Celebrity Chefs, Award-winning chefs, spectacular desserts with world-class wines, beers, spirits, and delicious food at the 12th Annual Las Vegas Food & Wine Festival October 6-11.
The who’s who of culinary talent will converge at the
12th Annual Las Vegas Food & Wine Festival
Celebrity Chefs from over the world take part at this annual event from the Las Vegas strip to Downtown Las Vegas and Summerlin.
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Kachava
The event will be headlined by James Beard Foundation Award winning chefs including the likes of Chefs:
Katsuya Uechi
Todd English
Francois Payard
Some of these talented individuals will showcase their skills by bringing you deeper in the world of creations within the live culinary demonstrations.
Las Vegas Food Wine Festival October 6-10
Related:
Bobby Flay’s newest restaurant Amalfi opens in Las Vegas
Who is ready for spectacular desserts?
There will be a plentiful number of mouthwatering treats you will getting seconds of as well as making your fellow foodies jealous. The desserts are almost too pretty to eat, but you won’t be able to resist so be sure to dig in.
Las Vegas Food Wine Festival October 6-10
Related:
Las Vegas newest luxury steakhouse is arriving soon. Details here.
Tickets are now on sale and range from $100–$150.
Tickets include a special tasting of world-class wines, beers, spirits, and delicious food. Individuals interested in attending are strongly encouraged to purchase tickets as soon as possible due to popular demand.
Las Vegas Food Wine Festival October 6-10
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit VegasFoodAndWine.com.
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Thanksgiving in Las Vegas: the perfect stuffing bread DOES exist – and it’s… [Recipe Here]
This Thanksgiving, the perfect stuffing bread DOES exist – and it’s brioche. As in St Pierre Brioche Thanksgiving Stuffing
No Thanksgiving spread is complete without a hearty stuffing. While add-ins are a matter of preference, choosing the right bread is crucial. One underrated choice is eggy, rich brioche – and with St Pierre Bakery, you don’t need to go to France to get it.
Thanks to its butter and egg content, St Pierre’s Brioche Loaf provides the perfect balance of crisp toastiness while remaining soft and creamy inside, while its lightly sweet flavor adds a decadent quality that can still lean savory. Attached below is an approachable recipe for stuffing allowing for all the craveable crunch for the whole family with minimal effort required.
St Pierre Brioche Thanksgiving Stuffing
By @BrandiMilloy
Ingredients
1 loaf St. Pierre Brioche Bread
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
3/4 cup celery, diced
3/4 cup carrots, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
2 large eggs
1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
3 sprigs fresh thyme, just the leaves
1 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
1 small apple (granny smith works well), peeled and diced
Salt and pepper
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut brioche bread into 1” cubes and bake for about 10-15 minutes until toasted.
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Meanwhile, into a pot over medium high heat add butter until melted. Add onion, celery and carrots and cook until everything starts to soften, about 7 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat and set aside.
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Into a bowl whisk together the eggs, herbs, apples, mushrooms, and salt and pepper. Add your cooked vegetables and mix to combine.
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Pour mixture on top of toasted bread and stir to combine. Bake stuffing for about 45 minutes. If your stuffing starts to get too brown, cover until finished baking. Enjoy!
As America’s favorite brioche brand, St Pierre’s products are widely available via grocery stores nationwide as well as Walmart.
Vegas Crowds Find New Flavor with Dancing Wines from Cynthia Russell, Lauren Russell
Vegas Crowds Searching for New Flavor Find it with Dancing Wines from Cynthia Russell, Lauren Russell in Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County.
The team at Dancing Wines is developing a collection of sensory brands that celebrate life through taste, touch and aroma – inspiring you to find your inner dance and show the world what truly moves you.
Dancing Wines’ red wine trio includes Old Vine, Duo and Estate — three limited-release wines made from hand-picked grapes that showcase the full breadth of the Dancing estate.
Lauren Russell (L) and Cynthia Russell (R) from Dancing Wines Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma
Today’s conversation with the dynamic Mother / Daughter team Cynthia and Lauren Russell from Dancing Wines ha been edited for length and clarity.
For the full, un-edited conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.
Joe Winger: What is the most important message you’d like to share today?
Lauren Russell: I think one of them is dancing is art and art is life.
Another is love needs no explanation. I think really the thread between those is we’re trying to create a product and an experience that brings people together and invites them to find their inner dance, which is something we say a lot.
So we want to encourage people to find their unique rhythms. And wine is also really lovely because it is a vehicle that brings people together to enjoy a moment and diverse people together.
I think my Mom [Cynthia] can speak to this as well, but one of the things we thought about when first exploring wine was just how daunting the whole atmosphere is around the consumption of it and the buying and using all the right adjectives.
Especially for my generation I feel like there’s a bit of a learning curve. So I think one thing we really want people to take away from the brand is just like, just enjoy it. Love needs no explanation and you can’t drink wine when your mouth is full of adjectives. We’ve created a great wine just for you to be able to enjoy and to describe however you want and enjoy whenever you want.
Source: WeAreDancing.com
Cynthia: Yeah, I think the measures we created we have a beautiful heritage property that the soil and the climate create this great wine. And me being of an older generation where wine was very intimidating, even though I know a lot about it.
And drinking it for a very long time. I’ve lived in France. I’ve lived in California. It’s still when you order in a restaurant, you’re scared. Do I know enough? I’m going to be embarrassed. Is this the right pairing? And what the good news is that wine making in the world has become so sophisticated that if you are buying wine from a place that is special, including all.
