up an array of bites to accompany the wine. “We could have done it ourselves, but I’m more interested in collaborative efforts that result in something better,” Anthony says.

The Saint-Pierre menu emphasizes small plates, with items like pickled shrimp with a garlic aioli and marinated olives and peppers. There are riffs on recipes from Howard’s cookbook, Deep Run Roots, like the Party Magnet Cheese Ball — goat cheese and herbs rolled in crispy country ham, served with Pizza Box crostini. “It’s light, it’s good, it’s filling enough, and it works as a pre- or post-dinner snack,” says Anthony. Brett says she and Anthony created the place they want to come on their own date nights. “We love to entertain and when winemakers and friends come into town, we want it to feel like they’re in our living room,” she says.

Raleigh Iron Works is conveniently in the Guerras’ neighborhood, and Anthony finally felt like he found the perfect spot for his concept: “I looked at everything and anything, hoping something would be obvious as the space.” Anthony says Jamestown, the developer that partnered with adaptive reuse specialist Grubb Ventures on the reconception of the Iron Works area, was a major reason for Saint-Pierre’s location. “They seem to really care about the quality of tenants,” says Anthony. “I feel like they’ve done a great job of curating the right mix of vendors. I love it over there.”

The wine bar is named after the Guerra family’s golden retriever, Pierre (you’ll see a nod to him in the bathrooms, which are wallpapered in canine portraits). The Guerras worked with Paul Tuorto on the shop’s logo of their pup. “When we were working with Paul on the design, we decided to give Pierre a martini, a cigarette and a beret. It was perfect,” says Anthony. “He’s a lovable golden retriever — but he’s not always a saint.”