By The Glass

Adam Garcia is the Executive Chef and Director of Operations for PX Project, a non-profit that offers a paid culinary program to immigrants and refugees aged 16-24 in the Sharpstown/Gulfton area. Using the kitchen as the classroom to teach self-advocacy, financial literacy, time management, and problem-solving, PX Project provides displaced youth with career and life skills. Adam hops on the pod to discuss his move from restaurants like Rosie Cannonball and Coltivare to PX Project, and why everyone should know how to break down a chicken.

Rachel rejoins Chris to discuss the sexual harassment scandal recently exposed by The New York Times.

To read the NYT article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/29/dining/drinks/court-of-master-sommeliers-sexual-harassment-wine.html

To read Rachel's recent article about the Bâtonnage Forum's mentorship program:

https://vintnerproject.com/changemakers/finding-mentorship-in-a-virtual-age/

Rachel Delrocco Terrazas is a freelance wine, spirits, and travel writer. She currently serves as managing editor for The Vintner Project, a collaborative media outlet featuring beverage writers with diverse backgrounds sharing their expertise in an approachable way. Previously, she served as Associate Editor for Wine & Spirits Magazine, where she oversaw the tasting department, led the spirits writing, and served as a critic for the wines from Mexico, Spain and South Africa.

She and Chris linked up before the election to discuss Canadian whiskey and citizenship. Rachel walks Chris through her transition from bartending to writing and outlines what she sees as the future of media, both in print and digital.

To learn more about Rachel's work, check out her website.

Josefa Concannon is the Sales Manager for Louis Dressner Selections, one of the most venerable importers of minimal intervention wine. When she isn’t traveling the USA to sell cases of Beaujolais and Zibibbo, she is either running marathons or volunteering in her hometown of Chicago. For this Election Day episode, Chris talks with Josefa about how she found her political voice as well as the intersection of countercultural wine and progressivism. They discuss running the virtual Boston Marathon, preserving Chicago’s historical neighborhoods, selling natural wine before the term existed, and using her platform to enact change in her local community.

To learn more about the wines imported by Louis Dressner Selections, visit their freshly redesigned website at www.louisdressner.com

Kristen Sandvig worked for a boutique wine importer before starting a luxury travel consultancy called Lionhound Travel. At the start of the pandemic, she created virtual wine tasting series called “Talk Taste Travel” that has featured destinations like Piedmont, Montevideo, and Central Otago. On today’s episode, Chris chats with Kristen to discuss the intersection of food, wine, and travel as well as her thoughts on vacationing in the midst of a pandemic.

Chris Nguyen is a design director with Judson Designs and moonlights as an interior consultant. His work has been featured in Architectural DigestMexico, HGTV, and Apartment Therapy. An avid car collector and whiskey drinker, Chris also co-hosts the automotive podcast New For ’96!

Chris & Chris discuss Japanese craftsmanship at both the Yamazaki distillery and Toyota factory, the rise and fall of community tables in restaurants, the democratization of car auctions, the timelessness of Eames furniture, the inescapability of mid-century modern, and of course Virgil Abloh’s missed opportunity with Mercedes-Benz.

Follow Chris Nguyen at www.analogdialog.comor on Instagram.

Lisbon-based Jose Gourmet is one of the most recognizable brands in the conservas market, thanks to the company’s artisanal production, commitment to sustainable fishing, as well as Luís Mendonça’s artistic packaging.

Premium Iberian canned seafood has grown in popularity over the past decade, and sales have skyrocketed during the pandemic. Jose Gourmet Sales Director Vasco Motta discusses the past, present, and future of the brand, while Matt Caputo, CEO of US distributor A Priori Foods, discusses the regional differences and cellaring potential for conservas.

Marc Hochar is the third generation of Chateau Musar, Lebanon’s premier winery. Founded in 1930, Musar is a story of perseverance: making wine every year of the Civil War except 1976 and 1984, despite the near constant threat of bombings. Once again, Lebanon has been thrown into turmoil; the August 4 explosion in Beirut has devastated the city, leaving over 200 dead and 300,000 homeless and creating a dangerous political vacuum.

Marc walks Chris through Lebanon and Chateau Musar's shared history of resiliency. They also dig into the country's indigenous varieties, the aging potential of rosé and white wine, the role of volatile acidity, as well as the token wine tent at Munich's Oktoberfest.

Brandon Kerne pivoted at the start of the pandemic from steakhouse sommelier to e-commerce. During his tenure at Pappas Steakhouse, Brandon sat for the notoriously difficult Master Sommelier exam and now runs a boutique wine concierge service called Wines By BK. This week, Brandon discusses his approach to deductive tasting, his ringer for Cali Pinot (warm vintage Etna Rosso), and his favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman film.

To learn more about the virtual blind tastings that Brandon leads every Thursday, visit www.winesbybk.com

Will the Hospitality Industry survive 2020? Bobby Stuckey is in this race for the long haul. In March, he helped create the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) to fight for the 11 million independent restaurant employees in the USA.

Bobby Stuckey is the co-founder of some of Colorado’s best restaurants. The former wine director for The Little Nell in Aspen and The French Laundry in Yountville, Bobby Stuckey earned his Master Sommelier pin in 2004, the same year he opened the Friuli-focused restaurant Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado. In the years since, Bobby founded an Italian winery called Scarpetta as well as two restaurants in Denver’s bustling Union Station: Tavernetta and Sunday Vinyl. When Bobby’s not running service at his restaurants, he’s running sub-three hour marathons. He and Chris discuss training for virtual races, logging 100 miles in one week, and lobbying Congress on behalf of the IRC.

Visit www.saverestaurants.comto learn more about the IRC, and follow Bobby on Instagram @bobbystuckeyms.