Sonoma or France or Italy, the wines are good, they’re really good and all you have to do is be comfortable with yourself and enjoying it. And so that’s what we’re trying to do is take a product that has thousands of years of history as being a part of our culture and make you comfortable with just having fun, enjoying it and celebrating what wine can do to bring people together.
Source: WeAreDancing.com
Joe Winger: You have a really unique story that you restored a vineyard up in Dry Creek. Can you talk about experience and what you learned from the restoration?
Cynthia: We lucked out. It was a Covid purchase. We spent a lot of time as a family together in very small confined spaces drinking a lot of wine.
We [thought we] might end up needing a place where we have more outdoor space and can be together. So we bought this property more as a farm and then discovered that it was a unique part of the world.
Zinfandel grapes have been growing in this small region for over 150 years.
It was called America’s grape back in the time I think [the] 1850s. Okay, we have these vineyards. They’re really old.
There was one owner at this property for 60 years, an older Italian gentleman. And a lot of the area is multi generation, fourth generation Italian families who came over and cultivated this grape.
We never intended to make wine and yet we were scared to let this history and heritage die.
So we took classes and tried to figure out, can we make wine?
It’d be such a shame to let this history go in this special place.
We made a great discovery, which was that you don’t have to be an expert on wine. You just have to have great soil and a great climate.
Then we launched from there.
Source: WeAreDancing.com
Lauren: We’re always towing the line between the respective tradition and traditional winemaking and the land and all of the old vines and creating something new.
She [Mom, Cynthia] always brings a lens of respect for the older generation and ways of life and what wine has meant to her throughout her life.
I’m always pushing the other direction. We always land somewhere in the middle.
You’ll see that in the brands, it has really playful branding and packaging. But, our winemaking is a bit more traditional. We’re a sustainable vineyard but we have old vines and we respect what the land has to offer and what it’s been offering in that region for a long time.
It creates a better product and brand for us because we get to cater to both audiences.
Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma
Joe Winger: You have a collection of sensory brands. Can you talk about what that collection is, what inspired the idea, and what we should be looking for?
Lauren: All of the products have been and will be inspired by the backdrop of the vineyard.
When we talk about wine, we talk about this kind of multi sensory experience, whether that’s aroma or where you’re having it, who you’re enjoying it with.
We came into wine knowing that it was going to be not just about taste or smell, but about the holistic experience of what wine could do for someone.
Sort of the thread between all of our products are taste, touch and smell. Again, like finding your inner dance and allowing you to express your personality.
We’re launching a trio of fragrances, which are loosely inspired by the terroir and the vineyard.
Cynthia: We have a fresh perspective on Sonoma. Every time we arrive, we have this nose full of these incredible senses:, the smell of moss, crushed grapes, barrel, fire and oak.
Yeah. So we’re like, wow. Every time we arrive, we’re like, wow, this is really cool.
This is so distinct and unique and just elevates your experience of being there.
We are going to bring more experiences to the brand when we can, like having an artist in residence, creating visually beautiful contributions.
We have an art collection there that inspired us to bring art to the brand. It’s largely from a diverse group of artists from the West Coast who are very colorful and young and also push boundaries. So our idea with the senses is like we’re trying to This is a brand that you enter into our world and you get to experience people and life in a way that’s very unique and bold and
Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma
Joe Winger: What are both of your backgrounds outside of wine?
Lauren: I was raised in Connecticut and went to Dartmouth for undergrad, was a creative non-fiction writer, so always had that storytelling bent.
After school, I worked at a lot of businesses in marketing. Uber Eats, Refinery29, right before the pandemic, I worked for AB and Bev that was my first kind of foray into alcohol.
Then during COVID, I got my MBA at Columbia. We all got this massive reset of our priorities. I come from an entrepreneurial family. This opportunity arose
Cynthia: We’re a family who really believes in experiences. I have dabbled in many different areas. I went to Scripps college. I actually was a dance major until I was not. I became an international relations major. I lived in France for a while. Then moved to New York City and worked for JP Morgan trading stock, money market securities.
I didn’t find that was my passion, so I went to Harvard Business School and I got a master’s in business. Then I worked for American Express where I started a weekend travel program. It was a little startup within the travel segment of American Express. I got my “sea legs” of starting a business.
I quit that business because I had kids, then I started my own mail order company then I decided again, that maybe I needed a little more education.
I went back and got a doctorate at Columbia in organizational leadership.
I have a consulting firm on the side where I consult leaders and organizations about how to handle complex challenges in a complex world.
So my daughter [Lauren] gets through business school and we decide to marry all these wonderful experiences together and create something really new and unique.
Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma
Joe Winger: Let’s talk about your wines.
Lauren: We launched with our rosé which is really beautiful. It’s an intentional rosé. From our Primitivo grapes and we harvested them early and intentionally for rosé.
It has this really beautiful distinct, watermelon, almost Jolly Rancher aroma, and it’s really playful and full, but also dry. And it’s been a really big hit so that was a fun debut for us.
We just launched our trio of reds, and what makes them unique goes into the story about the restoration of the vineyard.
We’re still learning our land and learning from it.
We chose to harvest from different blocks and treat the wines in a similar fashion and bottle them separately to see what personalities they expressed.
One is the Old Vine Zinfandel, which is from our oldest head trained vines which is the deepest, moodiest, richest wine. It’s really lovely.
Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma
Then we have an estate wine, which is actually from Primitivo, a different word for Zinfandel. That one is a bit lighter.
Then we have a third, a duo which is a blend of both. And so it’s really helped us to understand. And they are quite different.
