Wine & Spirits - October 2021 - 34

an obligation to help everyone else on the staff learn. "
Asked about her own mentors, Dufault gave five names,
explaining that if she could take one thing from each of
these five, it would make up who she became as a sommelier.
Debbie Zachareas taught her how to be a buyer;
Emmanuel Kemiji MS saw when she was ready for the top
job; Evan Goldstein MS inspired her to be an educator; and
Larry Stone MS provided copious support ( " He ultimately
officiated my wedding " ). Every person we spoke to about
Dufault highlighted her graciousness. She says she learned
that from mentor number five: Michael Bonaccorsi MS,
then the wine director at Spago in Los Angeles. " He was
so gracious and genuine and unpretentious. His approach
to guests [and 'the wine dialogue,' as Dufault calls it] was
the embodiment of a sommelier working in the best service
of guests-Michael was the champion of that for me. "
" So much is changing about the role of the sommelier, "
Dufault says. " What will that look like in five or ten
years to be truly serving the guests' best interests? How
do we make it more inclusive? How do we make it more
diverse? Those are all big questions, but we're always going
to need gracious and knowledgeable wine professionals. "
-Susannah Smith
" I often tell
my students
that even
servers should
be minisommeliers.
There's
a
sommelier
role in every
position. "
-cHRISTIE DAFAULT
run food and clear plates. He became an MS to be a better
hospitality professional and would say the title is useless
without understanding the mechanics of hospitality- that
empathy is, and should be, the leading tenet of how we
deal with a guest.
" He also helped me appreciate that there's something
really magical about taking a step back and taking your
time. You don't have to be a Master Sommelier in two
years. Who cares if it takes you a decade? Do ten thousand
hours of this, and then become a sommelier. Why
are you jumping ahead, man? Learn how to sweep. Learn
how to clear a table. "
Stuckey himself recalls working as a busboy in the mid1980s
at C. Steele in Scottsdale, Arizona, for Tom Kaufman
and Chrysa Robertson, later of Rancho Pinot fame. " Each
time I was ready for a new career step, " Stuckey says, " I
would reach out to Tom, years after I had left working for
him, and he would tell me, 'Yes, do this, think about this,
go for that. Yes, take that leap.' He was someone who I
could keep bouncing ideas off of for years. That's affected
how I try to be a mentor. If my former employees want to
reach out to me, one year, ten years, or twenty years later,
I'm there for them. "
Stuckey also remembers a sign in the kitchen at The
B OBB Y
S TUCKE Y
Frasca Hospitality Group,
Boulder, Co
" Y
ou don't know how to sweep, " sam rethmeier
of République in Los Angeles recalls
Bobby Stuckey telling him at Frasca. " How can
you possibly expect to know how to take care of guests if
you don't know how to sweep? " Rethmeier was 26 at the
time and, self-admittedly, cocky. " I said, 'Oh yeah, well,
show me how to sweep.' And he started sweeping, in a full
suit, and I thought, shit, he's right. I had no idea. "
When Rethmeier and his wife were expecting their first
child, he targeted Bobby Stuckey's Frasca as the place he
wanted to work. " I chose the best restaurant in Colorado,
and once a week for three months, I would show up at Frasca
and ask if there were any openings.
" I started as an expediter, and I trained seven people
who then went on to get promoted faster than me. It was
probably sixteen months in, that they finally said, Fine,
would you like to be a server? " Stuckey was the first Master
Sommelier Rethmeier had met. " He worked the floor
six days a week-he was in the trenches with us. He would
34
WINE & SPIR IT S Oc TO b ER 2021
" Do ten thousand
hours of
this, and then
become a sommelier.
Why are
you jumping
ahead, man?
Learn how to
sweep. Learn
how to clear
a table. "
-SAM RETHMEIER
French Laundry in Yountville, California, where he worked
with Thomas Keller and Laura Cunningham. Treat it as
if it were your own, and one day it will be. " If you look at
your job with the view of ownership while you're still an
employee, you will reach to greatness more often. I always
recommend to people that if they can't find a work environment
that has a great mentorship, then they should
leave. " He also suggests looking for mentorship outside
the restaurant industry. " There's a lot of great advice that
you can get from so many other people, but you need to be
receptive. To have a mentorship, you have to be comfortable
hearing things that might not be part of your agenda
at the moment. " -Jared Hooper
WINE & SPIRITS PHOTOGRAPHS
Wine & Spirits - October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - October 2021
