I'll drink to that where we get behind the scenes of the beverage business.

I'm Levy Dalton.

I'm going to Amanda Smeltz from Roberta's on a show. Hello, how are you?

Hi, how are you?

Nice to see you.

It's nice to see you too, Levy.

So you're working at the old Roberta's there, but originally you were working in Milwaukee.

That's right. That's where I got my start in wine and in more of a fine dining restaurant setting.

What was the scene like back then?

Akin to Chicago, so steakhouse.

You know, it was the turn from the sort of late 90s into early 2000s where certainly on the

coast things might have been shaking up in terms of dining a little bit but it was still like very classical

fine dining in the center of the country and you know the New York steakhouse and the Chicago steakhouse were still very much

I think players and how people would go and spend their money. So that's the kind of

place I came up in and really started to get my chops.

But I got lucky because the general manager

and the wine buyer for the restaurant that I was at

had learned at Gramercy Tavern

and was one of the sort of early managers of that staff and had been you know in

cahoots with the likes of Paul Greco and Robert Boer and you know all of the

sort of Tom Kalecio and all the guys who are heard of those guys.

Yeah you may you may know such such dudes. Tom Kalequio and all the guys who are. Heard of those guys?

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