They’re obviously all Zinfandels in their expressions, but they’re all quite different.
People say Zinfandel is like a map of the land and I think that’s really true here. Which is super cool.
But we have two forthcoming sparkling wines because I think it really speaks to our ethos about being playful and to my generation.
Cynthia: It’s really fun for us because being on the East coast, Zinfandel is a really unknown varietal and we think it’s underrated. Californians know it’s been around for a long time. It has a lot of possibilities with food. And so what we’re trying to do is bring to light this really good wine and do it in a slightly different way.
We pick ours earlier, trying to have it be less jammy, juicy, heavy; lighter, less alcoholic than some of the more traditional Zinfandels that are on our street.
That’s really trying to address the changes consumer changes.
Our wines are chillable, super easy to eat with most any food, especially ethnic food, spicy food.
2022 was our first vintage. 2023 is already in barrels and we’ll be bottling that in probably in March. But it’s going to be a little different because the climate was different that year.
The rosé was just a fluke. Our winemaker wanted to try a Zinfandel rosé. Most people love it. It’s so distinct and unique.
Our 24 Rosé will come out in March. The reds will come out in the early summer. We’re going to bottle the sparkling in January, but that will be at least a year until you’ll see that. The pétillant naturel will probably be launching at about the same time as the rosé
Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma
Lauren: What’s fun about having both an early release sparkling and a [second, additional] later release [sparkling wine] one is going to be lighter, more effervescent, maybe geared towards the younger generation and the other will have that toastier champagne flavor.
Joe Winger: Do you have a favorite wine and food pairing?
Lauren: This one’s so hard. Rosé and oysters or any seafood is just awesome. Sparkling wine and a burger is one of my favorites.
In terms of red, when I think of Zinfandel, it’s Thanksgiving foods. It speaks to the hominess in our story. Bringing everyone around the table. Kind of experiential pairing.
Cynthia: Yeah, that resonates with me.
We have a lot of ethnic food, so it holds up really well to spice, to sweet and sour, salty and sweet. So it’s great with Indian food, Mexican food. Apples in your pork chops.
A burgundy is usually killed instantly by those kinds of flavors. It’s too fragile.
[Ours] is not fragile, but it still has so many nice aromas and flavors to enhance whatever you’re eating.
Lauren: It’s great with pizza. Pizza and a nice glass of Zinfandel
Source: WeAreDancing.com
Joe Winger: What’s something magical about Sonoma that you learned through this journey?
Lauren: True of both Zinfandel and Sonoma it always has this underdog energy to Napa. One of the hidden gems, we wake up really early and drive to the Redwood forest to watch the sun rise through the trees.
We eat a burrito because we have terrible burritos in New York.
There’s an amazing food community, 3 Michelin star restaurant, chefs, farm to table.
Cynthia: The distinct part of Sonoma is how important nature is to everyone there. It’s not just about wine. It’s incredible nature.
We both traveled a lot, lived in a lot of places. I’ve never seen such natural beauty in such a small area.
Lauren: That’s what the idea of our products is too. We have to bring people here in some way, differently than just having them taste the wine.
So as many dimensions as we can bring people into that realm to experience [00:29:00] that it’s like definitely the dream.
Joe Winger: Whether it’s social media, website, or other ways, what are the best ways for our audience to find and follow Dancing Wine?
Lauren: We have our website, which is wearedancing.com. We also are on Instagram, which is at DancingSonoma.
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Finding Love in Vegas: Dating Expert Andrea McGinty makes it easy with 33000Dates.com
Finding Love in Vegas: Dating Expert Andrea McGinty makes it easy with 33000Dates.com
We’re with Andrea McGinty, dating expert from 33000Dates.com
Dating Expert Andrea McGinty makes it easy with 33000Dates.com
Today’s conversation has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.
So often we talk about food and wine and it’s usually for dates, romantic nights out, date night, anniversaries, vacations.
Dating Expert Andrea McGinty makes it easy with 33000Dates.com
Today we’re going to get to the source of what those date’s are actually about. So with us is a dating expert, Andrea McGinty from 33000dates.com.
Joe Winger:
So just to start things off, what inspired you to become a dating coach?
Andrea McGinty:
You mean what inspired an accounting / finance major to become a dating coach?
I started this when I was in my 20s. So this is the 1990s.
There’s no Google yet. There’s no online dating. It’s going to happen in the late 90s, but it hasn’t happened yet. At that point I was living in Chicago and I was getting married and five weeks before the wedding, he called it off and it was like – boom!
What do you do? First I cried, of course…
Anyway my friends started fixing me up on dates, still in your 20s and you know how those dates go,
They know someone that’s single, so they think you should like them, blah, blah, blah…
After some of those dates I was really thinking about it and I thought, it’d be great if there was a place you could go, like an executive recruiter for your professional life.
The same thing for your personal life.
And of course, there was nothing like that at the time. Even in high school and in college I fixed up two of my suitemates. They’re still with their husbands that I fixed them up with.
I was already good at this and I thought I could start this.
Anyway, fast forward.
I started a company in Chicago called It’s Just Lunch. Where people meet for lunch. We do all the work.
Fast forward, 15 years later, it’s still the same.
[At my first dating company, It’s Just Lunch] we had 110 locations globally and then I sold. Timing was perfect because online dating was coming out of its infancy and it was a mess it at first, just the scammers, the crazies, the horrible stories,
I thought, “Oh, wow, there’s a need. People have no idea what to do online and how to date.”
