OK, bad pun (sorry Robin Leach) but being in (if you’re Jewish) or going into (if you’re celebrating Christmas or Kwanzaa) the holidays, it’s important to have a few wishes to go into the New Year and I have a few that bridge the personal and professional twain. So, in no particular order… I wish in 2010 that…

The reality TV thing for chefs dies down. Iron Chef, Chopped, Hell’s Kitchen, Top Chef… enough already. Cooking should be about sharing, nurturing, and giving and not about all things smackdown. Let’s get back to showing people the pleasure in food and how to go about creating it themselves and not cooking competitively against a clock, our peers, or both. Continue reading »

Given the current economy, I polled a few restaurateurs who are friends on guest’s wine habits these days. The refrain was pretty consistent – people are trading down but still drinking wine. The reality is that, over time, the alcoholic beverage industry (wine, beer and spirits) is a fairly resilient industry. Responsible drinking is a mini-luxury that people won’t forgo. My friends have said that they’ll give up a few other incremental “nice to haves” before giving up their wine. That said, it seems all are spending a little less per bottle, both at home and in restaurants. Continue reading »

Being a sommelier today is very different than what it has been previously. Forget the fact that a contemporary somm needs to be aware of wines coming from Greece, Argentina, Portugal and South Africa in addition to the derigeur classics- Italy, France, and California. They have to be more adept at inventory management, staff training, cont controls and oh yeah, they need to know about pairing wine with food. Not as obvious today as it once was. Let me explain…

Historically there has been a ‘traditional’ culinary order that a sommelier addressed on the floor of a dining room: an appetizer or salad, a ‘main’ culminating in a dessert. Sure maybe a cheese course was fit in between the entrée and the sweet or an amuse was tossed in at the beginning to titillate the palate but the basic architecture of the meal was essentially consistent. But that’s not the case of many restaurants today. Continue reading »