How long have you been with JTJ Restaurants?
Four years. I joined the team a few months before Petit and Keet opened.
What have you learned since becoming a part of the team?
What haven’t I learned?? In the last year, definitely perseverance (hello, COVID) and organization (operations of two restaurants). Overall, loads about the business aspect of managing a wine program. It may not be as fun as planning a wine dinner or going to a tasting, but the rewards of tracking things properly are worth it.
What do you love the most about working at Petit & Keet?
This company took a chance to allow me freedom and independence to curate a wine program when I didn’t have the experience. As a young woman in this industry, that’s not easy to find.
And, of course, my work family. We spend so much time together. We can’t help but be close. Every restaurant I’ve worked at brought me wonderful friends, but my relationships through PK/CS are deep and wide.
Hello to all my friends from my former life! I love and miss you!
What first interested you in food and drink?
I grew up being more interested in food than most people my age. My dad is a big foodie. We would always go out of town for a vacation with restaurants as a focus because there wasn’t much in El Dorado. Or we had to figure out how to make it at home.
I would go on business day trips with him just so we could stop at a restaurant for lunch. It was usually Red Lobster because they had that carrot cake. Also, cooking at home and appreciating flavors and the rarity of ingredients is something that I understood from a young age. We couldn’t get international food from restaurants, so we researched and did our best to cook at home. And there was no online shipping so we had to hunt for ingredients. When on the road we’d spend hours driving back roads to get this boudin and that bread on the way to another stop. It was never-ending.
I come by it honestly.
I guess my love of food really came from my dad. He lights up like a kid on Christmas morning when presented with something new and unique. We spend hours preparing meals because it’s fun. My parents put in the time to literally produce everything they eat for some meals. If that can happen, I think I can learn how/when/why a bottle of wine exists.
My parents own a Certified Naturally Grown farm now where they raise heritage breed pigs and grow all of the things. This has extended my understanding of the food industry extensively.
Food and wine are different, but we were all born eating. The need (want?) to drink comes later. I always want people to know that their knowledge of drink comes later and that’s okay. It’s also why I have a job and I’m happy to help.
What’s your favorite part about what you do?
Honestly, it’s being able to work alongside my best friend and partner [bar manager, Rob Armstrong]. We work so well together and I love bouncing ideas off of him and vice versa.
What is your job title for those who don’t know?
I’m a Certified Sommelier, which means I have passed the second level exam through the Court of Master Sommeliers. Technically, I’m the Wine Director for non-corporate JTJ properties.
What does an average day look like for you?
Any combination of duties, like:
vendor meetings, inventory management, event planning, wine tasting, menu curation, stocking and organizing, assisting the bar, training staff, maitre d’, and of course pouring delicious wine.
How/when/where did your career start?
When did you know you wanted to become a Sommelier?
I’ve always been nerdy. I’ve always been a lush. I’ve always liked to collect things.
When I figured out someone gets paid to be a wine librarian, I was in.