Dating Expert Andrea McGinty makes it easy with 33000Dates.com
Joe Winger:
Is there one big lesson to learn how to be more successful with dating in today’s world?
Andrea McGinty:
I think there’s a couple, there’s probably two lessons to learn.
#1 is you need to understand how to navigate online dating because there’s over 1400 sites out there.
#2 you’ve got to be really careful that you don’t give up too quickly.
Most people give up in the first 2-3 weeks because they go online, see a bunch of people, they probably went on the wrong site by the way too, like not the right site for them at all. Then they see these people who like them and they’re like, “Oh my gosh, this is online dating, forget it, I’m done, gone.”
And it goes back to they didn’t do it right, they had no idea what they were doing.
Joe Winger:
Can you bring some clarity to that and help somebody understand what are the first few steps are and how to do them correctly?
Andrea McGinty:
Absolutely. With online dating you need…
#1 you need to be really careful that you’re choosing the right site.
When we’re talking about 1,400 sites out there, I tend to work with the top 25 sites. When I’m working with a client I start initially with a zoom call with a client and get to know them what they’re looking for.
I work primarily with the 40 – something 50- something, through the 60s age group. Second time around, second acts in life type of thing.
Back to the right site…
When I’m choosing a site for a client after the zoom call, I’m thinking about. “Okay, what sites do I think they belong at?” And it’s very different if you’re in Los Angeles versus Houston versus Washington versus New York City or Orlando, Florida.
[The sites are] so different, how the sites function and the type of people that are even on the site.
I’m strategic too. I use three different large companies for research. I use Gallup, Pew and Statista. I pay to get research on a monthly basis and it really tells me the percentage of men to women on a site.
Some sites that are 80% men. Some sites are 80% women
You might be having an awful time on a site because you’re a woman and you’re at a site that’s 80% women. You’re in the wrong place.
So I do the homework with the research. Geographically where you live, level of education, income. Is that site’s membership increasing, decreasing?
#2 Your pictures.
Oh my gosh. I’m like a crazy person with photos because you have to have really great photos. I don’t mean LinkedIn photos, I don’t mean glamour shots, and not selfies.
The candids are nice because it’ll show you and your friends. Out playing pickleball, out playing tennis, out having drinks with your girlfriends. The professional shots. Depending on where you live, you’re just gonna get some great shots up against a graffiti wall in Brooklyn or a nice shot by the beach that are just a little more.
You want a couple full body shots.
You want the photos to be current, within the last year. Just like you don’t want to be surprised when you show up on the date and there she is. She has a few more wrinkles and a few more pounds than what I saw online.
It’s like you’re not being truthful about the whole thing.
Online dating is a visual medium. You’ve got to be presenting yourself. My LA and Orange County market, Dallas market, they get that. But there’s other parts of the country. I’m like no, we are not putting that picture of you online. There is absolutely no way.
#3 Your profile
Once they look at your photos online, if they like what they’re seeing, they’re going to read about you. It can’t be the same old stuff. Like I like to walk on the beach and I look as good in a tux as I do…. it puts me to sleep.
So a short, sweet, interesting, quirky profile sells.
A lot of times it’s hard to write about yourself. That’s why it’s nice to have somebody like me, write about you.
[Summarizing] You’re on the right site. The right photos. Your profile. Now it’s looking through high potential dates for you….
#4 Looking for High Potential Dates
Putting in algorithms, putting in search filters. That’s something I teach people how to do because otherwise it’s like you’re looking for a needle in a haystack and you want it like a needle in a little Easter basket.
Once we throw those filters and algorithms on, it gets rid of 80% of the people. Now we’re down to some of these people that look like high potential people for you.
#5 Send messages
We found 10 “someone” ‘s and now we send messages.
We don’t send them a weak heart or any of that kind of junk because men get so irritated. Because half my clients are men, they get so irritated with this.
Why are these women sending likes and hearts and no message?
That’s my constant battle with women.
Hey, you’re in your 40s, you’re not 90 when women had to wait to be pursued. We’re not living in our grandparents era, right? We’re equals. We can reach out to the men too.
The men totally appreciate when a woman sends a well crafted, interesting, short three sentence message.
The messaging is super important because you don’t want the: “Hi, how are you?” – or this is horrible. “Hi, you’re so good looking.” “Hi, you’re so beautiful.”
It was like, copy paste, they threw that out to the world, they sent that to everybody.
So now you’ve sent a message, hopefully he / she messages back.
#6 Schedule a date
The next thing is let’s get that date scheduled. This can all be done with just a couple texts on both people’s part:
“Okay, yeah, I’m totally interested. How’s Friday, at 5:30p at Bistro 110. Let’s meet for a glass of wine?
Because chemistry only takes place in real life.
Joe Winger:
In reality, do most dates get set up that quickly? It seems like there’s more delays and game-playing?
Andrea McGinty:
From the time you first send a message to someone, if the date has not been scheduled within five days of that initial text. There’s a 90% chance the date will never occur.
I’ll say to my client, “We’re going to go right for it right now.”
Write a couple of cute lines that are just for that person and then be like:
“You know what? I don’t really need to text you anymore or talk to you anymore because I’m ready to meet you. I’m super interested. How’s Friday night…?”
Sometimes you’ll get back a reply, what’s the rush?
I think to myself, what isn’t the rush here?
What do you want to talk about? Can’t you just get dressed?
We both live in Beverly Hills for goodness sakes. How long would it take us to get together and meet, right? We’re both in New York City. C’mon. Let’s do this in person.
