Restaurant Review - Thirst for Knowledge
Chantelle Grilhot is the first woman to hold the position of sommelier at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead’s Dining Room. And P.S. - she’s 23
It’s Friday evening at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead’s Dining Room, and Chantelle Grilhot, the restaurant’s sommelier (or wine director, in American parlance), is weaving among tables with unruffled focus. She pours discreet amounts of a coveted 1982 Chateau Margaux Bordeaux into each glass of a six-member party. With a soothing countenance, she checks in on a nervous young couple who’ve ordered Ravenswood Zinfandel, a popular California label the pair might have spied on supermarket shelves.
Then, with her tailored black suit rustling elegantly, Grilhot grabs a lithe, yellowish bottle and heads toward us.
“This is a Riesling from the Pfalz region of Germany,” she begins. We’re on the third course of the chef’s tasting menu, and Grilhot has paired each dish with a wine chosen to succinctly match the food.
“Chef received his first shipment of white European asparagus this morning,” she tells us. She casts her eyes downward for a moment, nods to herself and smiles. “Asparagus can be notoriously difficult to pair with wines. But I think the honeysuckle notes in this selection will tie all the flavors on the plate together nicely. Please enjoy.” She grins in anticipation of our delight, then zips off.
Ordering wine in restaurants can often be a befuddling ordeal, particularly in culinary sanctuaries like the Dining Room. Asking for guidance can be intimidating. It doesn’t help that the word “sommelier” often conjures images of a brooding, tuxedoed patriarch who stares you down disapprovingly while you struggle to pick a wine from an indecipherable tome.
But upstarts like Grilhot are tearing down those petrifying perceptions of wine professionals. She is the first woman to hold the position of sommelier in the Ritz’s 20 years of existence. She’s also a mere 23 years old.
I first encountered Grilhot early last year when I was reviewing Joel, where she worked as the assistant sommelier. She was memorable on several accounts: First, it was a refreshing surprise to receive wine service from someone who looks like Sade. When I asked for guidance on wines that would go well with tartare of sea bass and crab cake in apple curry sauce, she gave her thoughtful nod and turned on her heels. She returned with a relatively obscure Roussanne from Washington state that kindled our senses with the perfume of summer peaches. For our entrees, she produced a half-bottle of affordable Burgundy that nimbly complemented both delicate loup de mer in cream sauce and brawny roasted pork shoulder in sage jus.
It was more, though, than the deft selections that made her endearing. She talked about wine with engaged, giddy reverence. She grinned and turned her eyes heavenward when she spoke of the soil of French vineyards, and expounded breathlessly about the merits of South African Sauvignon Blancs. Wine through her eyes was approachable and sexy.
At that meal I recognized the true joy of encountering a good sommelier: It’s the pleasure of letting a knowledgeable person choose wines that you may have never heard of before and may never taste again, but that fit the food and mood of one particular meal brilliantly. Grilhot impressed me as a trustworthy guide for that kind of experience.
But how does someone that young know so darn much?
“I never grew up drinking wine. I drank water and juice,” laughs Grilhot, who was raised in San Francisco and Atlanta. She started waiting tables with the Buckhead Life Group, and was instructed to buy a copy of Windows of the World Complete Wine Course by Kevin Zraly, which stirred her curiosity (and is still an excellent book for budding wine enthusiasts).
When she landed a job as a server at Joel in 2001, she approached the restaurant’s head sommelier, Philippe Buttin. “She was 19 years old and not even legal drinking age, but she wanted to know more about wine,” Buttin recalls. With self-motivated determination, she studied wine basics and participated in tastings on her own time.
A year-and-a-half later, after Grilhot had turned 21, Joel’s assistant sommelier position opened. “I decided to take a risk on Chantelle,” says Buttin, “as my mentor in Paris had taken a risk on me 15 years ago.”
Buttin taught Grilhot not only about the product, but how to present herself to guests. “I taught her to be flexible with every single table,” Buttin notes. “A sommelier is like the doctor of a restaurant. It’s not just about knowledge, though we spend hours away from the restaurant absorbing information. You also need bedside manners with your customers.”
Grilhot speaks about her time under Buttin’s tutelage with gratitude. “I’m glad I waited tables first. Working with Philippe was very eye-opening, very European. He showed me how it all works. He would tell me stories about London, about Paris. I realized there’s another world out there that I had not even seen one part of.”
His most valuable lesson? “Stay humble. He told me that the very first day. Learn from people and stay humble.”
While working at Joel, Grilhot began studying for the grueling three-level exams conducted by the Court of Master Sommeliers. Only 56 candidates in the United States have been awarded the title of “master sommelier,” 11 of whom are women. She passed the first level of the exam early last year, and took second place in 2004’s regional Young Sommelier in America competition.
Amid all her career developments, she also found time to marry Jérome Grilhot, chef of the Seasons Dining Room at the Capital City Club in Brookhaven, in 2002. Her life appeared to be on the fast track in every aspect.
Last September, it gained even more speed. Michael McNeill, longtime wine director at the Ritz Dining Room and one of the 56 who holds the Master Sommelier title Stateside, decided to move on from his post. Claude Guillaume, the Dining Room’s maitre d’ known for his paternal warmth with customers, put out local feelers for McNeill’s replacement. Grilhot’s name came up repeatedly.
Like Buttin, Guillaume decided to take a chance on her. “I like to find young talent,” says Guilluame, “and try to direct them in the right direction, even if they’re not quite ready.” Adapting to the formal, rarified service style of the Dining Room was a departure from Grilhot’s previous experience, but Guillaume is confident in her passion. “You can see she loves it, and it’s easy after that.”
Have any of the hotel’s well-heeled guests balked to find a 23-year-old woman of color serving them wine?
“I think some clients have tried to test,” she says, chuckling. “They usually end up liking me.”
And if a customer doesn’t like their wine?
“That’s totally fine. There are wines I’ve tasted before that I don’t like either. What I want is people to be really comfortable and tell me, honestly, if they’re not enjoying the selection. Some won’t. I remember one woman whom I served a sake, and I could tell she was really trying but not loving it, so I brought her something different. And that’s easy when I have so much to work with.” (The Ritz’s cellars house nearly 25,000 bottles of wine.)
She’s anxious to introduce diners to new finds she’s discovered from Tasmania and Romania and Brazil, and convert the uninitiated to the pleasures of sherry. Last month, she took first place in the 2005 regional Young Sommelier in America competition in Orlando (she’ll be competing for the national title in Seattle in May). And she intends to take the test for the Advanced Portion of the Court of Master Sommelier Program in February 2006.
And yet, she seems to approach it all with an unassuming determination. “My family taught me to be independent. I used to be a crazy girl, but my family and friends and husband are so supportive. I’ve got this want - to learn more, to perfect my French, to travel.”
She nods her head pensively, the way she does when she chooses her words to describe a Roussanne or Pinot Noir. “Yeah,” she concludes, beaming resolvedly. “I want it.”