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DC Summer Restaurant Week 2022: Local winemaker helps promote women led businesses
Amid Summer Restaurant Week in D.C., wine lovers are getting a new experience thanks to a new list that highlights the talented woman sommeliers across the District. FOX 5's Katie Barlow reports.
WASHINGTON - It's Summer Restaurant Week in D.C. right now, and this year, wine lovers are getting a new experience thanks to a new list that highlights the talented woman sommeliers across the District.
Angie Duran, the operations director at Bottle Wine Garden in D.C., recently decided to take matters into her own hands after learning that a well-known food critic couldn't list a single woman sommelier, or wine professional, in D.C.
Turns out there are over 100 women winemakers, shop owners, sommeliers, and restaurant managers in the DMV. So to get the word out, Angie teamed up with D.C. foodie and consultant Tammy Gordon to create a list showing off all these amazing women.
"I saw it on Instagram and we know each other a little bit so I reached out to her and said why don't we make a list. So anyone who gets asked that question moving forward will never not know how many talented women somms and wine educators there are in D.C.," Gordon tells FOX 5. "It's still a Google Doc right now. but we're talking about next steps and that might mean the women on the list come together and talk through what comes next, right? Is that events? Is that education? Is that growing and scaling it? I hope so."
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Highlighting women led businesses during D.C. Summer Restaurant Week 2022
Summer Restaurant Week is happening in D.C. right now, so to give wine lovers a new experience this year, two local women put together a list that highlights the talented woman sommeliers across the District. FOX 5's Katie Barlow reports.
Becoming a professional sommelier is no easy feat. First, it's expensive. Duran said it cost thousands of dollars just to take the program and get the materials. And if the cost isn't too much, it takes hours of study and exams, tasting, and learning about every facet of wine production to become a sommelier.
The list Duran and Gordon created now reflects all of that hard work from women right here in our backyard, and helps connect them to people in the community.
"We just want all the connections made with everybody especially women that are working in restaurants. It's really hard for us to be able to connect with each other on a day-to-day basis because you know we might work a lot and have out personal lives but hopefully through the list if there's someone on the list you really admire you can reach out to them now," Duran said to FOX 5.
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If you want to check out the list as you pick your next D.C. Restaurant Week destination click here.
Restaurant Week in D.C. runs through August 21. Click here to learn more about the participating restaurants.