Taking its place at Hone is Sacrament GVL.

The new pop-up has become well known for its matcha and flash – a style of cold brew invented in Japan – as it has not had an espresso machine since it got started in March.

On May 19, the budding coffee shop announced it has acquired an espresso machine, dropping a new menu May 20. Side note: Sacrament doesn’t up-charge for oat milk, seeing the selection as a necessity rather than a choice. What sweethearts!

Bite-sized bits:

• A new coffee shop will soon enter Greenville, Kind Cafe. It has a sister restaurant in Fairhope, Alabama.
• Potluck GVL will host a unique pop-up dinner at the Spartanburg Art Museum. The dinner – entitled Kiln to Kitchen – will be split into two parts on June 7 and June 26. On June 7, guests will get to make three pieces of their own plate ware in a ceramics class led by a local instructor. On June 26, Potluck will host a coursed-out dinner during which guests can use the plates they made and take them home. Tickets are available at dinepotluck.com.

In case you missed it:

• There is now a local Hawaiian plate lunch food truck, Simply Aloha. The truck is owned by Rebekah Ball, who hails from Makakilo, Hawaii on O’ahu. Ball opened the truck because she missed food from home. The truck serves items like chicken katsu, fried rice, loco moco (hamburger patty with gravy, mac salad and rice). Ball is of Korean descent and adds homemade kimchi to her plate lunch. Although not normally an addition to the plate in Hawaii, it is a tasty ode to her heritage.
• Did you hear there is a new speakeasy in downtown Greenville? Juhl & Co. opened March 31, bringing painstakingly classic cocktails to the space above Rey’s. The speakeasy was originally Rey’s Jeweler’s and the decor pays homage to the Art Deco era. Guests need a code to enter so be on the lookout.

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The episode features the remaining six chefs starting at Topsoil in Travelers Rest for their Elimination Challenge. It drew on the city’s growing reputation for biking along the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail in tandem with the fact that Michelin North America is headquartered right here in our fair county.

The challenge was set up Michelin Guide-style with mystery judges dining in as regular guests. I was a mystery judge. The challenge item was rabbit and the chefs prepared their dishes in an outdoor kitchen set up at Topsoil.

Here’s the thing: I don’t watch “Top Chef.” In fact, the only culinary shows I ever watched were “No Reservations,” “Parts Unknown,” “Good Eats with Alton Brown” and Claire Saffitz’ “Gourmet Makes” on YouTube.

I couldn’t really follow the competition but I’m good at taking direction given a brief stint in a film career. I understand restaurants due to a decade-long tenure serving.

Given the abundance of brilliant food writers in this city – some of whom are chefs – I was shocked to get a call from an unknown number Sept. 19, the first day of euphoria 2025. Euphoria, Greenville’s showcase food and wine festival, is my own personal Super Bowl involving round-the-clock weekend “work days.”

I was coming out of a lunch at The Vista when I got the call inviting me to the taping of Episode 11 of Top Chef at Unity Park on Sunday but also to be a mystery judge at Topsoil the following day.

I headed to Travelers Rest on Monday. There’s a phrase in the entertainment business that goes “hurry up and wait,” meaning that if you’re on early then you’re merely on time but you’ll still spend a good chunk of that time waiting before you’re on camera which is cool because it allows you to watch the process.

The morning was spent observing the chefs in the kitchen set up outside Topsoil to guess at what they may be creating on monitors in a sort of video village. I was placed back with the other diners shortly before filming began and mic’d up as we were all ushered into Topsoil. My husband, Daniel, came with me so we just appeared to be two diners.

We were served a glass of wine before all six rabbit dishes were places in front us each with their own flairs: a rabbit loin with pea stew, roasted rabbit legs with carrot-ginger puree, rabbit croquette with tenderloin, mushrooms and leek sauce, rabbit roulade, rabbit siu mai and jerk rabbit with mofongo.

My father’s family are Latin American immigrants who moved to the tiny urban suburb of Passaic, New Jersey. When I think of my childhood, it was sprinkled with dishes like Puerto Rican-style chicharron or Peruvian cau cau. They’re the working-class comfort meals that remind us no matter how far we are, home can be right here in your kitchen.

Chef Sherry Cardoso was raised in New York City and Brazil. She executed her dish with the warmth and familiarity of those comfort meals. It’s pretty clear what my favorite was and which I rated most highly. Congratulations Chef Cardoso.

