Sommeliers Share Insight On Transforming The Restaurant Industry From Racial Awareness To Antiracism

After leaving law school thirty years ago in pursuit of her passion for wine, Court of Master Sommelier certified sommelier Tonya Pitts has worked in some of San Francisco’s top restaurants.

As award-winning Wine Director of One Market Restaurant in the Embarcadero district for the past decade, she conducts a 600-selection wine list like Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture—thoughtful, intentionally selected to illuminate those at the margins, such as women and winemakers of color.

Sommelier pin adorning her lapel and likeness sketched on the first page of the wine list, Pitts qualifications are still routinely called into question by guests. In fact, it happened the night prior to our conversation.

“I am there to do my job, and people still see me as not being knowledgeable. They will test me,” shares Pitts. “When things like that happen, it’s annoying. And then it’s just like, in this day and age of where we are and what we do. I think, ‘okay, is it because I’m a woman? Is it because I’m African American, as well, on top of that?’ And it’s all of those things.”

While society continues to ignore unconscious bias, microaggression, racism, and white supremacy, BIPOC sommeliers who work in restaurants are positioned at the confluence of an industry and institution that has failed them. Many have left the industry during the pandemic with no plans to return.

As a white, female wine writer, I grapple with recognizing my own privilege and biases. Jolted by the horror of the brutal murder of George Floyd, I’ve committed to learning about systemic and institutional racism and sought better understanding, as well as ways to advocate, for the personal and professional experiences of BIPOC.

Last fall, I sat down with four sommeliers as a group and individually to discuss challenges they have experienced in the restaurant industry and their desire to move it from diversity, equity, and inclusion awareness to antiracism.

These vulnerable conversations highlighted experiences of trauma and pain, but they did not end there. Solution oriented hope illuminated concrete ways the restaurant industry can make cultural shifts for healing.

Looking Inward

Born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal, Bruno Almeida moved to New York City in 2002. A former rock drummer turned certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommelier, Almeida has run some of New York City’s top wine programs.

Over the years, Almeida has experienced a range of verbal abuse and passive aggressive behavior from customers and co-workers, while also witnessing similar behavior towards colleagues, particularly women. Initially attempting to shrug it off, looking back he realizes how much the mistreatment wounded him.

“Working in hospitality…a lot of times we forget about us. It’s all about the customer. The sommelier is the pivotal point in a team, they always try to make everyone happy—the team, chef, bartender, runners, and of course, the guests,” he shares. “But at the end of the day, I always felt like, damn, I constantly have to prove myself on top of being a sommelier, which is not the easiest thing in hospitality.”

By prioritizing the customer over staff, the restaurant industry has lacked the space for transformational change. A willingness to look at itself, is the first step in creating this space.

Almeida contends restaurant management must foster an environment for all employees to be seen and heard. Then, turn its gaze inward, examine wounds, look for obstruction spots, and seek ways of bringing joy to the restaurant’s entire culture. Steps that will likely amplify hospitality.

“A lot of good things have been happening the past two years, all the awareness. More people are feeling more comfortable speaking out, knowing they are not the only one. This is in many different ways in my perspective as a Black professional in an industry that has been fairly closed, it’s finally is opening up. It’s still in baby steps, but I think we’re getting into it,” he shares.

Building Transformative Relationships

Hai Tran’s introduction to wine took him from pre-med at Duke University to advanced sommelier through the Court of Master Sommelier. As a first-generation Vietnamese American born in Orlando, Florida, with fifteen years of award-winning wine industry experience, questions persist from restaurant patrons as to where “he learned to speak English so well.”

“As I came up in the business, I was justifying a lot of these comments and microaggressions and biases. The way I delt with it was to shrugged it off and moved on saying ‘that does not affect me as a professional’, but it does affect me, it all chips away,” he shares.

Throughout his restaurant career, Tran repeatedly heard management express “employees are our number one asset.” Words unaccompanied by actions.

