Dear Feastlings,
Seeing what’s going on behind the curtain is part and parcel of getting the emails I send out. While the emails I receive from restaurants tend to focus on special events, the emails I send out more often than not detail the rigors and heartaches of the hospitality industry, and of small business ownership in general.
Generally speaking, I’m only relating half- or less- of what’s really going on. Any restaurant veteran will tell you that Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential very accurately relates what happens in restaurants everywhere, and doesn’t even come close to relating what happens in corporate restaurants. We in the industry are, for the most part, an unsavory people.
While I like to err on the side of generosity when it comes to stories about the dark underbelly of restaurant ownership, but I don’t always feel it’s wise to share every detail. Many’s the time I’ve said too much- divulged something too personal, or said something insensitive- but if these emails were as cathartic as I really wanted them to be, you’d be reading a number of more sordid details.
In this spirit, I’m divulging more today than I normally would; after a few years of the more cautious of you advising me to chest my cards, I’ve learned to rein it in somewhat. Today, though, I’m telling you what’s been a secret, or something of a secret, anyway: you now know who to call when it rains. Just as Feast reached its 24th anniversary a couple of weeks back, Cory reached his third anniversary with us, and in that time, he’s done six or seven years’ worth of work. This summer, though, he takes the next logical step for someone with a tremendous depth of wine knowledge and an excellent palate: Cory is becoming a roofing contractor.
When Megan left to pursue the wholesale part of the wine industry full-time, Kevin and Katherine were here to handle the responsibilities of the shop and our substantial list; and when Kevin left to work more of the land and less in a restaurant, Katherine hitched her thumbs in her figurative overalls, looked into the distance and hunkered down and got to work. When Katherine stepped down to instill great values and knowledge in her three young ones, Cory made for yet another smooth transition.
But for a couple of months now, with my ear to the ground, and spreading the word through the back channels of the Southern Arizona wine community, we’ve come up with precious few leads.
To be fair, Feast is a difficult animal- it’s part wine shop, part massive and ever-changing list, mostly selections for wine nerds but also some of those stalwarts that the uncle you brought in against his will feel comfortable ordering. It’s putting together weekly tastings and selections by the glass, and figuring out how to sell through the wines that didn’t move at the last tasting despite how certain we were that they’d fly off the shelf. It’s talking about wine with knowledge but without condescension to people who just want help navigating our twenty-plus pages of ten-point font so they know what to order before dinner arrives at the table. It’s glass polishing and bussing tables and backing up servers and helping in the shop. In short, it’s a job for a special person, and with Cory wanting to be out on various roofs once the monsoons arrive, I find myself constrained to get the word out to a broader spectrum than the dozen or so wine reps who visit us on the regular. So here it is: if you know someone who knows wine but who’s happy to share that knowledge rather than mete it out like so many pearls of wine wisdom, we’d love to meet them.
And yes, I did just note the ten-point font, so know that whether it’s part of Cory’s legacy or my interim work or someone else’s initiation, we know it’s hard to read, and we’ll get to it now that things are beginning to slow down.
In the meantime, Cory remains with us and has agreed to make occasional guest appearances for wine-intense days like las Hogueras de San Juan, Bastille Day and Ferragosto, and, God willing, I’ll get a vacation at some point and Cory will help out if necessary for that. He’ll be here this Saturday at 2:00 for this week’s wine tasting,
and you’re invited to attend. You’re invited to other upcoming events as well, but those will be posted both as time permits, and as I get menus written. In the meantime, thanks, all of you, for the first legitimately good season we’ve had since the pandemic. We all very much appreciate your sticking with us.
Love,
Doug and your numerous other friends at Feast