MEET SURAJ GC – HOSPITALITARIAN & SOMMELIER

Suraj GC is one of Aotearoa’s modern hospitality professionals: he is Head Sommelier and Assistant Restaurant Manager at Onemata restaurant for Park Hyatt in Auckland. His journey into the world of wine and beverages started when he came to New Zealand from Nepal to study systems engineering. “I started working in hospitality as a sideline to pay for the basics, I really enjoyed it,” he says. “There’s not much wine in Nepal so everything in the service of food and wine was a steep learning curve”. A few weeks after graduating, GC started work at Elephant Hill restaurant and stayed for over five years, learning restaurant services and cellar door operations. He kept studying, too, and now holds a Wine and Spirit Trust L2 and Court of Master Sommeliers L2 certifications. A typical day at the hotel involves checking restaurant bookings, ordering stock, speaking with suppliers, organising tasting menus, liaising with the kitchen brigade and running restaurant services. The most expensive bottle of wine he’s sold so far is a DRC Grands Echezeaux Pinot Noir 2012 at a cool $6,000. When he’s not working, GC is at home with fiancée Aibby and new daughter Luna. He showcases how a career in wine and beverage service is built and more importantly how critical beverage service professionals are to Aotearoa’s hospitality sector.