Langbaan, Multnomah Whiskey Library, Dai Due 2024 A Year To Cheer
This year I saw people that I am proud to know and places I am proud to have been a part of achieve remarkable accolades.
Langbaan, winning the 2024 national title of Outstanding Restaurant for James Beard Foundation was thrilling to see. I worked there just shy of 2 years as their wine director. If you only could see just how much work and detail Earl and his crew put forth each and every day, you would understand just how elated the team is in earning this well-deserved and highly coveted award. I met Earl Ninsom in 2011 when I worked at Biwa, just before he opened Paadee. I was surprised when he asked me to do the wine program at Langbaan in 2016. In retrospect as a Portland wine director for hire, I carved out a niche for working with Asian restaurants. I didn’t plan it that way, but ended up curating the programs for Biwa, Noranecko, Luc Lac, Paadee and Langbaan. I learned so much back then.
The next establishment, Multnomah Whiskey Library, achieving Top 4 Finalist World’s Best Spirits Selection presented by Tales of the Cocktail Foundation was another accomplishment I massively cheered. This was the third time they made the Top 4 in this category, the first time being in 2015. What’s remarkable is this 10 years span between the first Top 4 nod and 2024’s achievement, which shows their unwavering commitment. My journey began at MWL in 2013 when it first opened. I was honored that the founders, Greg Goodman and Alan Davis brought me on. I’m sure I contributed to the program, but I feel I got more than I gave, acquiring more knowledge in such a short span of time. As far as the owners go, Greg and Alan were by far the best I have ever worked for in my career. I had all the tools I needed to succeed, and I have many fond memories. That opening team, yikes! So much talent. After opening Shift Drinks, guests would ask me how I liked it at MWL. I’d always reply, “I’d still be working there, if the opportunity to open my own place didn’t come up.”
Jesse Griffiths and Dai Due, being awarded the Michelin Green Star is the most recent good news I enjoyed reading. I’ve known Jesse Griffiths since we were both in our twenties. We worked together at Tocai. He was just starting out, was already quite talented and incredibly cerebral, like off the charts smart. Later in Austin when Anne and I were newly married we enjoyed going to his dinners when Dai Due was a supper club. The last time I was in ATX, 2015, I got to visit Dai Due in its brick & mortar state. I was really happy Jesse was onsite and got to get the tour. The food was ridiculously delicious. I walked away from that experience thinking Dai Due had out-Portlanded Portland with its sustainable, hyperlocal focus. Jesse and team totally deserve this recognition.
I’ve been on so many talented teams in my career. I can say with the utmost conviction that the best part of the job is the team. Working together, gaining experience, honing skills, sharing stress to rise above chaos and have each other’s backs. Yet as great teams go, they are transient. It seems that our lives intersect for brief moments as our careers and ambitions take us in different directions. What remains are the memories and any skills you may have picked up while working together. It’s an added bonus when you see your former coworkers get the acknowledgement they’ve worked so hard to achieve. Above, top left - Chef Jesse Griffiths & me at Dai Due; top right - Earl Ninsom & me at Shift Drinks; bottom - At Multnomah Whiskey Library, three of my most favorite people I ever had the pleasure to work with, Alise Moffatt [jiggering], who would later become our business partner at Shift Drinks; Jordan Felix [in apron], now killing it as on-premise portfolio manager for Suntory and Jason Carlisle [in vest]. Rest In Peace Jason, you truly were "A+"
