Andros Taverna in Chicago hires Alexandria Brashears as the new instillation director and sommelier.

Brashears is an Atlanta-born sommelier and brings increasingly than a decade of wits in the hospitality industry to the Logan Square restaurant. She is a veteran of Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York City and works with Chef Doug Psaltis at Andros Taverna to marry spanking-new instillation pairings with outgoing and succulent Greek cuisine.

With an once strong knowledge of domestic, French, Spanish and Italian winemaking regions, Andros Taverna provides Brashears the opportunity to deepen her knowledge into the emerging Greek viticulture scene. Her favorite wines are those that are delicious, made with intention, and speak to a sense of place and time.

Celebrating her hire, Andros will full-length her selections of Greek wines withal with menu items from esteemed Chef Doug Psaltis for the restaurant’s Journey to the Greek Islands series. We met up with Brashears to learn increasingly well-nigh her new position and what makes a good wine instillation program.

Tell us well-nigh your preliminaries in the industry.

I’m an Atlanta-born sommelier and bring increasingly than a decade of wits in the hospitality industry to Andros Taverna. I’m a veteran of Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York City and my instillation program when I was with Lyla Lila was nominated as a semifinalist for a James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine Program in 2022. I moreover earned the Sonoma-Cutrer Advanced Course Scholarship in 2019 and was runner up in the Chaine des Rotisseurs Young Sommelier Competition of the same year.

Under you, what will the instillation program at Andros Taverna squint like? Talk to us well-nigh the inspiration.

Ultimately, I want the instillation program to be both fun and dynamic, but moreover for it to speak to a sense of place. Our wine program highlights Greek winemakers who are single-minded to sustainable practices and whose wine is truly terroir-driven as well as food-friendly. Both myself and my Sommelier, Amber Pike, are moreover looking to expand our wine program into the Mediterranean. I really want us to show how influential the Greeks were in spreading viticulture through the Mediterranean and into Europe. I think telling that story through our wine list is compelling.

As far as our cocktails, you can expect our Fall Cocktail List to be well-balanced of many of the same ingredients we use daily in our kitchen. Greek yogurt, for example, is so versatile and can be incorporated into cocktails in such interesting and succulent ways. Traditional Greek Spirits like Tsipouro, Ouzo, and Greek Wines are incorporated into the selection. I want to alimony our cocktails on the lighter side as well. Lower-ABV beverages pair so much largest with food, and they midpoint our guests can imbibe comfortably. You’ll moreover see us expand out our non-Spirited instillation selection. It is extremely important to me that anyone can drink thoughtfully crafted beverages regardless of the reason why they segregate not to imbibe.

What type of wits can guests expect when visiting?

Andros Taverna is a neighborhood-restaurant, and I think we do a unconfined job of marrying approachability with an spanking-new dining experience. The unshortened wits here is designed to be convivial and communal.

Tell us some of your most-used skills as a sommelier. Which one is your specialty?

I’ve worn many hats in restaurants over the years, and I think the most underutilized skill someone in our industry can have is the worthiness to really, truly connect with and superintendency for their guests and their team. All throughout a given night, I just want to increase the vibe of the restaurant for everyone in the building. Get to know your guests and what they like, get to know your team and what they like, and do your weightier to enjoy the work that you’re doing. It sounds simple, but it can be so easy to turn into a robot on a rented night and just go through the motions. Take your time at a table and make your interactions special – your guests will finger it, and you will too. I think treating ourselves and our co-workers with increasingly patience, kindness and hospitality is increasingly important than overly in our industry. Empathy is an important (and learnable) skill.

Give us some pointers on running a successful instillation program: 

• Really lean in and educate yourself on the nonflexible skills of this business.
• Have conversations with your General Manager or your owners or whoever you report to well-nigh what their idea of a successful program is.
• Create benchmarks and goals for the financial success of your program, first – then you can create a list that will get you there.
• Make sure it is financially sound. Ensure that the financing of your product are in line with your COGS goals, alimony diligent track of your inventory, and make sure you alimony your invoicing system tight. Keep an eye on what’s moving in your program, and most importantly what isn’t. This can requite you a finger of what your guests are interested in, and gives you a framework to develop a plan for your program.
• Constantly ask yourself questions well-nigh the program. Are the popular items on your list popular considering they are familiar? Are they popular considering they are priced well? Is your instillation list well-organized and easy to read? Are your servers worldly-wise to speak well-nigh the instillation program confidently? Asking questions like this can show you where the strengths and weaknesses of your program lie – and can be unconfined guideposts on planning staff education, re-working your instillation lists, costing out cocktails, etc.

The post Meet Instillation Director Alexandria Brashears for Andros Taverna appeared first on Chilled Magazine.