Episode 138: Leo Schneemann

This week on a brand new The Morning After, hosts Jessie Kiefer and Sari Kamin are sitting down with Leo Schneemann, the wine director for the KG-NY Restaurant Group which includes infamous restaurants Wallsé, Cafe Sabarsky, Blaue Gans, Upholstery Wine Bar, plus the new and improved Upholstery Store: Food and Wine. Kicking off the show in the usual style, Sari takes listeners through some crazy Food News before getting Leo’s story. Born in Vorau, Austria he studied restaurant management at the Hotelfachschule Oberwart and after graduation worked in a series of high-end restaurants before starting his sommelier training as an assistant sommelier at Obauer Restaurant in Werfen, Austria, and in the vineyards at Seppi Landmann winery in Soulzmatt, France. In 2008, Leo came to the United States to work with Austrian Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner to develop a wine inventory to match the Austrian menu and coordinate events at Café Sabarsky. Leo also talks about the new and improved Upholstery Store: Food and Wine, a clubby wine bar, and relays it will serve as the perfect setting in which to sample the diversity of Austrian wines, from light-bodied to opulent white wines, and from fruity to full-bodied reds. This program was brought to you by Whole Foods Market. “The Austrian/German wine scene in restaurants I think is still on the smaller side but I think a lot of restaurants picked up on it. I see more and more products out, especially German ones, that are at a very high level.” [12:31] “I think the New York market is very competitive and I think that’s the most fun part because you have to be on top of your game and you always have to come up with new ideas.” [22:45] —Leo Schneemann on The Morning After