‘I’m trying to do my small part to help’
Sommelier Sean Beck launched his career at the Backstreet Cafe two decades ago and became the city’s original Iron Sommelier in 2007. In fact, he won the Periwinkle Foundation-sponsored wine competition for the first three years before retiring undefeated in order to help coordinate the event.
Iron Sommelier evolved into the perfect showcase for the depth and breadth of wine-service talent in the Houston area and, to be sure, the Periwinkle folks remain hopeful they’ll be able to stage the event this fall. But it remains unclear how many sommeliers who have vied for the title in recent years will even have jobs by then with the carnage the novel coronavirus is wreaking on their employers.
Many of our high-end kitchens have stayed in the fray rather than throw in the towel by offering takeout, but the profits are lean at best, and the somms who have continued to work are doing so in unfamiliar roles. For example, Beck points out that Julie Dalton, who, in 2018, became the first woman to earn the Iron Sommelier designation, has pitched in to handle home deliveries for Mastro’s.
“We’re built to entertain people,” Beck said. “When you can’t do that, it hurts.”
Though his job with the H-Town Restaurant Group (Backstreet, Hugo’s, Caracol, Xochi) is as secure as anyone’s in the hospitality industry can be these days, that only makes him more empathetic for the plight of so many of his peers. As a gesture of solidarity, and with funding assistance from several Periwinkle board members, Beck is serving Backstreet meals on Saturdays to recent Iron Sommelier participants who have been furloughed because of COVID-19. Some 25 families, totaling about 60 people, are regular recipients.
“It’s impossible for a restaurant to continue to pay everyone under these circumstances,” he said. “I’m trying to do my small part to help.”
When restaurants were required to close their dining rooms, he was among the first to aggressively push wine out the door with the food, and he’s now offering six-bottle “Sommelier Starter Kits” for $85. At first, the idea was to turn cellar inventory into emergency cash flow — multiple spots are offering discounts of up to half off their wine-list prices — but Beck’s sales have been brisk enough to afford him the luxury of some “surgical” reordering.
Also, because many of Beck’s regular customers have continued to seek his wine counsel, he was further inspired to put together slightly more up-market “Explore Your Palate” three-packs for $75 to $85. Intended originally as a one-off promotion for Easter weekend, it’s a concept that’s gaining traction, he says, as is the virtual wine dinner, conducted through Zoom. When Beck initially inquired through Facebook about possible interest in same, he was inundated with positive responses.
He’s also regularly making videos with local wine mavens. Master Sommeliers Steven McDonald and Jack Mason, both furloughed by Pappas Bros., and Southern Glazer’s
Guy Stout have made appearances.
“I don’t know if ‘fun’ is the right word,” Beck said of the nonstop brainstorming required in these strange times, “but it is a good distraction for me, a way to continue to engage people. As long as you’re going to be stuck at home, you might as well have an adventure in the glass. We’re not going to crush the numbers like in normal times, but everything helps.”
Other restaurants are being similarly proactive. Bistro Provence “hosts” its first Zoom wine dinner — four courses with pairings from French Country Wines for $68 plus tax and gratuity — on Thursday night (bistroprovence.us). The Rainbow Lodge’s Marc Borel has been assembling “At Home Wine Tasting Kits for Two,” paired with chef Mark Schmidt’s small bites (order on Friday, pick up the following Wednesday), and he just launched Facebook Live tastings (facebook.com/ RainbowLodgeHouston).
Double Decanted’s owner, Kelly Prohl, has partnered with Impero Wine Distributors to offer 12 bottles from boutique Italian producers for only $200 plus tax. Email kelly@doubleecanted.com to see what she has on offer. And a’Bouzy’s Shawn Virene has found pairing a value-priced wine with his daily dinner feature to be a huge hit. One recent pairing: New York strip Bolognese with capellini pasta for two, including salads and garlic bread, with the Massolino Barbera d’Alba for $42 ( abouzy.com).
“We’re selling out the special every day,” Virene said.
Anyway, when I asked Beck to “dazzle” me with an “Explore Your Palate” three-pack, he succeeded. His selections follow.