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Regina King strolls into Joanne Hendricks Cookbooks on the hunt for classic hors d’oeuvres recipes.
The Academy Award-winning actress director, and executive producer is quite the cook and entertainer, and she’s looking for inspiration to pair with her brand-new wine brand, MianU. What better place than this quaint vintage book shop nestled in Lower Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood, which specializes in all things culinary. King and shop owner Joanne Hendricks are instantly in conversation, chopping it up over how difficult it is to debone a chicken and how absolutely delicious Jerusalem artichokes are.
Peering through sunglasses, King is professorial, but her vibe is homegirl for life, totally expected from the woman who started her showbiz career as Brenda Jenkins on the memorable 1980s sitcom “227,” was Janet Jackson’s sidekick in the 1993 film Poetic Justice, and won the 2019 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as Sharon Rivers in the film adaption of James Baldwin’s 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk.
King talks of the loquat, citrus, and olive trees that grow in her Los Angeles backyard and the two women marvel over how easy it is to make olive tapenade. While thumbing through early 20th century author Harriet Ross Cloquitt’s 1933 edition of The Savannah Cookbook, King stumbles upon a recipe for jambalaya. Her eyes linger on the page. The spicy dish would pair perfectly with orange wine.
“Have you ever had orange wine?” King asks Hendricks, the latter’s auburn braids pulled into a chignon pinned just above the nape of her neck. No, Hendricks hasn’t.
King takes some time to journal while nursing a cup of tea at Cafe Jalu, in the new French department store, Printemps.
King reaches into her tote, retrieving a bottle of wine the color of an autumn sunset melting into the horizon. MianU—pronounced Me-eyan-you, or me and you—was conceived in honor of her late son Ian Alexander Jr., who King describes as a, “Renaissance man, an artist, and a chef. He liked big flavors.” For her, this wine is as precious as the memories she created with her son.
“Ian and I just loved exploring wines together,” she said. In fact, it was Ian who introduced Regina to orange wine six years ago.
“We were having dinner at Kismet, one of his favorite LA restaurants, and he asked me if I wanted to try orange wine. I asked him if it had oranges in it,” she said laughing. “I took a sip and thought, ‘“Oh my God, this is so good.’”
Ian died in 2022. In 2023, King decided to launch MianU in his memory. It’s an offering that urges people to savor precious time with one another, while paying homage to her son.
She sampled countless California grapes before settling on a Gewűrztraminer from McFadden Farm and a Chardonnay from Hawkeye Ranch, both in Mendocino County, Calif. The blend balances a velvety, silky structure with flourishes of rose-water and pleasantly bitter citrus flavors, like biting into a ripe orange through the peel and pith. The label is simple but potent with meaning: white splattered with olive green paint featuring a computer-generated rendering of Ian’s signature spelling out Mianu.
Orange wine became a part of the mother and son’s repertoire complementing many of their favorite meals, especially crispy lamb. “Instead of potatoes, Ian would make parsnip puree and it paired so well with the richness of lamb,” King reminisced. Ian regularly zhuzhed up his own versions of paella, short ribs, and grilled vegetables.
This wine style has been trending amongst the wine set for a few years now, and King is joining the next vanguard of unofficial ambassadors. Similar to rosé, orange wine is made by leaving grape skins in contact with the juice for longer, which extracts both a golden hue and a bit more flavor. Data analysts predict the global orange wine market will grow upwards of $27 million during the next decade to $67 million.
Mianu—available online at mianuwines.com—King is launching Mianu with 500 cases, at just 6,000 bottles. The hallmark of the brand, she says, is intimacy.
“MianU [operates from] a nice place in the middle” of red and white wines, King said. “This wine pairs well with Thai, Indian, and Mediterranean cuisines, even seafood towers.”
King has a lot going on this summer. In addition to introducing MianU to the world, she stars in Caught Stealing, a 1980s-era crime thriller alongside Austin Butler, which drops in theaters this August. She’s in production on the film adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s bestselling young adult novel Children of Blood and Bone. And she’s gearing up to film the second season of “Forever,” Netflix’s modern adaption of Judy Blume’s 1975 coming-of-age novel that she directs and executive produces.
Despite this packed schedule, the wine industry neophyte is enjoying her time of discovery, like on this recent visit to Manhattan.
On her downtime, King is visiting bookstores, checking out wine and food festivals, and dining at restaurants including renowned chef Gregory Gourdet’s Cafe Jalu and Maison Passerelle nestled inside the sparkling new Printemps department store. She even found time to weave in and out of a New York Greenmarket, searching for seasonal veggies—carrots, parsnips, artichokes, radishes, and eggplants—to grill or maybe curry, but definitely to pair with a glass of her wine.
Regina King Takes Manhattan
Regina King visits Joanne Hendricks at the latter’s eponymous cookbook store in Soho for recipe inspiration.
Photograph by Andre Wagner
Joanna Hendricks Cookbooks
488 Greenwich St., New York City
King peruses several cookbooks before settling on Richard Olney’s Lulu’s Provencal Table. The 1994 recipe for tapenade—made with generous amounts of olives, anchovies, and garlic—is destined for an evening of apps and small bites alongside pours of MianU.
Actress and director Regina King posed for a portrait with a fan and security guard at Printemps in New York City.
Photograph by Andre Wagner
Maison Passerelle and Cafe Jalu
One Wall Street, New York City
After enjoying a piping hot cup of the rose kayenn tea—a delicate blend of rose hips, hibiscus and coconut—and journaling a bit, King chats with chef Gregory Gourdet about “227,” King’s first TV acting credit. “You were so very inspiring,” Gourdet says. He promised to try Mianu and King thumbed through Gourdet’s cookbook, Everyone’s Table: Global Recipes For Modern Health.
Actress and director Regina King peruses produce at the Bowling Greenmarket in Lower Manhattan.
Photograph by Andre Wagner
Bowling Green Greenmarket
At Broad and Whitehall St., New York City
King is right at home inspecting pink lady apples, celery greens, and radishes at the Bowling Green market in Lower Manhattan. She lingers at a table overflowing with freshly made jams and cookies before coming to a full stop at Spring’s Fireplace, an East Hampton, New York-based brand of salsa and hot sauce. She samples the mango and peach salsas before settling on the Tesuque pepper bottle. “I’m into the spice,” King says. “I can’t wait to get home and try this with vegetables.”
