Hate wine snobbery but want to have your glass? Take it step by step.

1. Go to Varietal, Chelsea’s newest food and wine hub.
2. Sit at pristine-white bar under champagne-flute chandelier; order one of 75 wines by the glass.
3. Sample flights from small vineyards, noting tag on each glass bearing info about the wine. (Pocket for future reference.)
4. When hungry, order at bar or head to dining room where chef Ed Witt (Il Buco, Daniel) changes artisanal ingredients daily and cures meats in-house.
5. Order sea scallops with pumpkin, cardamom, and pomegranate; Szechuan peppercorn-seared venison with chestnuts and yogurt; roasted persimmon with trumpet mushrooms, cheese, and sage.
6. Eat off friends’ plates.
7. Freak over pastry chef Jordan Kahn’s (French Laundry, Per Se) madcap pairings: wood ice cream on a celery root genoise cake and caramelized eggplant puree with grapes and orange blossoms.
8. Note ambitious, well-composed food.
9. Ditto on evening.
10. Remind yourself that you don’t step Sideways. You just step it up.

Varietal, 138 West 25th Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues (212-633-1800).