With the Industry Under Pressure, Should Bartenders and Sommeliers Finally Join Forces?
Fighting like cats and dogs is one of the oldest sayings in the book. Dating back to the 1600s, it refers to the natural tendencies of the animal kingdom. Both species have very specific personalities and are strong predators in the areas they inhabit, but our lore always pits them against each other. Maybe I am knee-deep in this battle because I have a senior cat and a recently adopted Chihuahua puppy, but this comparison also fits a rivalry I’ve experienced in my 15-plus years in the hospitality industry: bartender versus sommelier. Seeing this social dynamic play out in my own home — albeit with adorable animals — made me think, what created this chasm between drinks professionals? And why can’t we just all get along?
Though they might work under one roof (the restaurant), somewhere in the evolution of the hospitality industry, beverage pros were split up into two camps. Those interested in wine service went to certification classes, wore suits, and spent their days studying maps and frantically memorizing flash cards of soil types. While those who pursued bartending endured grueling barback shifts, labored over meticulous drink specs, and learned to worship the late-night dive bar beer and shot combo. The two groups attend different industry events and trade shows; form separate tasting groups; and have each developed distinct inside baseball lingo that keeps it clear who is “in” and who is “out.”
Though many wouldn’t go so far to call these two sects “rivals” per se, the separation between the industries is notable. At a time when both wine and spirits are struggling to connect with consumers, wouldn’t it make more sense for those in the booze business to work together?
As some reputable industry vets showcase, combining these interests often presents an advantage in the restaurant world. For one, having deep knowledge in both wine and cocktail culture can make you a double threat behind the bar, leading to more complex drinks and a wider set of vocabulary to use when chatting with the guest. But on a broader scale, embracing both sides creates a more inclusive environment that celebrates the entire drinks industry rather than pitting sub-groups against each other. Maybe it’s time these feuding sides realize that combining forces can unlock a new world of possibilities for a beverage program.
Line in the Sand
As a young front-of-house (FOH) restaurant worker with no experience in the game, you usually start at the bottom of the totem pole. Most employees don’t desire to stay a dishwasher so they learn a new skill and work their way up to a busser, then a runner. At this point, not only do you need to learn table numbers but also the seat positions and the differences between appetizers and entrées. And you have to make the chef happy by moving faster than you ever have before — that food is hot! Then if you want to make some real money you become a server where you really need to know the food menu, cocktail list, back bar, wines by the glass, and a few wines from the bottle list. But where you go from there, there seems to be a clear line in the sand. You either become a wine professional or a bartender. (Some might say you can go into management, but who really wants that?) At the end of the day, both are serving liquid that gets you feeling toasty, but both sides of this boozy world are completely different.
If you choose to become a bartender you usually start as a barback and work your way up. Instead of a sleek suit you have a bar rag hanging off your belt loop. You’re busy making simple syrup and taking out the trash; physical labor is the start to your education. Then when you fall in love with spirits and cocktails, that’s when your motor skills training comes in, and the first perfect round of Martinis with fat lemon twists you build, you know you’ve made it. It’s inherently more rock and roll, even if you’re bartending in a cocktail dress or vest and tie. When it comes to wine, you need your nose in books and maps, tasting and spitting, tasting and spitting. If cats are wine then bartenders are dogs.
With so much time spent apart, these groups generated biases against one another: “Bartenders are sloppy and untraveled.” “Sommeliers are snooty and pretentious.” But it doesn’t have to be that way — there’s a lot of overlap in the culture of drinking, whether you do it from a pint glass or a Zalto.
Wine often deals with its pompous and self-important stereotype, but the classic Parisian wine bar is the opposite of how most Americans view wine. It’s so ingrained in the culture in France, wine is not seen as a luxury but a necessity, like a loaf of bread; it’s the way of life. The great Midwest dive bar is in the same family, open all day and into the night; people of all ages drinking and smoking cigarettes (or sometimes both) on the street in front of the bar. There is no pomp and circumstance, no fancy presentation, and glassware that isn’t paper thin or bulbous — the glassware is there to get the drinking job done. It’s a place for community, a place for fun, a place to relax after work or have a long midday drink; it’s magic and no one is scared, no one is feeling undereducated about a drink made from fruit grown in dirt.
Alas, the biases and egos can still get in the way in today’s industry. To say chefs, somms, and bartenders take huge pride in their work is an understatement. There are shifts when we say “we aren’t curing cancer.” Maybe we made a blunder during service, or a guest wasn’t perfectly happy, or we didn’t get our prep done in time. But in the heat of the moment, it can feel like life or death. Chefs are the kings of the kitchen, but who is the king of the FOH?
Before beverage programs were seen as an integral part of the dynamic and finances of the restaurant, wine professionals and bar professionals had to fight to stay alive. Fight for a budget; fight for a functioning bar; fight for a EuroCave; fight for fancy ice or hand-blown glassware. And for the most part this divided the beverage team, because instead of joining together to create a cohesive program, it made us fight each other.
“The curiosity in delicious things never ends, it’s all about continuous education and then sharing the knowledge and the passion with your staff.”
Beverage professionals are known for their egos. This separation and heavy work schedule made each beverage professional see their specialized area as more important, and that they didn’t need to learn or know about the other side of the beverage coin. I hate to break it to the people who still do things this way, but the ’90s are over.
Why Not Both?