“We did not have an environment that made us feel like we could openly talk about issues without feeling like being seen like some type of whistleblower or the person always complaining about something,” he shares.

As part of management, he witnessed employees labeled as troublemakers for raising issues and concerns. Tran recognizes the power of creating space for transformative relationships. He feels concerns and complaints should be taking seriously, with every attempt made to understand the person and the greater issue, rather than demonizing them for speaking up.

Transactional relationships may provide efficiency within an organization, but do not create connection or space for healing. Conversely, establishing an environment for shared experiences, vulnerability, and caring cultivates opportunities for authentic bonds to develop.

“We have to establish a truly open environment that is a safe space to care about the well-being of your employees, that goes into knowing who your employees are, taking the initiative to get to know them, connect with them on some type of level,” shares Tran. Adding, “There is always some way we can connect with our employees and let them know we are here for you.”

Diversity Expands Possibilities

From a young age, Nadine Brown dreamed of being a child psychiatrist. Born in Jamaica and raised in Puerto Rico from age twelve, she moved to Boston in 1991, in pursuit of a social work degree from Wheelock College.

Upon graduation, she secured a job and relocated to Washington D.C. Struggling to make ends meet on a social worker salary, working nights and weekends in the restaurant industry filled the pay gap. As her passion for hospitality and wine grew, she transitioned from social work to the restaurant industry full time in 2000.

Today, as a twenty-three-year veteran of the Washington D.C. area restaurant industry and certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, Brown has built her career on creating possibilities. Through her experience she learned diversity is key to healing social justice issues.

“As a board member of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, our focus is on creating diversity in restaurant management and staff. This requires conscious focus. For example, when advertising for open positions, these ads must be placed where diverse people are, not just the traditional avenues,” she explains.

Perspective is central to creating possibilities. Brown offers guidance to reprogram thinking as a way forward. A shift in focus toward asking how to broaden the restaurant experience for staff and customers creates options.

“Diversity and inclusion are measurable things. It will look different in a mom-and-pop restaurant than in corporate chains. Restaurants can hire DEI professionals to help,” shares Brown. “Restaurants here are focusing on this, making space for these hard conversations—a place where you can say what you really feel with someone there who can help mediate when feelings flare.”

From Hustle To Flow

As a self-described workaholic, Tonya Pitts knows hustle. Beyond her role in building an award-winning wine program at One Market, Pitts manages the restaurant’s adjoining private dining facility, private wine label, retail shop, and gallery. Seeking creative ways in keeping business afloat during the COVID-19 shut-down and restrictions added more hustle to an overflowing schedule.

“As I think about it now, I don’t know how I kept up with my schedule. I do thrive in situations like that and I got it all done,” shares Pitts. “I just had to force myself to take care of myself and take a moment. Going to bed early. Sleeping late. It’s okay. My self-care this time was forced.”

Restaurant industry demands never cease. For sommeliers managing a wine list requires significant time investment beyond restaurant operating hours, leaving little time for family, much less self-care. Hustle is embedded in the job description.

Yet, moving from hustle to flow is key to transforming the restaurant industry beyond diversity, equity, and inclusion to acknowledging employees as the most valued asset. Flow provides endless possibilities for moving around obstacles, resistance, and objection. It isn’t frenzied or busy work, not task or problem centered.

Instead, flow is rested, harmonious, non-judgmental, self-aware, and willing to embrace the unknown of the wilderness. This is a bold but doable pivot, ushering in the change many are seeking.

“You have to be sensitive and eyes have to be wide open in everything you do. You can’t be quiet about any of it. You have to make a difference by putting everything in practice. That’s how you make change. It’s not just one person. It must be done collectively,” shares Pitts. “You have to indoctrinate this culture into your business and into your environment. You have to do this in order for your employees and your community to feel safe.”

Antiracism resides where everyone feels “valued and respected,” shares Dr. Akilah Cadet, Founder and CEO of Change Cadet, a diversity equity and inclusion consulting firm. “The best way to have a safe space for Black people and communities of color is to have humanity and equality for all.”