Finally, the perfect job is available. I knew it was there, here it is.
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Across the country, restaurants are practically begging for qualified sommeliers, wine stewards, beverage managers and wine educators. Whatever you want to call them, one thing is clear: They are scarce, and they are increasingly important to the success of ambitious restaurants.
Those who know little about wine may not recognize the service problem. They may blame themselves and settle for water. But for those who know enough to know what they are missing, the outrages abound.
For wine lovers, a waiter bringing a different, lesser vintage than the one advertised on the wine list, or a restaurant serving fino sherry hot from the back of the bar instead of chilled from the refrigerator, is like posting a sign: “Find Another Place.”
“I was in a restaurant in Atlanta where they really ought to know better, and a waiter served a Madeira on ice, like a bottle of Champagne,” said Karen MacNeil, who wrote “The Wine Bible” (Workman, 2001) and is chairwoman of the professional wine studies program at the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus in St. Helena, Calif.
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Of course, I'm only an expert in wines priced at 10 bucks or less, but hey, you must start somewhere. "Madame, may I recommend a 2005 yellowtail?"
Apparently wine accounts for 30 percent of net revenue in some restaurants. Wait a minute, though, time out. I just finished the article. The sommelier has to bus tables? Forget it. I'm not cleaning any stinking tables.
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Across the country, restaurants are practically begging for qualified sommeliers, wine stewards, beverage managers and wine educators. Whatever you want to call them, one thing is clear: They are scarce, and they are increasingly important to the success of ambitious restaurants.
Those who know little about wine may not recognize the service problem. They may blame themselves and settle for water. But for those who know enough to know what they are missing, the outrages abound.
For wine lovers, a waiter bringing a different, lesser vintage than the one advertised on the wine list, or a restaurant serving fino sherry hot from the back of the bar instead of chilled from the refrigerator, is like posting a sign: “Find Another Place.”
“I was in a restaurant in Atlanta where they really ought to know better, and a waiter served a Madeira on ice, like a bottle of Champagne,” said Karen MacNeil, who wrote “The Wine Bible” (Workman, 2001) and is chairwoman of the professional wine studies program at the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus in St. Helena, Calif.
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Of course, I'm only an expert in wines priced at 10 bucks or less, but hey, you must start somewhere. "Madame, may I recommend a 2005 yellowtail?"
Apparently wine accounts for 30 percent of net revenue in some restaurants. Wait a minute, though, time out. I just finished the article. The sommelier has to bus tables? Forget it. I'm not cleaning any stinking tables.