Carla Rzeszewski never saw the industry that way. (If you don’t know Rzeszewski and use sherry in your cocktails, it’s probably because of her.) Rzeszewski moved to New York and started her restaurant career as a bartender at Blue Water Grill, where she discovered her passion for exploration and travel can be made possible through wine. With her own curiosity growing, she leaned on her managers to help her study all she could about the subject. She dived deep into books about grapes and terroir and took the time to grow her palate by going to as many tastings as she could. She calls it “shooting from the hip” education.
Rzeszewski went on to bartend at Freemans, then moved on to work at Hearth under Paul Grieco where her passion for wine became so intense “her heart woke up.” Eventually, she took on the role as wine director for the Breslin, the John Dory, and the Spotted Pig. The biggest impact she had on the cocktail world was mentoring the bar staff of the John Dory Oyster Bar, a program and bar team put together by Sasha Petraske. Rzeszewski assembled an easily understandable crash course in wine for the bar team; led legendary monthly classes and tastings that felt more like a party; and implemented daily training sessions on the large by-the-glass menu for the FOH staff.
“You can create fire for your staff, get them excited about a wine that’s delicious, balanced and different, giving your guest something that’s rad and a conversation point,” she says. Rzeszewski’s knowledge and deep emotion for wine and sherry were so contagious, but also so approachable this group of bartenders took that fire and spread it out to countless bars and cocktail programs in the city.
Other notable beverage pros have uncovered this secret to great hospitality. Among them is celebrated sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier. Though she is one of the most revered figures in the wine world today, she also understands the importance of a complete bar program.
Lepeltier admits she “didn’t know sh*t about cocktails,” when she started out, so she trained at the legendary Hemingway Bar in Paris, with the thought that every wine professional should know about the bar. When she moved to New York in 2007, the first bar she visited was Pegu Club, then PDT, and then Milk & Honey. Seeing the best bars and meeting the best bartenders, she knew the bar was just as important as the wine.
There was never a separation of church and state but the forever desire to create elevated experiences for her guests. She also has an understanding that for those with a relentless curiosity for knowledge and a desire to become excellent at their craft, no one should be excluded. “You can have a great wine program and spirits program at the same time,” she says. “It is the same execution. You should always just want the best of the best.”
Industry vet Theo Lieberman shares this mindset. Though he started behind the bar, Lieberman spent his career careening back and forth between cocktails and wine, working under Sasha Petraske at Milk & Honey, running the bar at Lantern’s Keep, heading up the program at Eleven Madison Park, and slinging baller bottles at La Compagnie wine bar. Now he serves as the director of operations of Mattos Hospitality, and the training from Petraske on the simple way of crafting delicious cocktails without the bells and whistles is so apparent in the way Lieberman speaks about wine. “The curiosity in delicious things never ends, it’s all about continuous education and then sharing the knowledge and the passion with your staff,” he says.
Though these were stand-out cases a few years ago, it’s clear that more restaurant groups are catching on to the possibilities that come when you combine the efforts behind wine and spirits. Amy Racine, beverage director behind powerhouse group JF Restaurants, leads both the wine and cocktail programs at over a dozen concepts across the U.S., integrating them in a way approachable to consumers.
Cohesion and Complexity
With one foot on each side of the line, these bar pros are able to traverse multiple industries to make cohesive beverage programs. An added benefit of embracing both wine and spirits is that this knowledge can lend to more complex drinks.
Drinks pros with an appreciation for cocktail and wine are more likely to include underappreciated ingredients like sherry, Calvados, vermouth, amaro, brandy, and cordials in their cocktails. This section of the beverage program can and should be shared between both the wine and spirits categories, creating something great together. Bartenders aren’t just reaching for the cheapest Prosecco to make their cocktails, but learning the differences between Champagne, Cava, and pét-nat and treating them with the same integrity and care as a whiskey or gin.
“You can have a great wine program and spirits program at the same time. It is the same execution. You should always just want the best of the best.”
Press Club in Washington, D.C., is no stranger to including wine, sherry, and grape-based spirits in its cocktails. With experience from fine-dining restaurant Bresca, Press Club’s managing partner and beverage director Will Patton understood the importance of each aspect of the industry — cocktails, food, and wine — to the complete hospitality experience. The cocktail menu showcases classic builds but with a splash of Riesling or a pour of Chenin Blanc, seamlessly incorporating wine to add layers of texture and flavor to each drink.
Similarly, Orlando Franklin, formerly of the Four Horsemen’s late-night haunt Nightmoves, lets his love of wine and fruit-based spirits shine at the West Village’s newly opened Cynthia. This can be seen in his creation the Mr. Melon, which combines mineral-driven Muscadet wine with Aelred Melon Liquor, cane syrup, and Matchbook Distilling’s Late Embers, a honey and sunchoke distillate. The drink is force- carbonated and served in a wine glass over ice.
“Welcoming a sense of curiosity, community, and a ‘f*ck, yeah’ attitude gets the most delicious things in front of our guests and our staff” says Rzeszewski, and it really should be that simple.
As the booze industry struggles to grow among new consumers, restaurant infighting between the beverage teams isn’t going to help anyone. Instead of boxing people out, it’s time for an inclusive mindset that lets more people in.
So far the community of dog and cat in my apartment is still being worked out, but they understand and respect each other in the same way the wine and spirits worlds are cohabitating in our favorite bars and restaurants. Hopefully soon I’ll be posting pictures on Instagram of them cuddling — the wine and cocktails, I mean.
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