If you’re getting those people that are drawing out the process, you either just cut bait. Just block them, goodbye, gone.
Or you say, you know what, if you don’t reply, you’re going to end up on my waiting list.
And you do it with a little humor, add an “LOL”
That can work too, where people crack up and they’re like, yes, I would love to meet you Saturday. Let’s grab lunch.
Joe Winger:
In today’s world of different levels of politically correct, cancel culture, different levels of sensitivity, regardless of whether you’re in a very conservative culture, progressive culture, etc.
How do we deal with any level of uncomfort when it comes to online dating?
Andrea McGinty:
First of all, you’re not in the workplace dating right now. Cause that’s where a lot of that happens, right?
This is where I say “Women, you’ve got a big advantage right now because you can feel very comfortable and free reaching out to men and get over that whole thing”.
Women wait to be pursued. There was this book that came out in the 90s: “The Rules.”
Wait to be pursued by the man and then don’t respond to him for three days. What the heck is that about?
No. Reach out to men.
Now for men, you’re not going to send stupid messages like, “Oh, you’re so gorgeous and sexy and blah, blah, blah”
Nobody wants that message.
You would find that offensive too.
As far as men reaching out to women, just do it in good taste.
Women are there to meet men. Creepy doesn’t happen very much online anymore. We’re out of that 2000 – 2010 era where more of that stuff happened.
There’s so many more hoops. Both parties jump through [hoops] on top notch dating sites now and dating apps now that verify that you are who you say you are and verify some information about you.
Joe Winger:
Most of the people watching this, they’re into food. That means fine dining. They’re into wine and cocktails and collecting wine.
What kind of a goal can they look for if they come to 33000Dates.com?
When they approach and connect with you, what should they be thinking about and preparing so they know how to best represent themselves in that first conversation with you?
Andrea McGinty:
Just be real with me and, people that are foodies and wine collectors, there’s a lot of us out there. There’s a lot of people out there that will find that very attractive.
There’s a lot of people that like to try different wine bars, they like to go up to Napa. Maybe that’s your third or fourth or eighth date,
Be real with what your interests are and… talking about food.
This goes back to when I’m writing your profile, when people just say, “Oh, I like Italian food.” I’m like no. Give me something here.
“I like carbonara with peppers and from Trattoria is amazing.”
It doesn’t have to be written in a snobby or snooty way, but it’s just like fun. Like you’re describing what you like to eat or your favorite foods or it could be talking about, you like this vintage of wine.
Be very specific with me because that’s how I can help you the most and be really upfront no, no PC woke stuff with me because this is your personal life.
Joe Winger
What are some realistic goals for your online dating experience?
Andrea McGinty:
We’ve got to make sure that we’re not listening to all the noise out there. We’re not listening to our negative friends about dating and friends and family can be two really negative forces because you get one of one of two things.
If it’s family, maybe a lot of them are married and they’re like, Oh, you’re good looking. You’re so awesome. You don’t need to do online dating. That is like for losers.
That is so not the story anymore.
You’ve got friends that are like, “Oh, I just tried Bumble. It was horrible”. “I did hinge. It was horrible.”
A lot of dating is going in with a good attitude. I’m not talking about rainbows and unicorns; and everything’s perfect or anything like that.
We spend a lot of our 20s and 30s becoming successful and working on our careers.
By the time we’re 40s, even 50s we’re there career-wise. So now, it’s time to focus on our love life.
That could be two very different pictures: it could be a second act because you’re divorced.
Or it could be you’ve been single and just all your efforts have been going into career and friends and travel and all this other stuff, good stuff you’ve got going on.
But you wake up one day and you’re like:
“Hey, I’m 45 and I’m single. What’s up with this?”
Go into online dating, approaching it the way you did your career. Strategically. It’s no fun to think about your love life, like strategically, hire somebody, think about how you play golf.
You didn’t just go out on the golf course. You took a bunch of lessons.
Everybody’s playing pickleball now. But you didn’t just go out on the court, even if you played tennis before. You took a couple clinics, right?
That very quickly threw you into the intermediate range all of a sudden because you put some effort into it.
Same with dating.
But if you want to do it effectively and pretty effortlessly, just like you did with golf, hire the pro to do this stuff for you.
My typical male client tells me I take 80% of the workload off him because he doesn’t have to think about it anymore.
I’m coming up and presenting ideas to him, presenting women to him and just getting them through. All of the hoops and the messaging and all that stuff. Getting them to the good dates because they’re out there.
There’s some markets, like Los Angeles and New York, that can be big complainers about dating. I think because they’re trying to do it on their own.
When I get online and go on the good sites in those two markets, there are so many good people on there.
It’s just a matter of having somebody doing a good portion of the work and pushing you.
And oh, here’s the other thing, accountability.
When you’re working with me, you have accountability because you’re going to talk to me next week. And I’m going to say:
“Okay, Tell me what happened to you last week.”
“How’d that date go?”
“Did you call back that other one that we talked about?“
I did text her after the date you said you were going to, what happened?
So that little push along the way and keeping you on track too.
Because we’re in a culture where, we’re educated, we’re taking great trips, we’re dining out. We’ve got a nice group of friends that we love to hang out with.
It can be really easy to sweep this all, to the wayside. There’s no reason because there’s a loneliness epidemic in the U.S. and we all know if you’re with somebody, that you really enjoy hanging out with you’re going to live longer and you’re gonna live happier too.
Right.
Joe Winger:
You’re offering great dating tips. Thank you.
Let’s say you’re someone who’s done the work on your protile, messaged all those people, asked for a date, and they’ve all disappeared.
