The Wine Program Signal in a Chef Interview

When I interview an executive chef, I always ask about the wine program. The answer tells me almost everything.

A chef who shrugs and says "that is the somm's job" is usually telling me, without meaning to, that they run the kitchen as an island. Food goes out, beverage goes out, the guest assembles the experience on their own. The room rarely sings.

The chefs I have placed into great rooms answer differently. They talk about which bottles they tasted with the beverage director last quarter. They tell me about the dish they pulled because it was fighting the by-the-glass list. They know what a sommelier means when they say a wine is "thirsty" and they have an opinion about it.

This is not about chefs needing to be wine experts. It is about whether they think of the table as one experience or two parallel ones. The best ones treat the wine program like a co-author. They are also, almost without exception, the ones whose line cooks stay.

I look for the same signal in beverage directors too, just inverted. Ask them about a dish on the current menu. Watch what happens.

Ellie