‘Ineffable’ is the word Lou Amdur uses when describing his attraction to wine.  He groups wine with love and friendship as being beyond description in terms of his ardency for them.  When I first met him in the 2000s, I immedia...

We continue our conversation with Adam Weisblatt, who is a  principle in Last Word Hospitality, a consulting firm with a healthy list of high-profile restaurant clients.   In 2015, at the tender age of 30, Adam teamed with...

Today, while seeking out more beverage truths about Los Angeles, we take a slight detour to the subject of creating success in an eating and drinking establishment.  And we ask about the unique role that a beverage program has in this unde...

Caroline Styne is a successful restaurateur and a partner in the Lucques Group.  She and her partner, Suzanne Goin, are also responsible for the first self-conscious ‘small plates’ restaurant in Los Angeles, a.o.c., which began a trend tha...

Patrick Comiskey should be well-known to those who read the Los Angeles Times or who seek out writing about wine.  He has been a regular fixture with the Times and, more recently, with the wine and spirits blog 750 Daily with many articles...

Today we’re talking to Zach Negin who is the owner of Tabula Rasa Bar in Thai Town.  Rather than talking about drinks per se, we take a look inside an establishment that is on the front lines of what we should think of as an L. A. w...

Nina Sventitsky moved to L. A. from New York in the 1990’s.  Her career in marketing for magazine conglomerates led her there.  She took a beginner’s wine course at Wally’s and became a wine enthusiast.  After a stint at a short-...

Amy Christine started her wine journey as a server in Detroit.  She was encouraged to take the Certified Somm exam which satisfied her attraction to arcane information and laid the groundwork for further extreme studies.  After...

Tequila is at the center of a more general expansion of premium liquor worldwide.  The wide-ranging flavors that are derived from the blue agave plant fall into line the with the variations one can find with the world’s finest spirits cate...

The idea of starting a Los Angeles winery is a compelling narrative.  Who doesn’t want to drink local wine?  Apart from the touristy San Antonio winery and Rupert Murdoch’s Bel Air vanity project Moraga, Angeleno Wines is the sole com...

Sake in Los Angeles has broken out of its role as a warm accompaniment to tempura and maki rolls. Sake of all categories and regions are now common in restaurants beyond those exclusively Japanese. My guest is Kerry Tamura, who’s fa...

When she launched Amy Atwood Selections ten years ago, Amy Atwood was by and large alone with a portfolio that was defined by mostly pure and low-intervention wines.  The wine author and friend Alice Feiring helped Amy to understand that h...

What could be more Los Angeles than a glass of bubbly? Whether it is the prickle of Barefoot pink moscato or the creamy friction of Dom Perignon, wine with bubbles is the drink of the fabulist and the arriviste.  L A in spades. 

The L A wine scene has changed a lot in the 21st century.  In 2001, Tom Hunter recounts going to sell wine in L A for a small portfolio and having restaurant buyers tell him that they only carry wine that is sold in supermarkets because if...

If one doubts the commitment Taylor Parsons had in spreading wine to his public when he was an active sommelier, one only need to look at his last stop, République, a case study in bringing wine to its rightful prominence.  Everywhere in t...

Anyone remotely involved with wine and spirits in California and the western states recognizes the deep red delivery trucks of Young’s Market plying their trade around town.  Our guest today is Matthew Lapides.  Matt combines his inte...

Today I’m with Keith Mabry who is a wine buyer for K & L Wine Merchants. We talk about his early days becoming aquainted with wine in the hospitality program at Cal Poly Pomona and his early career in retail sales. In 2007, Keith was recruited b...

Dan Fredman is a guy who likes wine and he describes how collecting wine is like collecting music, a narrative unfolding. Although a trained musician and seasoned A + R man, he kept his toe in the wine retail pool throughout the years. In doing ...

I talk to Jeremy Raub, an owner of Eagle Rock Brewery. Eagle Rock was the first of an onslaught of craft breweries that have flooded the Los Angeles area in the past nine years. It’s brewery and cozy bar is nestled up against the 2 freeway in Gl...

In 2008, Santos opened the winebar, Bacaro in an adjacent neighborhood to his alma mater the University of So. California. It was inspired by a visit to Venice, Italy where Santos was impressed with the region’s wine culture. Since then, he sta...

A continuation of my conversation with Dave Fernie. In the 9 years that Dave has been in L A, he has contributed to a shocking number of the most groundbreaking cocktail programs in the city. He has helped to create drink menus at Church and Sta...

In the 9 years that Dave has been in L A, he has contributed to a shocking number of the most groundbreaking cocktail programs in the city. He has helped to create drink menus at Church and State, The Test Kitchen, La Descarga, Harvard and Ston...