What’s that person doing wrong?
Andrea McGinty:
You kinda gotta take responsibility for it. You’re doing something wrong.
Here’s the deal. You don’t know what you’re doing wrong.
But that’s stuff I can fix.
That’s another thing. You have to stay away from those free sites or sites that have free people on it because there’s no skin in the game there. They’re just dilly-dallying around, playing around on there and not really serious.
Part of it is recognizing the statistics that you’re going into up-front that for every 5 texts you send, 1 person is going to respond back.
I give my clients homework on a weekly basis, two sessions. That’s all I ask of them.
During those two 30 hour sessions they have to send out 8 messages. So I know by the time I’ve talked to them, they’re going to at least have gotten back 3 responses.
If their photos are really good, they might have 8 responses back.
If they haven’t already booked the date, craft the email, craft the text, craft the message that’s going to get that date in person. And get us there. Get us there.
Joe Winger:
Andrea McGinty from 33000Dates.com dating expert.
Any requests from the audience watching and listening?
Andrea McGinty:
I would just say, take a look around my site, maybe take the dating quiz that I have on the site. It’s fun. And it’s really fast. It’s 10 questions, and it goes right to me. It doesn’t go to any of my people. And. I can rate you and what you’re doing and tell you whether or not I can help you too.
So if you do take that quiz, give me as much info as you can. I don’t mean personal info, but like where you live, your age, but that’s all going to be on there. But take that quiz because that’s a good way to contact me and see if we might be a good fit and maybe I can help you if you really want to meet somebody.
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Is Vegas Pouring Somm-Approved Wine from a Can? – We Tasted with Kristin Olszewski from Nomadica Wines
Sommelier Businesswoman Kristin Olszewski brings Michelin quality to Canned Wines with Nomadica Wines
Nomadica offers sparkling, rose, white, red and orange options — both canned and bag in a box.
Nomadica Wines ‘s Owner Kristin Olszewski
Nomadica Wines are sourced from vineyards with responsible farming practices and winemakers who engage in low intervention wine making.
Wine-lovers can be 100% confident you’re drinking serious sommelier-approved wine.
Nomadica Wines ‘s Owner Kristin Olszewski; Source: instagram.com/nomadica
Today’s conversation with Sommelier / Businesswoman Kristin Olszewski from Nomadica Wines has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.
Joe Winger: We’re here today with Kristin Olszewski from Nomadica Wines.
What’s the most important message you want to share today with our audience?
Kristin Olszewski:
I think the biggest message that I want to get across is that everyone should be drinking more wine. That’s my mission in life to just bring consumers back to the wine category.
Source: instagram.com/nomadica
Joe Winger:
Outstanding. And how how are you trying to get that done?
Kristin Olszewski:
I’ll give a little context on my own history and how I came here.
My undergrad degree is in sustainable agriculture and I ended up dropping out of Harvard Medical School to become a sommelier – typical journey.
I just really fell in love with wine. I worked in restaurants to pay for school and wine was always the thing that captivated my interest.
Source: instagram.com/nomadica
I feel like it’s the intersection of history, agriculture and gastronomy. And then also there’s something so fun and communal and – you’re getting a little tipsy. It’s everything.
But I spent a decade-plus in Michelin restaurants all over the country, everywhere from three Michelin stars, Saison in San Francisco, Husk in Nashville, Osteria Mozza here in LA.
When Nancy Silverton was on a Netflix show called Chef’s Table, I started noticing a different customer coming into the restaurant. Usually as a sommelier, you’re talking to a very specific demographic of people. I would say 45 plus male white wine collector. That’s my demo. And when Nancy was on Chef’s Table, young people started coming into the restaurants, a lot of women, and I noticed they didn’t want to drink wine.
They would drink tequila, beer, cocktails, like anything but wine.
That always felt like such a missed opportunity because wine, it’s the most ancient beverage. Our people have drank wine for millennia. It’s also in an age where we care about what’s natural, what’s minimally processed, what’s better for you.
Great wine is literally just grapes, yeast, water, and time, so I started digging into why aren’t you drinking wine? And I found out a few things.
One, people felt like wine wasn’t a good value. If you weren’t going to spend a lot of money on wine, you couldn’t get a great wine, which is untrue.
The other one is people feel like they needed a PhD or some level of education or knowledge in order to access wine, which, again, is not true.
I want to be people’s guide, hold their hand and walk them into the world of wine. So I started Nomadica to do that on a larger level.
Source: instagram.com/nomadica
Joe Winger:
That’s beautiful.
You mentioned two things. We’re going to go into both. Your background in Michelin restaurants. I’ve heard heavenly amazing stories. I’ve heard horror stories.
Can you share an experience and what you learned from?
Kristin Olszewski:
Everyone always asks me if I watch The Bear or not. And I’m like, no, I can’t.
Some positive stories, Michelin restaurants have changed a lot from when I started working in them. I think work has changed a lot for the positive. I remember one of my first serious jobs in a scary restaurant. You have your hair pulled back because you don’t want it to get in the food.
I had one small piece of hair hanging down above my face and the chef takes a match from the stove, lights a piece of my hair and says don’t ever have a hair hanging down in your face again.
Some of the wonderful stories are having the opportunity, especially at Mozza, you taste each bottle you open there.
Source: instagram.com/nomadica
When I was at Mozza, it was a $5 million dollar all-Italian cellar with 90 pages of the best Barolo, Brunello, Etna Rosso’s, just things that like collector’s dream about tasting.