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Owner Nate Warner dreamed up the shop last year, taking over the former Cosmic Rabbits Tea Company near Fireforge Brewing. He has been popping up around the Upstate bringing his classic, European-style concept to spots like Hone and Community Tap.

He brought on Bake Room alum Skyler Cook, who has a flair for croissant-style dough.

“We’re still going to have some of the staples that we had at our pop-ups with like the focaccia, the buttermilk biscuits, and then the fan-favorites like chocolate chip cookies,” Warner said.

“I personally think that the underdog item that we do serve as the cardamom buns that she makes,” he dishes. His favorite latte is “The Hermit’s Cup,” an orange and five-spice latte.

Nine of Cups – so named for the tarot card – will deliver a light and dark motif with rich burgundy and malted milk shades. The walls will be adorned with an Alfred Hitchcock “The Birds” poster and custom-made Death card.

The hope is that the space has its own sense of place that’s easy to connect with. Warner aims to have the cafe open May 26.

***

Remember Lucy Anne’s? The cross-culture concept that brings Upstate NY to Upstate SC by fusing elements of Southern cuisine with Italian fare? Owner Michael Rednak has been popping up in places like Hone or Augusta Street Market but will soon have a permanent home in Spartanburg.

Rednak made the announcement on social media March 23. The “modern take on your grandma’s kitchen” restaurant had a residency in West Greenville incubator, Hone, until May 17. The residency ended with a passing of the torch final culminating in a Sunday supper with the next concept to fill the spot, Pasta Guru, owned by Troy Arnold.

Lucy Anne’s will be located at 148 W. Main St. in Spartanburg. An opening date has not been given but we’ll anxiously await Chef Michael’s arancini and pasta.

Bite sized bit:

• Tropical Smoothie will soon come to 101 Verdae Blvd. in Greenville. The smoothie franchise will join spots like Greenfield in Aston’s Verdae Village. Aston Properties is a Charlotte-based developer and majority shareholder in The Commons.

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Titled “Down the Rabbit Hole,” the episode aired May 18 and brought the six remaining chefs to compete in a challenge at Unity Park in Greenville and Topsoil, a restaurant in Travelers Rest.

The Quickfire Challenge, which took place in Unity Park, required the chefs to compete against each other to create a dish using peaches and ingredients purchased at Swamp Rabbit Café and Grocery. Each chef was given 30 minutes to cook, and in the middle of the challenge, they had to move to the station to the right and put their own spin on the dish that their competitor was creating.

This challenge was judged by Keith Habersberger and Rachel Ann Cole of The Try Guys, an online entertainment group.

Held at Topsoil, the chefs were asked to pay homage to the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail and Michelin by creating a dish using rabbit for the Elimination Challenge.

Their plates were served to the judges and a dining room full of people, including Brent Bookwalter, a retired professional cyclist, and five secret diners, who also scored each plate.

The challenge was judged by Adam Cooke, executive chef of Topsoil, and Niki Nakayama, Michelin-star chef and owner of n/naka, as well as host Kristen Kish and judge Gail Simmons.

Anthony Jones of Alexandria, Virginia, was eliminated at the end of the episode, while Rhoda Magbitang of Mauna Lani, Hawaii, won the Quickfire Challenge and Sherry Cardoso of Brooklyn, New York, was the victor in the Elimination Challenge.

“Top Chef” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on Bravo, with episodes available on Peacock starting on Tuesdays. Season 23 of the show is based in Charlotte, North Carolina with visits to Greenville for several episodes.

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“The Soil Remembers” is now nominated for a James Beard Commercial Media award, involving Montgomery in two potential wins.

The documentary details Montgomery’s 2024 experience committing full-time to a regenerative farm and dining business northwest of Asheville, North Carolina. It examines the transition from employee to businessman and the apprehension that comes with starting an enterprise. Just as Montgomery began to get his bearings as an entrepreneur, Hurricane Helene hit the Upstate and Western North Carolina. Montgomery and his wife Fran pivoted, helping to feed the devastated community.

Oshiro, owner of Undercurrent Film Co., won Greenville’s first James Beard media award in 2024 for his film “Great Wall,” following the story of Khailing Neoh and the opening of downtown’s Sum Bar.

“At its core, this film is about people choosing to care deeply for something bigger than themselves,” Oshiro said about his film in a written statement. “Taylor and Fran have built a life centered around the land, their community and service to others. I think that resonates deeply, especially in the world we’re living in right now.”

