Before joining BevSpot, Trevor Bernatchez spent over 15 years in the world of restaurants and wine retail. After becoming a Certified Sommelier in 2015, Trevor was looking for new challenges for his career in the beverage industry. As BevSpot’s Sr. Manager of Customer Education, Trevor uses his years of experience and education to help others become more successful with their bars and restaurants.
I started working as a bar back when I was 16 years old. Sounds crazy to let a teenage kid handle booze and tap kegs I know, but in the great state of New Hampshire (Live Free or Die right?) it was totally legit. Needless to say, I had the best job out of anybody in my high school. I got to hang out at a bar with adults who were drinking, smoking, and telling jokes that no doubt went way over the head of any minor.
Being a young, shy, impressionable teen in that world could set somebody down the wrong path, but thankfully adults surrounded me who always pointed me in the right direction, and taught me a hell of a lot in the process. Not just about wine, beer, and booze, but some of the most important life lessons I’ve ever learned came while saddled up to that 20-seat bar at Charley’s Eating & Drinking Saloon (RIP).
The one thing that has stuck with me the longest is the main thing pushing me to create this blog series;
In other words, follow no clear pattern and be unpredictable.
Be wayward…
I kept that close to me over the next 15 years as I graduated from music school, went on tours with bands, moved to California, and moved back all while successfully working my way through the restaurant industry by forging my path and opinions.
By the time I passed my Certified Sommelier exam years later, it was clearly time for me to look for new challenges in my journey. Not that I took becoming a sommelier lightly. It is still one of the accomplishments that I am most proud of, but I saw what my future could look like if I allowed myself work for a program that would handcuff me from making my own choices.
So that brings us here to this blog series. I’ve definitely forged my own unique path, but now I’m a professional without a beverage program to call his own with years of experience, knowledge, and opinions to share with the world…The Wayward Somm.
My mission is this; to share with you my thoughts on anything and everything that has to do with the food & beverage industry…nothing is off the table. You may not always agree with what I have to say (and I won’t always be right), but that’s ok! Healthy, respectful dialogue is one of the best ways for us to learn about other people.
I’m looking forward to being your guide on this sometimes irreverent, but hopefully always entertaining, journey through my experiences in the world of hospitality. Along the way, I hope to help some of you learn to throw caution to the wind, and start to create your own unpredictable journey.
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