Victoria James Wants You to Mix Up Your Wine Order

There are a lot of tropes about steakhouses—white tablecloths, wood paneling, creamed spinach—but maybe none so pervasive as a leather-bound list of big-bodied Napa cabs and Bordeaux wines. At New York City’s Cote Korean Steakhouse, Victoria James is changing that practice.

“People are taught to focus on color when it comes to wine pairings, but it doesn’t have to be so rigid,” she says. “Wine should be...