The city of Greenville has drawn immense attention in the past 12 months – featuring on Bravo’s Top Chef cooking show, and earning its first Michelin Star and guide recommendations. Now it is up for a second or even third James Beard Award win.

***

Bite-sized bits:

• It looks like the Greer location for The Slice is getting closer to opening. The Simpsonville-based pizzeria posted on social media in mid-April that it was hiring front-of-house positions.

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The hotel and its attendant restaurant have a new chef on the line: Curtis “Chef Bear” Hillard.

Hillard is a Pinehurst Resort alum, which is known less for its accommodations and more for its reputation as the “Cradle of American Golf.” In a similar way, Hilliard’s career as a chef is occasionally shadowed by his role as as a James Beard Foundation member and support for the Bocuse d’Or competition – an Olympics-style cooking competition in France. His presence in these arenas displays a deep commitment to innovation and merit.

So what does this all mean for Patterson?

One of the items Hillard is most excited about is wild mushroom bruschetta. The dish is served on a thick crostini with whipped ricotta. The mushrooms are sautéed with salt and cracked pepper and topped with herb vinaigrette arugula, pecorino Romano and a hint of truffle oil.

“It’s a little over the top, layered, but still grounded in something simple – and that balance is probably the best reflection of my personality on the menu,” he said in response to an emailed question.

One of the questions I asked Hillard was: “Which of the new dishes are most indicative of your personality or upbringing and why?”

He replied: “I don’t usually design menus thinking about myself directly, but there are definitely elements that come through,” he said. Instead, he explained that his childhood in the Midwest wasn’t over-complicated. Meat and potatoes were a staple and he was exposed to other cultures’ cuisine through his friends. With that in mind, he explained that roasted chicken was most reflective of his meals at home.

“When you look at chefs like Julia Child, Jacques Pépin, and Thomas Keller, they show you that something as simple as a roasted chicken can still be one of the most refined and technically demanding dishes if you do it right. That idea has always stayed with me.”

Finally, for a dish that most mirrors the chef’s values, he chose the arancini croquettes which utilizes Carolina Gold rice in place of arborio with pimento cheese. The “fried rice balls” are complimented by macerated green strawberries in pepper jelly and finished with elements of sorghum, red vein sorrel, microgreens and white balsamic vinaigrette with lime.

“It hits everything I care about – using local product, respecting tradition, and applying technique in a way that elevates the dish without losing what it is.”

Bite-sized bits

• CAMP, Modern American Eatery announced on social media it would introduce a private dining component with the added venue under construction. A launch date was not given but the new digs did look spiffy.

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The chicken had been simmered in broth with soy sauce and fresh ginger, chilled, then deep fried. Chef and owner Conner Hinderks came by our table, and I asked him about the chicken’s coating. Was it rice flour with a little corn starch?

“Nope. Just corn starch. I wanted to be reminiscent of Chinese takeout chicken.”

“The kind served in the white box? With those sticky sweet sauces?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

Hinderks moved to another table and I looked at my wife and laughed: “What other chef in our town is serving such amazing dishes influenced by cheap fast food?”

Conner fills up his (kind of) small plates with more punchy, bright flavors courtesy of a love for Far East spices, a technique our town hasn’t experienced since the dearly departed Mekong. Now that he and his better half Christina have settled into the space at 1112 Woodside Ave. – formerly home to Comal 864 – we Greenvillians need not have to consult the ‘gram to find them.

Conner’s home runs like his Szechuan steak, manchego and mushroom dumplings, ramp and crayfish pasta and those gloriously sticky ribs tossed in nuoc cham sauce and finished with cilantro and fried garlic all keep regular hours now. Judging by the jammed parking lot, they are secret no more. When the restaurant settled down, I asked Conner what was the most important lesson he learned from opening a brick-and-mortar location.

“The amount of tiny things that one has to manage,” he said. “So many times we had an issue crop up and I just wanted to throw ten thousand dollars at it. But that was money we didn’t have so we had to be plumbers, audio techs, jacks of all trades. We didn’t want a bunch of investors so we did a lot on the cheap. In fact while getting open our motto was we won’t buy the cheapest thing, but we will buy the second cheapest. And our community of friends really came around and made it all work.”

