Ep. 676 Rebecca Severs | Voices

Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. I'm Rebecca Lawrence, and this is voices. In this set of interviews, I will be focusing on issues of inclusion diversity and allyship through intimate conversations with wine industry professionals from all over the globe. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating to Italian wine podcast dot com. Any amount helps us cover equipment, production and publication costs, and remember to subscribe and rate our show wherever you tune in. This episode is proudly sponsored by Vivino, the world's largest online marketplace. The Vivino app makes it easy to choose wine. Enjoy expert team support door to door delivery and honest wine reviews to help you choose the perfect wine for every occasion. Vivino. Download the app on Apple or Ann join and discover an easier way to choose wine. Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. This is the voices series with me at Rebecca Lawrence. This week, I'm excited to welcome back Rebecca Severs. Those of you who are veteran listeners to the podcast will know that Rebecca joined Monte for a conversation in December, but we wanted to catch up with her again as she's just been here in Corona and I'm a little bit selfish and wanted to have her to myself. So welcome back, Rebecca. Thank you. Thanks for having me. So for those listeners who haven't listened to your conversation with Monte, and I advise all our listeners to go do that after they've finished listening to this, Maybe you could give us a recap as to who you are, where you're from, what you do. Yes. I'm Rebecca Severs. I live in Memphis, Tennessee where my husband and I have owned an operated an Italian wine restaurant. It's called Barri Ristarante in Inoteca. My husband's family is from from Kipurso, which is a tiny little town just outside of Body. So, we have been in business for it will be nineteen years. In November, we were babies when we opened. So while the food is predominantly food from southeastern Italy, it's, you know, a lot of vegetables, which we get from local farmers, a lot of seafood, but we also have this amazing Italian wine list. So I think we're the only pretty sure we're the only restaurant in Memphis that has an all Italian wine list. So I've tried to represent Italy well by having at least one or, you know, a few wines from each region, which is sometimes challenging, but I like the challenge. So we also have a cheese menu, which most people come in and they're like, a cheese menu. What? So we have, also Italian cheeses from all over Italy. So, typically, we have about fifty cheeses, which makes it fun, you know, for wine and cheese pairings and began to pasty plate. So that that's what we do. I'm just like, I'm gobsmacked. That's the that's amazing. Yes. Which we do sometimes we have a it's the we'll do the entire cheese tasting And so it's a little it's just about an ounce of each cheese, but we'll put it on this giant platter. We'll label it for you. So, you know, we've had two people do it, but usually six to eight people is good and come in and just eat all the cheese. It's fun. Oh, I I wanna be there right now. Cheese is one of my very favorite things, and I just can't imagine having fifty different Italian cheeses just in one place. Yes. It's fun. It is awesome. So it's speaking as someone, as you said, you love challenges. We met in New York when you took the vehicle course in New York, and I was very excited to see you return to the challenge again in verona. I wondered if I could ask because you're someone who's one of those rare cases where you've experienced beer outside of its flagship edition, but also in verona for the flagship. So I wanted to pick your brains about how things were maybe different this time around your different experiences of both courses. Yes. They were they were very different, from each other. I think, you know, I was I was really overwhelmed in in New York. I was, you know, happy to be there, and I was up for the challenge, but I was I was really overwhelmed. The days, you know, they're really long classes, and it's a lot lot on your mind. We tasted a lot of wines. You know, I was I did I did love it, but it was just a little overwhelming for me. So, obviously, I did not pass the exam, but I walked away knowing more than I did when I got there and also knew what I needed to work on and what I needed to learn. And I was thrilled to have never been to Corona before. I had such an amazing time and such an amazing experience. I went in. I think with a little more confidence, just knowing what what it would be like, the course that is. But, there were a couple of people that were also there in New York, so I would recognize them. And I just instantly made friends with so many people So it was really, really, really just a great experience. And Marona's gorgeous, the the little bit that I got to see at at night. I loved it. It's I love the program. I think you're right about the people as well. It's so much about the community and bringing those people together. Those opportunities to stateside meet people from all over the states, but when you come into Verona, you're meeting people from all over the world. For sure. For me, in New York, I just I'm kind of I'm very shy. And I was you take me out of my element and I just, you know, I was shy. So I, you know, in in New