New Times' Best of Miami 2013 issue arrives June 13. To celebrate, Short Order is serving up our top 30 tastemakers in the 305. These are the people who we think have helped shape the Miami food scene into what it is today. We begin with number 30 and lead up to the county's number one. A Q&A session will be included in each post.
As beverage director at 50 Eggs Inc., Allegra Angelo is in charge of the three wine and spirits programs at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar, Khong River House, and Swine Southern Table & Bar. But she wasn't always obsessed with wine and bourbon.
While pursuing a degree in biological anthropology at Atlanta's Emory University, her tastes tended toward boxed white Zinfandel, but after graduation, she enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in the Hudson Valley, where she cultivated a nose for wine. After arriving in Miami, she was hired as a server at Michy's and was soon promoted to sommelier. She was then offered the position of beverage director at Yardbird, where she learned about spirits, particularly bourbons. Next came the opening of Khong, which has a large collection of gin and absinthe. Shortly thereafter, Swine (and it's rye-based cocktails) was born.
The most influential person in my career has been...
My dad.
When I'm alone and in need of comfort (and no one is there to watch or judge), the one food or drink I turn to is...
A margarita, up, without salt, and lots of lime.
What does Miami need more of?
Indoor swimming pools.
You get to vote one food or beverage trend off the island forever. What is it?
Beet salads and orange wines.
You have unlimited funds to open a restaurant or bar. What's the name, and what do you serve?
It would be called Bar Theo, and
I would serve only offals: liver, kidneys, sweetbreads, brain, tripe, tongue, and snout. I wouldn't have a wine list, but I would have 5,000 wines from all around the world. I would have 1,000 spirits, 500 cordials/liqueurs/digestifs, and 500 fortified wines. I wouldn't have a cocktail list, and I would age cocktails in ancient amphorae.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Owning a small 1930s Miami house with a backyard, a patio, and a fat cat. Global beverage director for 50 Eggs Inc. Editor-in-chief of 50 Eggs virtual magazine.
Dream dinner party for six: Who (living or dead) would you invite?
Berenice De Araujo, Malcolm Gladwell, Nick Paton, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Lara Angelo, and Justin Angelo.
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