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You are currently reviewing an older revision of this page.

  • History View current version

Beverage Service

Contents
  1. The History of Restaurants and the Sommelier Position
  2. Specialty Wine Service
  3. By-the-Glass Programs
  4. Practicing Service
  5. The Changing Service Landscape
”Wine service is about listening first. The job of a sommelier is to listen to the guest and determine what they need—not what we want to sell them. Secondly, a sommelier needs to be part of service every night. Run food, help a waiter by taking an order at a table, and bus a table if it needs it. The last part of service is empathy: think about what the guest has gone through before they got to us. Have they driven in rush hour traffic? Are they on a first date? Once you have this information, develop a way to touch the table and make them feel great.”- Bobby Stuckey, MS

The History of Restaurants and the Sommelier Position

People have been dining away from home for millennia. Excavated artifacts from ancient Rome have shown evidence of thermopolia, street taverns that served wine and hot food. One of the earliest examples of a modern restaurant culture emerged in 12th-century China during the Song dynasty, in which dining establishments welcomed business travelers with singing waiters and highly choreographed steps of service. In Japan, the teahouse traditions of the 16th century evolved into the kaiseki, a multicourse tasting menu featuring seasonal and local ingredients.

Around the same time, in 16th-century Europe, a tradition known as the table d’hôte (host’s table) emerged. This fixed-price meal was eaten at a communal table, with one midday seating and a single meal for everyone. It was only later, in 18th-century France, that restaurants began to offer printed menus with multiple options and multiple seatings for guests. The word restaurant comes from the French word restaurer, “to restore oneself,” and these restaurants emerged from bouillon shops and Parisian café culture, in which the guest, not the chef or tavern keeper, chose what to order.

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