And I feel so lucky to have tasted things like Conterno Monfortino, which is the type of wine that you want to smell for three hours before you drink it.
When you have a wine like that, it makes you realize why collectors obsessively chase bottles, there’s something so romantic and intangible, and having a wine like that, you realize you’ll never have A wine that tastes the same at any moment in time ever again.
It’s just such a lucky experience.
Source: instagram.com/nomadica
Joe Winger:
I’m curious about how that experience inspired you to open Nomadica.
Kristin Olszewski:
My entry point into wine was always through farming. I majored in sustainable agriculture.
I was an avid farmer. I ran our community garden in college and was focused on permaculture. I lived in India and farmed for a while there.
Source: instagram.com/nomadica
And I always say great wine is made by great farmers, great wines made in the vineyard, not the cellar.
So when I was looking at starting Nomadica, that sustainability ethos, it was always my starting point, but I was really shocked when I found out how bad glass bottles are for the environment.
30% of glass is recycled in the US. The rest just goes into a landfill. It’s highly energy intensive to make, to ship, because it’s so heavy.
The fact is, most wine does not need to be in a glass bottle.
Yes, that Barolo I mentioned absolutely needs to be in a glass bottle. That needs to be aged for years before it even comes into its own.
But for a $20 – 30 bottle of wine that you’re going to pop open and drink it on a weeknight or on a not special weekend does not need to be in glass.
So that’s how we started.
Cans at 70 % reduction in carbon footprint. Our newly launched bag and box wine is almost a 90% reduction in carbon footprint.
Source: instagram.com/nomadica
Joe Winger:
I sampled your sparkling white, your white, your red and your rose, they were dangerously drinkable.
Can we talk about where the fruit is sourced from?
Kristin Olszewski:
Absolutely.
The name Nomadica is really a fun double entendre because you can take it wherever you want to go. Of course, cans and boxes can be found in places that bottles can’t.
We source our fruit from all over.
We’re truly a nomadic winery.
Our head winemaker spent time at some of the best wineries in California, like Eric Kent Cellars, which makes award winning Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and also Kosta Brown.
Before that he spent 10 years doing vineyard management in California. So through Corey, we’ve really got a handle on some of the best fruit. A lot of our wine comes from Mendocino. A lot of our grapes come from Mendocino or Lodi. I’m such a Sonoma girly. Our winery is located in Sonoma, and so I always find myself drawn back to that region.
Source: instagram.com/nomadica
Joe Winger:
Are there any vineyards you’d recommend us touring when we come to Northern California?
Kristin Olszewski:
I think the Sonoma Coast is the best wine region in California. They’ve fought very hard to become designated as their own AVA, which is very important in terms of quality.
The oceanic influence, what we call a diurnal shift, the extreme temperature change between night and day, like Hirsch and Littorai.
I think if anyone ever wants to see proof in the pudding of what great farming can do, you need to go see Littorai.
Ted Lemon was one of the first Americans to ever be a winemaker in Burgundy and he brought all of his practices back, was one of the first people to practice biodynamic agriculture in California and really brought that style of farming onto a larger scale.
When you go visit his vineyards, it’s like teeming with life. You look next door at a conventionally farmed plot, which is just like dead and sad looking. And then you taste the wines and you’re just knocked on your butt because they’re so good.
Source: instagram.com/nomadica
Joe Winger:
Nomadica Wines has several varieties. White, Sparkling white, Rose, Red, Orange.
Can you walk us through the taste profiles of any of your favorites – what’s the aromas, what are the profiles?
Kristin Olszewski:
Something really cool about our wines is everything’s practicing organic. No pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, all of our wines are fermented dry. Naturally zero grams of sugar per serving. They have nice fruit notes, but none of the wines are sweet.
Crushable bright flavor.
Across the gamut, our entire portfolio has a brightness and a freshness to it. All of our wines are like slightly aromatic because I love an aromatic variety, but part of the thought that we put behind the brand is that I wanted to take that sommelier curation and put it in the restaurant, on the retail shelf so that when you’re serving Nomadica at your home, at parties and the beach, 99% percent of people will love it.
I’m doing the work on the back end on blending, sourcing, creating these flavor profiles that’s really taking that wine experience, that decade plus of developing my own palette and giving it back to the consumer.
Source: instagram.com/nomadica
Joe Winger:
Are there any favorite wine and food pairings for you with your wines?
Kristin Olszewski:
I love an aperitif. Our sparkling rosé is definitely my favorite wine in our gamut. In a can you always have the perfect pour because sometimes you don’t want to open up an entire bottle of wine.
When we do that in my house, it usually gets drank. It doesn’t go back in the fridge.
Sometimes you just want a glass of sparkling. And I love that.
I love that with a charcuterie board and cheese. I also love Rose with green salads.
I think one of the best things about living where we live [Los Angeles] is we have the best produce on the planet.
I still run some wine programs in Los Angeles and I’m actually opening up a restaurant in Silver Lake next year, an Italian restaurant. Orange Wine is like the hottest trend.
I was doing the wine list at a restaurant in Hollywood called Gigi’s and I noticed I was selling more orange wine by the glass than all other colors combined, which was just mind blowing to me.
Source: instagram.com/nomadica
We made what I think is the best orange wine coming out of California.
There’s a lot of talk about natural wine, orange wine. They’re not all created equal. My winemaker and I tasted through my favorite Italian skin contact wines and decided on a really concrete flavor profile source.
My mother in law in Orange County is drinking her orange wine with her friends. So I really feel like I’ve achieved something. That with sushi is a mind blowing pairing.