York, being overwhelmed with all the information and having sort of anxiety about being in this group of people that I didn't know. It was a little challenging for me, but I definitely did not have any of that anxiety in Verona. I definitely just felt more confident and more comfortable. And, yes, instantly, made some great friends. I like the way that the Verona course really just brings everyone together as a family. And for some reason, because I've done it in Verona, and I've also done it stateside myself because I didn't pass in verona. I passed in the states oddly enough, but it just there is something so homey about verona and about the vibe here, really is a kind of big family group hug of a week, even though Like you say, the days are really long here too. There's a lot of tasting. There's a lot to take in. You guys had such intense days of tasting, but I think it really helps to have those people around you just kind of giving giving you some backup. Yes. Absolutely. It was it was wonderful. I'm very happy I did it. We we were very excited. I I have such a fondness for the New York course because so many of you guys just and I've spoken about this on another episode with with Jenny Helman, you guys just welcomed me in and it was so wonderful, and it was really nice to experience that. So seeing you guys here in kind of my home, just warm formed my heart. Yeah. It was very welcoming. So speaking about home, actually, one of the things I thought it was great that you talked a little bit about in your discussion with Monty is that although Barry obviously came from this desire to recreate the dishes from your husband's family, originate in the south, basically, you you do have a list that reflects all the regions or at least tries to. How have you managed to do that kind of sourcing? Is this something that's still a challenge in Memphis? You know, even kind of now nineteen years down the line, how do you find how do you find your wines? It's definitely gotten easier, especially over the last couple of years. But in the beginning, it was very difficult and my list was much smaller. I did try to have as many pillion lines as possible. Back then, which weren't there wasn't a lot of options. But I did manage to find, and the one of the wines that I had when we first opened, and we had for many, many years after, was the, neon lady Castris, Salice San Tina. And I'd it was a ninety it was a ninety seven vintage, and that was, like, six dollars my cost. But I sold that by the glass, you know, nobody, which a lot of people still don't know what Salicio Salentino is, but that was has been one of my favorites forever. So we were we were lucky to get that, you know, Primativos here and there. But now for me, for finding the wines is a matter of working with my local distributors and then talking to them and then them seeking out, you know, the wines that I want to bring in. But, yeah, now it's it is a lot easier. There are a lot of lot of new importers that are focusing more on Italian wines, which is good good for good for me. But, yeah, I do try to to represent Italy. That's kind of my goal is to have at least one line from every region. And is there something specifically you look for when choosing a wine specifically to go with your dishes. Are are you looking for the flavor profile? I'm assuming, obviously, cost is gonna have something to do with it. But do you have a methodology for which of the wines from a region you're gonna choose? Because obviously, some regions I'm imagining you have quite a lot of choice. Do you have a personal philosophy when it comes down to, like, actually choosing what makes it on your list? Well, ultimately, I have to I have to like it. I don't know. Yeah. It's tough. Sometimes it's tough for me because let's take Piedmont, for example. There are so many different, you know, even just with with, nebbiolo, so many different types or styles of wines. And I, you know, I happen to love nebbiolo. So I have way more borullos than I should on my list. You know, got scenarios, one wine that I really love to hand sell to some of our regulars. We have our niece. We've had. We've had our niece by the glass for probably twelve years now. It's never gone out of style. We sell a lot of that. But sometimes it was just something very specific that I want to bring in because nobody else, you know, it's not in Memphis and I want it to be here. So sometimes I consider what are customers want, you know, what's good for a bar situation. But that's the fun thing about Italian mind is it's all very food friendly. Like I said, we've got a lot of seafood. So, you know, any of most of the lights will go with with that, but that's the fun That's the fun part is, helping the helping the customer find the right bottle of wine or glass of wine that they want to drink there in the moment. So I used to love that about working in service choosing something maybe a little bit unusual, something someone hasn't heard of, and then seeing them enjoy it and realizing that maybe you've got a fan of this wine now that they they're experiencing something for the first time and growing to love it with every sip, but I love that aspect. Yes. Me too. I love it too. It makes me smile. And it and it's an energy, I think, as well. Like, it gives you, you know, hospitality services, long hard work. So those little snippets of of seeing