Episode 55: Jordan Salcito

Jordan Salcito comes into the studio on this week’s In the Drink to speak to us about her position as Beverage Director for David Chang’s famous Momofuku restaurants. She is also a sommelier and entrepreneur living in New York City. After college, Jordan traveled through Italy, moved to New York City and began working in restaurants. She earned a scholarship to attended culinary school at Johnson & Wales University, then moved back to New York to cook at Daniel Boulud’s flagship restaurant, Daniel. In 2006, Chef Boulud granted her the opportunity to cook with him at the La Paulée de Nieges. From that moment, she knew that she wanted to spend her life working with wine. Jordan has worked in some of New York’s most esteemed dining rooms, including at Eleven Madison Park (where she was part of the James Beard Award-winning team for Outstanding Wine Service), Daniel, Gilt at the New York Palace, and Crown, where she built and managed the wine program during its inaugural year. She has also worked harvests in Burgundy since 2006 at esteemed wineries such as Domaines Dujac, Mugneret-Gibourg, De Montille, Comtes Liger-Belair, and de l’Arlot, as well as harvests in Montalcino and Patagonia. In 2011, she launched Bellus Wines. Her first release, the 2007 “Girasole,” from Montalcino, donates a percentage of proceeds to female entrepreneurs through The Tory Burch Foundation. Her second release, the 2011 “Les Roches Soeurs,” is a collaboration with Alix de Montille of Meursault. Accolades include the Advanced Diploma from the International Wine Center, and an Introduction to Winemaking course at UC Davis. She is a Master Sommelier Canditate in the Court of Master Sommeliers. Jordan’s expertise has landed her roles as Rachael Ray’s “Wine Buddy”; PBS Vine Talk’s co-host; and one of Gilt Taste’s sommelier panelists. She and Bellus have been featured in publications such as Food & Wine, Allure, Travel + Leisure, WWD, Martha Stewart Radio, CNN.com, The Huffington Post, Every Day with Rachael Ray, USA Today, Women’s Wear Daily, and The Food Republic. Tune-in to learn how Jordan supervises a large team at Momofuku restaurants, how she moved from a career as a writer to becoming a sommelier, and even what it’s like to live in the same house with another wine enthusiast! This program has been sponsored by Brooklyn Slate. “Our job is to bring to light in the most honest way, the experience of serving wine to our guests.” [27:30] “I try to tailor each guest’s experience. I always recommend going to see one of the larger producers, and that’s where you have this amazing snapshot.” [29:20] — Jordan Salcito on In the DrinkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.