Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/57654
From Start to Finish "I got lucky," laughs Kimberley Drake, Assistant Beverage Manager for all 19 of Michael Mina's restaurants across the U.S. "I was always interested in learning about wine and when I was Captain at Veritas [the high-profi le NYC restau- rant with a much-lauded cellar], I had exposure to a fi ne education." Drake worked at big on-premise names such as Jean-Georges in NYC and Café Gray Upper House in Hong Kong (where she lived for two years) before she became the assistant to one of the U.S.'s top wine buyers at the Mina Group: Rajat Parr. Now approaching her fi rst full A Healdsburg Get Together Jim Allen, Senior VP of Fine Wines for SW&S with Willi's Seafood owner Mark Stark and Wine Director (in the headlock) Nick Izzarelli. L unching at Willi's Seafood in Healdsburg is a virtual boardwalk of treasures, from the raw bar to a seasonal changing of the guard for fresh seafood. Wine Director/GM Nick Izzarelli offers 40—count 'em!—40 wines by the glass. Owner Mark Stark operates two other locations in Santa Rosa. w Kimberley Drake is the Assistant Beverage Manager for the Mina Group's 19 on-premise locations. year, Drake travels the country to help oversee beverage programs and start new ones. One of the latest projects is Baltimore's Wit & Wisdom, a Michael Mina tavern serving contemporary mid-Atlantic fare. "There, we buy a list with a focus on small domestic producers." Watch for an upcoming profi le on the restaurant in THE TASTING PANEL. IIF YOUR WINE COULD CHOOSE A GLASS IT WOULD BE RIEDEL. RIEDELOP.COM march 2012 / the tasting panel / 17 PHOTO: JOHN CURLEY PHOTO: REBECCA WILKOWSKI