a customer's or a client's face light up when they try something. It's just Yeah. It's just like it's pure joy in the moment, and it's nice. So I have to ask because obviously you have this extensive list that you work very hard on, but do you have a favorite, either maybe on your list or perhaps something that isn't yet on your list that maybe you'd like to feature It's hard to choose if I had to just choose one line. I don't know. It's the worst question for Italians as well because there's so many. I, you know, I mean, I really love Celicce Salentino's. I really do. I lately, we've been drinking a lot of sousa maniello, and I've gotten a lot of people hooked on that. So I have been drinking a lot of sousa maniello. I really do like I like the some of the I like pulling in wines. I like that they're a little more, you know, jammy and some of them could be earthy, but they're just, like, so concentrated, but they're not. It's not, like, overly tannic or it's just a whole lot of flavor. Primativo de mandorias, Some of those are really beautiful. So I do enjoy those. And I I I it's, you know, summertime. I like sparkling wine. I'm really into those, zero massage sparklings. That's a style that Italy has really run with recently and I think is beginning to show the true quality of the possibility of zero dosage here. Yes, Don, I'm very excited about that. So there's sparkling wine. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, maybe you I could say Nebula yellow, but then that goes into, I should I don't know. There's too many. There are too many. Yes. As someone as I'm returning to this idea of service, obviously, you started out a long time ago, basically doing doing this yourself. But since then you've had to spend, I imagine, a lot of time training staff on your floor, how to present Italian wine, particularly, I imagine in the beginning when maybe there wasn't, you know, restaurants with lists like yours that were purely Italian focused. Maybe there weren't as many places to experience Italian wine, are there tips and tricks that you give your staff to help promote lives, especially in a restaurant context where obviously you've got the food there, but why there's a big focus of what you're doing? You know, training is very important. And even with my bartenders too, that while they have the experience of cocktail making and mostly, you know, every bartender and server that I hire has experience in restaurants, but they do not have the Italian wine knowledge. But that's also another fun part, my job because I get to train them. So we have, basically, alright, you know, I will sit down with them one on one, and we will talk about the wines. I show them the bottles so that they know the labels. We I'll let them taste the wines. They take their own notes. They take my notes. But ultimately, I do tell them if you're not certain about a specific line, if somebody asks you about it, just come and get me. I don't want them to not know and say, oh, yeah, this one's big and bold. You're gonna love it. And then it's not. It's really light. And want the people to have a great experience and to be able to trust the server so that they will come back and come back and come back. So that is one thing that I just that we we kind of have a really great, relationship with. And that servers do, they try, you know, they have their own favorites usually after you taste all of them and but they'll still come and have questions. Hey, this person, they want something that's, you know, really light and floral, but not too lie. The a la blah, they're getting this salad? What do you think? And, you know, if I say, Vermitino, and they're like, that's what I was thinking. Great. There's, yes, there's a lot of back and forths with questions because we do want the customer to enjoy what they're having. Yeah. Because you want them exactly to have that full experience and then be able to return and know that they're always gonna get the right wine for what they want. Yes. So we do it's great. When you get that, you're like, oh, I came in the last time and you recommended this line. And then they wanna try another. You know, some people just stick with they just drink the same bottle every time that they come in. We've got a lot of regulars that come in and just instantly well a few that just want me to pick. Which is fun, because I know if they're coming in, I get to pick something out for them. And sometimes people say, do you have anything new? And if I grin really big, I'm like, yes, you know, hold on just a second. I've got something for you. It is really fun, and I I do love turning people on to Italian wine. I don't think that they can get that experience anywhere else in in Memphis. So it is it's fun. You know, the local, a couple of the local retail shops have had to expand their Italian portfolio because they have customers calling and saying, Hey, I got this line at Ari. You know, can you can you get it? And so they definitely have expanded their Italian shelves. That is incredibly cool. It's having this lovely little ripple effect across Memphis. I just I have this image in my head of this little network of people talking about the Italian wines they've had from you and the knock on into the industry. Absolutely. I've yes. We've I've had, some of our long time regulars, they've gone and visited a lot. Some of the wineries