Conner pointed out a banquette style bench that was built by a retired master carpenter, a friend of a friend that offered up their services, gratis.

“What about your next restaurant?” I asked. “Have y’all thought about that?”

“Oh sure. Christina and I have those conversations often. I had two grandmothers and both lived into their 90s. One kept busy, always learning, always doing new things and she had a much more vibrant life than the one that just sat at home. So we plan on working and cooking and doing until we can’t.”

Little Secret, at 1112 Woodside Ave., serves dinner Thursday through Monday.

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Around 250 people attended the culinary event held at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in downtown Greenville. Guests enjoyed 16 dishes cooked by more than two dozen chefs. 

Thirteen chefs competed for six coveted awards during the event’s culinary competition. A new Traditions with a Twist Award was created for the chef who successfully added a unique twist to a traditional family recipe. 

This year’s winners by category include:

• Traditions with a Twist Award: Deborah Bouts of Sun Belly Cafe
• Best Sweet Dish Award: Tania Cienfuegos Harris of Azucar Skull 
• Best Savory Dish Award: Brandon Hobbs of Bon Appétit Management Co. at Furman University
• Best Tablescape Award: Deborah Bouts with Sun Belly Cafe
• People’s Choice Award: Eugena Talley of The Herbal Farmercy 
• John DeJong Award for Overall Culinary Excellence: Tania Cienfuegos Harris of Azucar Skull 

All proceeds from Taste of the Upstate will support Loaves & Fishes’ mission to reduce food insecurity in the local community. For more information, visit werescuefood.org.

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Titled “The Ultimate Dinner Party,” the episode aired May 4 and brought the eight remaining chefs to compete in two challenges at Soby’s, which is located on South Main Street.

The Quickfire Challenge required the chefs to compete against each other to create an appetizer using Duke’s Mayo, while the participants had to work together as a team to craft individual dishes for the Elimination Challenge’s eight-course meal. Duke’s Mayo was created in Greenville and is still produced in Greenville County.

The challenges were attended by various guests, including Carl Sobocinski, founder and president of Table 301 Restaurant Group; Babette Jones, CEO and founder of Six Nineteen of 1865; Khailing Neoh, owner of Sum Bar; Carrie Morey, founder and owner of Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit; Tarcy Harger, pastry chef at Soby’s; Joe Cash, chef and owner of Scoundrel and Jorge Barrales Jr., co-owner of Papi’s Tacos.

Sobocinski also served as guest judge alongside of fellow guest judge Shuai Wang, a South Carolina local and “Top Chef” season 22 finalist, as well as host Kristen Kish and judge Gail Simmons.

“It was a huge honor to represent Greenville and Soby’s on this season’s ‘Top Chef’ episode filmed here at Soby’s,” said Sobocinski. “There were times that I was nervous and times that I was simply in awe of not only the chef participants but also the judges and entire production crew. I had no idea what went into filming an episode of the show and was simply blown away at all the production. Having finally viewed the episode I couldn’t be more happy and proud of our city for how amazing it looks on ‘Top Chef.’”

Oscar Diaz of Durham, North Carolina was eliminated at the end of the episode, while Anthony Jones of Alexandria, Virginia, won the Quickfire Challenge and Laurence Louie of Quincy, Massachusetts, was the victor in the Elimination Challenge.

“Top Chef” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on Bravo with episodes available on Peacock starting on Tuesdays. Season 23 of the show is based in Charlotte, North Carolina with visits to Greenville for several episodes.

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“We will be keeping (404 Cedar Lane Road) for production. The new space is just not going to be able to handle both sides of the business,” said owner Christina Barest.

Barest said the plan is to have the new-and-improved West Greenville location up and running by August but it may look a little different than we originally thought.

In January 2024, the plan was to expand the offerings by adding a wine bar but ultimately functioning as more of a pre-dinner stop. That has changed with the hire of chef Chris Mydosh. Mydosh was former executive chef of now-shuttered Foxcroft Food & Wine in downtown Greenville.

Bringing Mydosh in as part of the team will give the pasta shop a bit of restaurant flavor. The front of the space will have a banquette on one side, a market area and tables in the middle, and  fridges and freezers on the opposite side from the banquette. Just behind the market will be a bar, allowing guests to see into the open-air kitchen.

Mydosh said the team hopes to utilize pasta in versatile or unexpected ways.

“What’s the buzzwords these days? ‘Approachable, friendly, light, fun?'” Mydosh said.

