Meet the Woman Taking the World of Champagne By Storm

Jen Pelka set-out to build the best champagne bar in the world and within a year had won Eater’s Wine Bar of the Year. Now, she's opening an NYC outpost and launching her own label.

By Anna Jornlid

Photo Credit: Jordan Wise

What was the vision behind The Riddler? When did you start it, and why?

The Riddler is a champagne bar that I opened in San Francisco in 2017. Our second location opens in New York’s West Village on October 10th. For both of them our goal is to build the best champagne bar in the world, and what that means is to create a space that’s not only a great neighborhood spot, but also has a killer champagne list that allows for people to explore champagne in a different and accessible way.

The Riddler is backed by all female investors. A strategic move?

I just wanted to open a champagne bar. But when I started looking for investors and pulled together a list of people that might have money, I found that my personal network was filled with women. So, I came up with the idea to focus on a space co-owned by other women.

It’s important to keep in mind that when we launched it was a really different time. The #MeToo-movement hadn’t started and Trump wasn’t President yet. So, I don’t know if it was an inherently political, but I didn’t realize it would make such a bold statement. Today, it’s a huge part of what we do and an essential part of our identity.