Summer associates at law firms and banks shouldn’t be intimidated by the high-end dining that’s an integral part of such programs, Dean Fuerth said on this week’s Drinks With The Deal.
“Don’t be scared to ask” about wine and beverages that may be unfamiliar, said Fuerth, the beverage director at the Nakazawa restaurants in New York, Washington and Los Angeles. “The whole experience is put together to be a show and for you to be a part of it, and that doesn’t mean sitting there silently. It’s the most fun when we’re having conversations with guests and touching the table a couple of times and starting to build relationships.”
Fuerth doesn’t make assumptions when he starts talking to a guest at Nakazawa, a sushi omakase restaurant. “I’ve had people walk into the restaurant in sweatpants and a T-shirt and spend $10,000 on Burgundy and sake,” he says.
Fuerth started working in restaurants in 2008, and, he said, “The pace and the energy were really attractive to me.” A stint early in his career at New York’s Bar Boulud turned him on to wine, and in 2017 he joined Nakazawa, where he had to immerse himself in the world of sake.
Fuerth traveled to Japan for the first time in January and toured 12 sake breweries on his three-week trip. “I experienced incredible hospitality and a fascinating level of precision in making these beverages and the level of passion and dedication it takes to pull it off year in and year out,” he said.
Listen to the podcast with Dean Fuerth below:
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