Ep. 470 Rebecca Severs

Italian wine podcast. Chinchin with Italian wine people. Hello. This is the Italian mind podcast. My name is Monte Walden. My guest today is Rebecca Severs, who is tell us what you, how do you describe yourself? What's your title? I'm a restaurant owner. Just made that up, didn't you? You don't really have a restaurant? No. I don't. And, we've heard it all before. Go on. Just just spin the Memphis, Tennessee. Don't go on. I own an Italian restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee, which is home of Elvis Presley, Barbecue, Rock and Roll and Barri. Is that where you grew up though? In Memphis? Yes. I did. I'm from here, and I have lived here my whole life aside from the six months that I moved to Los Angeles. So, growing up in Memphis, was your was your education or your family sort of predisposed to to the restaurant industry, which is what you're doing at the moment? No. No. Not at all. Not at all. That will happen then. Give us a bit of your biography. Well, let's see. I started working when I was fifteen. I worked at a bank in the corporate trust department, and I would work part time after school, and then I would work whenever we had a holiday or in the summer, I'd work full time. And then I was going to college after I graduated from high school for photography, and I was had to pay for college. So I would work in restaurants, and that's kind of where I learned about Italian. My my first restaurant job was at a private dinner club So I had to wear a tuxedo. We had twenty one steps of service, and we would taste wine, almost daily. And that's kind of where I I learned about wine. My husband's mother is from Kapourso. And it's a tiny little town outside of Barri. And when we first started dating, we went to actually Kapourso. And I met his grandparents and We went to Barri, and we walked around, we ate, and that was my first time in Italy. It was my first time out of the country, but in nineteen ninety eight. And then we got married in ninety nine, And before we got married, we said, you know, let's get married. Let's open this Italian restaurant in Memphis because there wasn't anything like it in Memphis. There were Italian restaurants, but nothing that focused on this this region. And all of my family was here. We had worked in restaurants. So this is it's kind of the plan. Like, we're gonna get made. We're gonna open this restaurant. And we did. We had a child two months before we opened the restaurant. But so this, you know, this this restaurant is, it's just really special to us, and we work really hard. My husband and I work, you know, he runs the kitchen. I'd I say he cooks and I do everything else, but that's not That's not true. But we work really hard together to create this, and it's very special. It's a very special place. And, yeah, we just we love it. We love what we do, and we've kinda created a sun little little Italian space in Memphis. Have any particular mentors in the restaurant, or were you just sort of tasting it and trying to remember what each different wine tastes like? Did you have anybody that was helping you? Not really. I mean, we just kind of we just tasted tasted wines and, I think at that point, I started buying wine, but I always liked Italian wine. I drank a lot of chianti when I was younger. So when we opened the restaurant, I knew that I wanted the list to be all Italian. I wanted to represent Italy. And my goal was to try to have one try to have one wine from every region in Italy. That was a little hard to do. What period are we talking about at this particular time? Was it between, like, ten years ago, four years ago? So we opened we actually are celebrating our eighteenth year of being a business this month. We opened in November of two thousand two. And what changes have you seen since then in terms of apart from the the selection that you offer your your clients, what about? Are people still very much reliant on professionals like you to to really understand what the particular wine is gonna be like that they're that they're choosing people are more knowledgeable of about Italian wines when but we still do have people that come in and say, I have no idea what, you know, I don't drink Italian wine. I don't know what this list is. So, I mean, we're definitely here to help people. My staff is trained to try to ask the consumer what, well, what is it that you normally drink, and then we try to find something that will make them happy. Because I there's so many, as you know, there's so many Italian wines that I think there's something comparable to anyone anywhere else in the world. Obviously, you know, wine is your passion. Are you currently an Italian wine ambassador or a candidate? Or are you studying in a way for Italian wine? I am currently a candidate. I took the course last year in New York, and I really didn't know what I was getting into. It was really over the whole the whole thing I I went to New York. I had to stay there for a week. We did the I did the course. And I loved it, but it was very overwhelming at the same time. I obviously didn't pass. But I left with more knowledge than I had when I got there. And I knew I knew what I needed to study because a lot of that stuff, I don't I didn't have any other