there, like, we don't agree because we sell the inferno by the glass. And, yeah, it's it's it's incredible. That's just another, you know, like, yes, you're going to Italy. Let me, you know, send me your dates. Let me know where you're going. I'll know, suggests some places for you to go. Here was here was, I think, in your network was Memphis. It's actually global. You're just you're the secret influence that's sending people to Italy to enjoy the wines. A true ambassador. Yes. Absolutely. So this is the voices series, and we do like to touch on topics of inclusion and diversity where we can. And I've certainly faced a lot of challenges and I've already spoken in episodes about facing challenges as as a woman in the industry. I wondered, because you've been in the game for a long time now. I'm sorry. You have. Nineteen years is incredible. That's a huge success. But I wondered if you faced challenges being a kind of leading woman in the restaurant industry, particularly maybe when you were starting out, and and is it something you still see or have you seen a change because certainly when I was starting out things were very different. Yes. I absolutely. Yes. Starting out, it was frustrating. Most of the wine representatives were males, and most of them would continuously try to have a conversation with my husband about the line. And he would say, that's her. You know, I don't that's not my thing. Talk to her about it. Talk to her about it. And that happened for years. And and also, the bard, you know, having a We have some female bartenders now, but if there's a male bartender and there is a representative, they always will just focus straight, you know, at the bartender, look him in the eye, talk to him and just kind of ignore me. And, you know, time and time again, they'll say, talk to Rebecca, you know, talk to Rebecca. She's the wine buyer, she's the owner. So, yes, there it's there have definitely done some challenges. It is a lot easier now, and I am seeing a lot more females and younger females, which I think is great in the distribution side of it. Them even in other restaurants around town, just managing and wine buying. So it is a lot easier now. And I think if it's just because it's twenty twenty one, or I I think honestly, it's just because like you said, I've been around for nineteen years, so now they're I do see a level of respect towards me with with wine buying. I mean, it's about time. Yes. It's not going anywhere. I think it's also must be really important for your community to have seen you stay and be a buyer and be so influential and have such a successful list because that does demonstrate that it's possible to do that as a woman and to be taken seriously and be respected. And I think it's so important for other people in the industry to see positive role models that look like them. Yes. Absolutely. And I think that's one of the great advantages then, you know, it's another side of things that you're giving back to your industry is is being this positive role model and, hopefully, some of the people coming up have seen that and go, okay, I know that I can do that one day. Yeah. I hope so. So finally, I have to ask before we wrap up, as I do with many of my guests, what's next for you on your Italian wine journey? Is it is it adding more cheeses to the list? Is it more wines? More more trips? Instantly, my my first answer to that question is, my husband and I are trying to come back in the fall to Italy because when I went to verona, like I said, the days were very long with learning, and I only had a little bit of time at night to go out and have dinner but and I was so jealous of all of these other people that stayed for a week or even days later, and they were they're everybody was in wineries the next day, and I was on a flight back. But it's fine because my husband and I, we we definitely are we're gonna plan a trip in the fall. And we're gonna go visit some wineries that we haven't been to. Yeah. So with that, we are going back to Italy. We actually just signed a a ten year lease at a new space. Oh, it's down the street from our old location that's on the same side of the street. So just like two blocks down, but it's a little a little more square footage inside. We will have outdoor seating. You will have a our own parking lot. Yes. It's a better long term. It's a better situation for us, with our new landlords. So it is under construction right now. That's yeah. We're hoping that we'll be able to get in and get it open in the next couple of weeks. And having that worked, yeah. So we we are ready to get back to work and I'm gonna sell as much Italian wine and cheese as possible. That's incredibly exciting. Congratulations. I can't wait to see pictures of the space and what you're doing with it. And and on that note, Rebecca, thank you so much for joining me on the Italian wine podcast. Tell our listeners where they can find you and barry online and on social media. It is barry lymphas dot com is our website, and we are on all the social medias Farri restaurante, you know, tekka. Guys, go check it out. If you're in Memphis, please go eat the cheese, drink the wine, do it for me. Thank you again, Rebecca. I hope to see you in in Italy in the fall if possible. If not, enjoy your wines. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. 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