“[It’s] just a real good environment to work in, so a representation of that and what they’ve what they’ve cultivated over the eight years of owning the spot.”

Bite-sized bits:

• Speaking of Mydosh, he will co-host a pop-up dinner with a former employee from his Foxcroft days, Potluck GVL owner Jimmy Ngyuen. The five-course meal will take place May 13 at Hone, located at 12 Lois Ave in the village of West Greenville. Tickets can be purchased at dinepotluck.com/upcomingevents.
• Three local breweries took home gold medals in the Brewer’s Association World Beer Cup April 22: Wild Yarrow Brewing won for “Fables Overturned,” a German-style schwarzbier. Liability Brewing Co. won with “Feral Garden Gnome,” a Belgian-style blonde. The Southern Growl won with “Quad Bless Your Heart,” a Belgian-style quadrupel.
• Hotel Hartness Patterson Kitchen + Bar has a new chef, Curtis “Chef Bear’ Hillard. More to come on this next week.

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Allow me to reintroduce the concept: This is the Weekly Dish, here to deliver food news and experiences. We took a brief hiatus but recognizing the people of the Upstate may be missing bite-sized food knowledge and sip happenings, we thought it was high time to return.

We’re sliding in right on time to bring you a recap of euphoria SpringFest event, Forever 21, hosted at Society Sandwich Bar & Social Club in downtown Greenville April 17. The event was 21st birthday-themed in honor of euphoria’s 21 years in existence. With that, the team at Society shook up nostalgic cocktails that harkened the days of masking liquor – sweet and mawkish.

Stephen Phillips, Oscar Chena and Society chef and co-owner Chris Rosensteel, divided the evocative meal into four courses each paired with a cocktail.

The Neon Nights stood out for its incredible commitment to balance.

It’s no secret we love ramen for its complexity. Ramen exists to us in a window of contradictions – as sentimental as mom’s bone broth on a sick day, as complicated as its tares and aromatic oils rendering it a standalone soup.

It’s also no secret that Rosensteel has managed to carve out space for himself that honors traditional ramen’s complexity and his own upbringing thousands of miles away from Japan – making Society’s ramen perfectly creative without pretentiousness nor pining for its origin.

Neon Nights featured coconut matcha ramen with duck breast, chili crisp, and glazed carrots topped with furikake and bulls blood beet. Despite the earthiness of furikake, matcha and bulls blood, what really came through was succulent duck breast that wandered just a hair past richness but was balanced by a whiskey-forward cocktail “What’s my age again?” – a nod to a popular Blink-182 song.

As the song goes, “nobody likes you when you’re 23.” Luckily, euphoria is still two years and oodles of noodles away from it.

Bite sized bits:

• The Rabbit Hole in West Greenville is now serving pasta Thursday nights. Each night will feature a different pasta dreamt up by chef Victoria Pessolano.
• Rise Bakery, also in West Greenville, will now serve Roman-style pizza every first Friday.
• “The Soil Remembers,” a film by James Beard Award winner Rioin Oshiro about James Beard Best Chef southeast finalist and Urban Wren alum Taylor Montgomery, will premier at Camelot Cinemas May 3 then play again at Zen Greenville June 5. The June 5 showing will come with a five-course dinner designed by Montgomery. Tickets for the film premier can be purchased on Eventbrite. Tickets for dinner and the show can be purchased at montgomeryskyfarm.myshopify.com.

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Approved with conditions: Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers

Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers applied for a special-exception permit for its future restaurant on Woodruff Road. The fast-food chicken restaurant requested permission to operate its new location after midnight. 

The board conditionally approved the application, which will allow the restaurant to operate from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m., seven days a week.

The new Greenville restaurant would feature both indoor and outdoor dining seating, as well as a two-lane drive-thru. City staff initially recommended the restaurant close the outdoor dining area after midnight, but the board approved the late night outdoor dining operation at the request of the applicant.

The tentative address for the new Raising Cane’s location is 1136 Woodruff Road, directly in front of The Point shopping center and across from The Shops at Greenridge. 

The property fronting Woodruff Road is proposed to be subdivide into two parcels in the future. Raising Cane’s would sit at the corner of Carolina Point Parkway and Woodruff Road. The other lot abutting Market Point Drive is planned to be occupied by a new Bank of America location. 