I'm never taking the WSET or I did take the Italian. I am an Italian white professional through Italian Wine Central. And that was something that I took in two thousand seventeen. Kinda just to test. I wanted to see how much I did know about Italian wine because everything that I've done so far has been through me reading me reading books, when we first opened, there weren't a lot of books on Italian wine. And the only one that Vino Italian was it was kind of like my Bible. I read it. I used it to train my staff. I always wanted more of an ata Italian wide education, but there just wasn't really anything out there, you know, eighteen years ago. And so the Italian Line certification that I took in two thousand seventeen was, I at home, I could take it online. And I had six months to study, and then I could choose my exam date. So I did that, and it was kinda hard for me because I have a restaurant and also have three three sons. And I kind of I wanted to do it, but I had to figure out, well, how how do I study? How do I you know, when am when am I gonna do this? But I did it. I did it in a past, and I felt great about it. And then when the opportunity to take the course in New York came along, I wasn't sure if I was even gonna get accepted, but I, you know, I applied and I did. Like I said, that whole thing was a little overwhelming and just taking me out of my comfort zone, but really awesome too because I've never been surrounded by that many people that love to tell you why as much as I did. So it kind of left me with a sense of determination that I was gonna pass this course at some point later in the future. And so this year, when they did the Agile edition, I took it because I thought, well, this will be great. It's more you know, I can do it from my house, and hopefully I'll pass this time. How important is it? When you're doing these sort of, studies on on Italy to have other like minded people and professionals, in either in the, in the, in the study classes or in the exam arena, how how important is that? What is just the study itself? I think I'm not sure. I just know that it was different for me because here, you know, in Memphis, I just feel like I'm kind of an anomaly. And I talked to my staff and my customers about Italian wine, but I don't really or I didn't have that community. But now I do And I think it's wonderful. It makes me very happy. And, you know, I'm connecting with people from all over the world now. How how important is that not just on the sort of business side, but just on the knowledge side. That you've got that kind of community that you can reach out to and vice versa. It's extremely important, I think. I just don't think that I knew what I was missing before. But you feel a lot more confident now about, obviously, the knowledge has given you confidence and also that sense of community as well. Has that actually, you know, had a positive impact on your business or on reviews that people give your business when they come and come and visit you? I think so. I mean, I Our customers, we we we have a lot of new new customers, but we have some really long time regulars that I can talk about lines with. I pick lines for them, and I'm really comfortable in my own setting talking about line. But I, you know, public speaking or interviews, I usually will pass. So I definitely think that the Van Italy Academy has given me more confidence to speak I just always thought that the the wine could speak for itself or, you know, Barri could speak for itself. It was never about it's and it's still not it's not about me, but I think the what the Van Italy Academy and all the social media, it's kind of shown me that people do like to connect. They like stories. They like to connect with people. And so I have realized that, hey, maybe I don't need to be so afraid here. I need to get out and and share my love of Italian line. So I it's definitely helped with that. I mean, in in terms of the business as well, does that does that make you more confident knowing that, a, you've got that sort of network of potential helpers online? And also for your, I guess, your knowledge is is rubbing off on your staff as well. Correct? Yes. Absolutely. So how do you go about that? Do you have, like, are you are you more confident of, doing like a mini tasting with, say, your sommeliers and and and and you're now teaching them a little bit about Italian wine things that they would never have known without your studies, elsewhere. Yes. I mean, I have always trained my staff because most of the well, every single server or bartender that I've had that we've hired over the years, when they come in, they have restaurant experience, but they don't have a lot of Italian line knowledge. So the training for that is extensive because I want them to know what they're talking about. You know, they have to know what they're talking about when they're on the floor. So, yes, they were excited when I came back from New York and started talking about all the you know, soil types and, yes, they're they're happy that I get to share this new knowledge with them. I mean, does your knowledge help you when you're negotiating the professional side or on the buying of, buying in of of of wine? The sort of economic benefits, if you