Christopher McFall

Christopher McFall began in service and cellar work at a small family-owned restaurant in Austin, Texas, where the basics of the trade were learned by repetition: table work, bottle work, and the discipline of paying attention on the floor. That early setting established the practical habits that matter in wine service, with the cellar functioning as both workspace and study. At Pappas Bros. Steakhouse in Houston, Texas, he moved into a wine team role that deepened his command of structure and service under pressure.

The setting required accuracy, consistency, and an understanding of how wine supports hospitality at a high level. Lazy Bear in San Francisco brought a different scale of responsibility. There, Christopher McFall managed and developed award-winning programmes until 2020, shaping wine around a restaurant identity rather than treating it as an add-on. The work sharpened his sense of proportion, sequencing, and how to build coherence across a full dining experience.

At SingleThread, he first worked as a sommelier team member from 2020 to 2022, then as head sommelier from 2020 to 2022, inside a service culture defined by exacting standards. Those years built the authority that comes from repetition, judgment, and close coordination with the room. Since 2022, Christopher McFall has been wine director of SingleThread, continuing a path defined by rigor and steady accumulation of trust.

Since 2022, he has served as wine director there, responsible for holding the wine list in balance with the restaurant’s 10-course Kaiseki-inspired cuisine. The format leaves little margin for error, so the wine has to stay responsive to each course’s temperature, texture, and pace. At SingleThread, McFall’s work is about sequence, timing, and control of detail. The pour, the glass, the point at which wine enters the meal: each decision carries weight. That kind of service depends less on display than on restraint, and on knowing when to lead and when to step back.

Christopher McFall has received Wine & Spirits Magazine, Best New Sommelier (2012).