Read more about Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers

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The 21st annual food and wine festival, presented by Lexus, will take place from Sept. 17 to 20. Eighty-nine events will be held throughout the four-day festival. Executive Director Morgan Allen said this year’s festival reflects just how far Greenville’s culinary and cultural scene has come. 

Related: Euphoria Greenville’s Spring Fest is set for April 16-19.

“From Michelin-recognized talent to emerging voices, we’re creating moments that bring people together in meaningful ways and continue to put our community on the culinary map,” Allen said. 

The 2026 lineup for euphoria was unveiled on April 8. This year’s schedule features a variety of culinary tastings, interactive classrooms, cooking demonstrations, wine seminars and multi-course dinners cooked by Michelin-recognized chefs.

Euphoria’s signature events include:

• Songwriter’s Recipe: A culinary concert hosted at the South Carolina Children’s Theatre on Sept. 17 with performances by Tim Nichols, James Slater and Wendell Mobley
• Aged to Perfection: A signature event featuring street food, craft cocktails and performances by Randomonium on Sept. 17 at the Events at Judson Mill. 
• Party in the Park:  A culinary event at Fluor Field on Sept. 18 with bites, beverages and live music from Wim Tapley & The Cannons and Ripe. 
• Sunday Supper: The festival’s grand finale dinner hosted at The Barn at Sitton Hill Farm on Sept. 20. 

Feast by the Field, euphoria’s largest event, will be held at Fluor Field in Greenville’s West End on Sept. 19 and 20. Discounted tickets will be available for Upstate residents for Sunday’s Jazz Brunch Edition of Feast by the Field. 

Proceeds from euphoria are donated to charitable organizations across Upstate South Carolina each year. The festival distributed $105,000 among seven nonprofit partners during a Community Kickoff Concert on April 8 at Camperdown Plaza. This year’s grant recipients include À la Heart GVL, HONE, Southern Smoke Foundation, Feed & Seed, Walt’s Waltz, Greenville Tech, Foundation and Pendleton Place.

Tickets for euphoria will go on sale at 10 a.m. on April 16. For the full list of the festival’s 2026 events, visit euphoriagreenville.com/schedule.

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A decent bottle of wine isn’t something to fear, either. Some countries have rules about the story a wine’s label should tell, and some do not. Some wines are made from grapes that happen to grow in more famous dirt than the same grape on the other side of the road. It’s not so much complicated as it is amusing. No one in Greenville knows this better than Liz Dowty Mitchell, owner of Camino Wine Merchant.

Open a year now, Camino is a welcome addition to our town’s blossoming culinary hub in the Overbrook area.

I recently met Bruce Wise, wine director of The Anchorage, at Camino. Liz offered us a glass of a recent acquisition, an “orange” wine from Slovenia. This style of wine isn’t made with actual oranges but rather it receives its Tropicana-style hue from extended contact with the grape’s skin. Liz informed us that Slovenia and its surrounding area is the ancestral home of orange wines.

I had only recently even heard of orange wine and wasn’t sure what to make of it but Liz offered up their history and appeal in just a few minutes, without consulting her phone. Bruce nodded approvingly as she did so. Liz received a phone call and excused herself briefly, and Bruce mentioned that Liz has an amazing knowledge of wine and holds multiple awards and certifications in wine. But don’t let any of that scare you away because Liz is charming and open to helping those with only a cursory interest in wine find something new and delicious, even though wine wasn’t her first love.

“I spent a lot of time in New Orleans, working in hospitality, and my dream was to open a restaurant,” she said. “I left New Orleans after Katrina for Southern California and while there I was introduced to the business of wine. Import, export, shipping, sales and so on, the whole business of wine, and realized this was where I fit in. This would be my future.”

When I was buying wine for my own restaurant, I loved a bottle of wine that came with a memorable story as that made it easier to sell. Liz agreed.

“A lot of what I do now is storytelling because a great bottle of wine should come with a great story. And much of this business is educational, for me and my customer.”

When you stop in at Camino, ask Liz to pour you a glass of something with a great story then admire her ability to make your glass of wine something much bigger than six ounces of fermented grape juice.

Camino Wine Merchant, at 1622 East North Street, is open Monday through Saturday. For more information, visit caminowinemerchant.com.

“City Juice” is a colloquial term for a glass of tap water served at a diner. John Malik is a restaurant and hospitality consultant. He can be reached at chefjohnmalik@gmail.com.

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