like, of the Italian study, and, and how that affects, you know, reps coming to speak to you. It's usually so eighteen years of Italian wine in Memphis. In the beginning, you know, I tasted what was available and created a small list, and it definitely grew over the years. And, honestly, if I'm if I'm looking for something specific, they are more than happy to try to find it for me and get it in. So it's definitely gotten easier, but I'm always trying to find something. I I want things that that aren't available amid this. It's like a little goal for me to find things and bring them to Memphis. Not just with Italian wine, but with Italian spirits too. Aperol was not available. You know, we had Capari eighteen years ago, but Aperol was not available in Tennessee. And I worked with the distributor, and they finally, I kept saying it's it's a wonderful product. I promise you're, you know, other restaurants will pick it up, retail, we'll buy it. So they finally got Aperol available to sell in Tennessee. And now it's just I think everybody in Memphis talks about apparel spritz. If I have a glass of apparel spritz in front of me, what will I be looking at? What color is it, and what's it made for? It's a little pit. It's not as strong, you know, not everybody. I love campari, but not everybody loves campari because it's too strong and too bitter. So aperol is just a little bit more floral. It's a little lighter. It's not as aggressive as Campari. So it's a beautiful pinkish color in the glass. We sell a lot of them in the summertime. So Nina and agree, before we had three sons, we would always try to go to Italy every year. And I would always make a list of wines to try to find. And the Nino Negry's first thought was one of those. And, actually, the five star. And so I I went we were in Barri, and I think it was a grocery store. It was in a wine shop, but I found the bottle, and I bought it, and I brought it back. And so when I had it, I was like, oh my gosh, this is the best thing ever. And so I tried to get it. I knew that it was available in New York. So I was like, if it's a if they have it in New York, I can get it here. So I worked with my Frederick Bloughman rep, and it took a little bit of time, but they got Nina and agree registered to Selo, Tennessee. And so now I've been selling SLD Inferno by the glass, and I have for, I think, five years now. So when people have that by the glass, are they also, are they just having a glass of wine, or are they having that with food? Currently, so, yeah, all the bars are you can't actually just during COVID right now. In in Memphis, you have taken away all the bar stools. And if you have wine, you have to have food. But, yeah, normally, we have a wonderful cheese menu. It's usually a two page. We it's usually between fifty to sixty cheeses from all over Italy, which is really fun. Under peer with blind. What are you what are your favorite pairings, your personal favorite pairings, and then your customer's favorite pairings? Oh, goodness. I don't know. The customers, they rely on us. They say you tell us, you know, they so we usually pick the bartender's servers. And we haven't done one in a while, but we do wine and cheese pairings, which it takes maybe like an hour and a half, and we'll pair four different wines with four different cheeses, and they get to learn about the the wine and the cheese. It's really, it's a fun sort of in very informal setting, and and I love it. Our our customers love the new, the knowledge of different wines and cheeses. But is that like a young crowd, or is it, like, sort of older, older people? It's kind of both. We do have a younger crowd, but we also have, have an older crowd, honestly, from mid forties to to sixty, late sixties, So, and we definitely get a mixed, a mixed crowd here. In normal times, again, our bar is is the happening place. It's we get a lot of, a lot of young and older people coming on dates here. Just in just in general, sorry. The the the market for Italian wines in the US as a whole. I know that's difficult to generalize about, but and in your back of the woods in particular, is it something that has still has, a lot of potential to grow or have we reached Pek Italy yet? No. No. I don't definitely not. There are so many incredible wines that a lot of that people still don't know about. So my goal from the beginning was to to introduce people to those wines. I changed my menu because it's I have a it's a small restaurant. I don't have a lot of storage space. So I rotate because there's so many wonderful producers, but I don't I can only have one or two of the same lines on my list. So I rotate a lot. Well, good for you. So I do wanna say thanks to my guest today, Rebecca Severs, all the way from Memphis, Tennessee, created a little bit of Italy over there very successfully, with her partner and the rest of our family. We wish you every success both with the restaurant and also, of course, with your study. Take care. Thank you. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcast. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, HimalIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italian wine podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment and publication costs. Until next time.