Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/15710
LONGBEACHMAGAZINE.COM L ike a good matchmaker, Raymond Gonzalez first needs to know what you like in order to find what you'll love – to drink. So, he'll ask, "What are you having for dinner tonight"? It's the first, but certainly not the last, question Gonzalez, a Sommelier of 11 years and senior manager poses to the epicurean patrons of 555 East American Steakhouse seeking that perfect vintage for their rack of lamb, porterhouse steaks or filet mignon. After a bit of detective work, all Gonzalez has to do is select from the restaurant's inventory of the roughly 10,000 bottles stored in its two cellars. He doesn't actually need to go to the cellars either; it's all mentally cataloged. Don't worry, he knows exactly what you need – that one special wine to make a magical night take flight. This emphasis on precisely the right choice of wine may not make sense to you at first, dear patron. But then, you're not a Sommelier. You wouldn't pair that seared Culotte with a flirty Chardonnay instead of Bordeaux or a big Cabernet. You'd play it safe. And you would miss out. This is where the Sommelier comes into the picture. Where the customer may be conservative and conventional, the Sommelier throws out the rules – because these wine rules are basically arbitrary, and made up. For in the history of wine, the rules on pairing wines and food are recent, maybe less than a century old, while the appreciation of wine goes back across all cultures for a millennium. Nowhere in The Iliad does Achilles or the heroes of Troy mention the proper pairing of meats to the wine they venerated as nectar of the gods. They just enjoyed the stuff. Out of a jug. "Taste is subjective," Gonzalez said, and he prefers to serve your dinner without the pretension of rigid conventionality. "I like to hit a bull's eye. When I come back to you, I'm confident that I'll hit the mark." Hitting the mark is critical to what a Sommelier brings to a restaurant. Wine sales alone account for 20 to 25 percent of sales at 555. 43