Then our red. We found Teroldego growing in Northern California, which is a grape that’s indigenous to Northern Italy from the Alto Adige.
It’s really Alpine, like dark fruit, like a Zinfandel, but really refreshing and bright acidity and a little bit more tannin than a Zin [Zinfandel] has.
There’s a perception that we had to overcome about can and boxed wine. People think that it’s low quality.
Whenever I pour our red for somebody, the response is always, “Wow, oh my god, that’s so good.”
No matter your level of wine knowledge, you can see what I’m trying to do when you taste our red wines.
Source: instagram.com/nomadica
Joe Winger:
What’s next for you and Nomadica?
Kristin Olszewski:
Right now we’re in hardcore expansion mode. We were the first people to do fine wine and can, and I grew really slowly at my own pace.
I wanted to build the brand.
A lot of people just run to retail shelves and they want to be in every grocery store on the planet. I didn’t want that. I wanted to be, at the Four Seasons, at the Ritz Carlton, at music venues.
I wanted to be in places where people don’t typically expect to see wine in cans and boxes.
We are one of the highest velocity items at Whole Foods in our category.
We just launched all of our box wines at Total Wine in California, Texas, Florida, Colorado, and New York and got some really big plans for next year.
So keep your eyes peeled. People are about to see me everywhere.
That’s my goal.
Source: instagram.com/nomadica
Joe Winger:
Having a canned wine at some of these nicer hotels is a challenge.
What lesson did you learn by accomplishing that rather large challenge?
Kristin Olszewski:
That’s the best thing about how we’re positioned. Not only am I a sommelier, my VP of sales is a sommelier. My winemaker has an incredible reputation. Every person on my team comes from the wine industry and we have the best product.
When we’re sitting down and tasting with these buyers, these people that are in our industry. They recognize it. I always say taste out of a wine glass. Everything tastes better out of a wine glass. The second that they taste it, these are people who taste wine all the time and they taste a lot of bad wine.
So that has been amazing.
We’ve always had the industry behind us. It’s a huge differentiator for us. So I think it was slow build. Everything takes a lot more time than you think it will, which is I think the biggest lesson that I’ve taken away from this business over the last seven years.
But you got to build your brand first.
Joe Winger:
You seem like a deep-souled individual. Whether it’s wine or otherwise, is there an overall message that you want to share to inspire the audience?
Kristin Olszewski:
We are in a time where sustainability is more important than it ever has been. You can’t base your entire brand about it, but I think it’s an absolutely necessary component to any consumer product that’s coming out today.
One of my missions in life is to have that conversation about sustainability and have it with other brands because it needs to be convenient.
Otherwise, consumers will not buy it, care or participate or choose a sustainable option. That’s my big thing.
Joe Winger:
What are the best ways to follow your journey and to learn more about you?
Kristin Olszewski:
You can buy Nomadica online and our new rosé yuzu spritz, which is delicious at ExploreNomadica.com. And then our socials are at Nomadica on Instagram.
And if you want to follow me. I’m at Kristin__O.
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Henderson’s favorite Italian restaurant Gaetano’s Announces Sunday Brunch Starting January 14
Gaetano’s Announces Sunday Brunch Starting January 14
Co-Owners Nick and Sarah Palmeri are proud to announce for the first time ever, Henderson’s favorite Italian restaurant Gaetano’s will be adding Sunday Brunch service.
Starting January 14, 2024, Gaetano’s will be open for brunch every Sunday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. with a menu of Italian inspirations and American classics, bottomless options and creative twists.
“Brunch is very popular in Las Vegas and Henderson,
so we thought a long time about what we could offer that was a little different…”
says Nick Palmeri
“Brunch is very popular in Las Vegas and Henderson, so we thought a long time about what we could offer that was a little different,” says Nick Palmeri. “Our brunch will be comfortable and chill, lots of fun but definitely not a day club.”
Highlights from the Sunday Brunch menu include:
- Tricolore Bruschetta: fresh tomato garlic & basil, avocado, cannellini white bean & rosemary $12
- Marsala French Toast: panettone fruit bread, Marsala wine, powdered sugar, and bananas $20
- Eggs in Purgatory: two organic China Ranch eggs, shredded short ribs, grilled crostini $28
- Panini Mortadella: mortadella, stracciatella cheese, roasted red bell peppers, mixed greens, pesto aioli potato chips $18
- Roasted Red Pepper Carpaccio: stracciatella cheese, toasted walnuts, microgreens, grilled crostini $22
- Rigatoni Vodka with chicken or sausage $30
- 10 oz. Prime New York Steak with two organic China Ranch eggs, potatoes, grilled crostini $42
Several vegan options will also be offered. ‘Bottomless’ options, carafes of Aperol Spritz, Sangrias, cocktails, mocktails and wine will all be available.
Reservations are not required, but always recommended, and can be made at gaetanoslasvegas.com.
About Gaetano’s
Founded in Calabasas, CA, and located in Henderson, NV since 2002, Gaetano’s is a second-generation family-owned restaurant serving classic Italian recipes. Owners Nick and Sarah Palmeri offer a seasonal selection of house-made pastas and entrees in an elegant dining room with five-star service.The restaurant also features regular wine and whiskey dinners, a popular happy hour, and have recently added Sunday Brunch.
Gaetano’s
10271 S. Eastern Ave. #111 Henderson, NV 89052 | 702-361-1661
Facebook: @gaetanosristorante.lv | Instagram: @gaetanosristoranteSource: https://vegaspublicity.com/
