Inspired Tapas
Offering a truly special culinary journey through food and wine.
Our Culture
Our goal is to create a truly special culinary journey carefully curated for each individual to elevate the epicurean voyage by featuring our global food and wine culture.
Plane & Level redefines the word “flight,” and offers an intimate bar and tapas experience in addition to modern fine dining experience set in a casual yet elegant atmosphere. The wine program is incredibly unique as we offer one-of-a-kind wines from around the world that cannot be purchased anywhere else in the state of Texas. With over 20 years’ experience in the industry, our talented in-house sommelier and winemaker guides guests through our extensive wine list to select the perfect wine for each palate and to accompany the meal.
Under the vision of our Culinary Director Thomas Perez, Plane & Level is inspired by global flavors with menus changing as the seasons fly by. Each dish is created using garden-fresh organic ingredients grown locally from our gardens. We invite guests to travel with us as we take an epicurean journey to explore regions around the world through each bite.
About Thomas
A native El Salvadoran with nearly 25 years in the industry, Thomas Perez, world-class sommelier is Co-Founder and Culinary Director of Plane & Level.
At a young age Perez escaped war-torn El Salvador with the goal to finish middle school. Little did he know that attending a wine tasting, at the renowned Masters of Food & Wine event, while he was working as a busboy at Highlands Inn in Carmel, that his life was about to change. Wine stole his heart and in 2004 Perez graduated from Escuela Superior de Enologia del Pais Vasco, Spain where he received his Masters in Oenology and Viticulture, becoming one of few sommeliers in the world that is also an oenologist.
Perez has engaged his extensive knowledge of winemaking techniques and education from time spent with Fidel Fernández at Bodegas Luis Cañas, Spain, Jean François Coche at Domaine Coche-Dury, France, and with Aubert de Villaine at Domaine de La Romanée-Conti, France, to deliver some of the world’s most exquisite wines. With this experience, he became founding winemaker of Kristi-Lynn Wine where he creates fine wines that showcase the pure identity of the varietals from Santa Maria Valley, California; Willamette Valley, Oregon; Mendoza, Argentina; and La Rioja, Spain.
Monterey County Weekly magazine boasts of Perez’s talents and humility by saying, “they simply do not make many wine whisperers like Thomas Perez. With Perez there’s no ego, only an oenology degree and profound understanding of the connection between how the wine is made and how it acts in the glass. ” It is this deep understanding of wine that has him named one of the three top wine experts in the nation by Men’s Health Magazine in 2010.
Thomas has worked as wine director and sommelier at high-profile properties such as: Aubergine L'Auberge Carmel Relais & Chateaux, Cantinetta Luca and Marinus at Bernardus Lodge, The Inn at Dos Brisas Relais & Chateaux, The Clubs at Houston Oaks, Bandol Wines and La Table.
