Without Cheating: Do You Know What a Sommelier Does?
There was a time when Lee Campbell did not know the meaning of the term that has become her passion. Today, she is a Sommelier, a trained and professional wine expert, in New York. As the director of Andrew Tarlow's Brooklyn restaurant group she is responsible for the wine lists of six restaurants including the famed Reynard in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Campbell grew up in the West Indies drinking rum and didn't really understand wine. She told Black Enterprise that prior to her move into the food industry she was contemplating a career in law and had only “done two stints as a waitress in college, and I was really, really bad at it. Other than that, I had worked in a Dairy Queen growing up; that was the extent of my profession in the food industry.”
One night, the magic happened. Campbell had dinner at Restaurant Nora in the Dupont Circle area near Capitol Hill. As unlikely as it may sound, that night's meal and wine caused her entire future to shift. Campbell relates that she got up the next morning and went right back to the restaurant to ask for a job and learn about the food industry. One of the owners took her in and introduced her to the chef, Nora Poullion, who hired Campbell to be her personal assistant.
Campbell learned a lot about the restaurant …show more content…
Most importantly, though, she aims to create fabulous wine lists that reflect her personality. She may be a wine expert now, but she has not forget where she came from. As a female minority in a male dominated industry, she had plenty of people that helped her along her path and credits great mentors with providing excellent support. She told Black Enterprise, “It’s important to me to act as a mentor to women and people of color who are also interested in wine. So, pretty much anybody who sends me an email, I try to write them back and give them
There was a time when Lee Campbell did not know the meaning of the term that has become her passion. Today, she is a Sommelier, a trained and professional wine expert, in New York. As the director of Andrew Tarlow's Brooklyn restaurant group she is responsible for the wine lists of six restaurants including the famed Reynard in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Campbell grew up in the West Indies drinking rum and didn't really understand wine. She told Black Enterprise that prior to her move into the food industry she was contemplating a career in law and had only “done two stints as a waitress in college, and I was really, really bad at it. Other than that, I had worked in a Dairy Queen growing up; that was the extent of my profession in the food industry.”
One night, the magic happened. Campbell had dinner at Restaurant Nora in the Dupont Circle area near Capitol Hill. As unlikely as it may sound, that night's meal and wine caused her entire future to shift. Campbell relates that she got up the next morning and went right back to the restaurant to ask for a job and learn about the food industry. One of the owners took her in and introduced her to the chef, Nora Poullion, who hired Campbell to be her personal assistant.
Campbell learned a lot about the restaurant …show more content…
Most importantly, though, she aims to create fabulous wine lists that reflect her personality. She may be a wine expert now, but she has not forget where she came from. As a female minority in a male dominated industry, she had plenty of people that helped her along her path and credits great mentors with providing excellent support. She told Black Enterprise, “It’s important to me to act as a mentor to women and people of color who are also interested in wine. So, pretty much anybody who sends me an email, I try to write them back and give them