Dave Mattern

The Climb

Beverage programs live or die on sequencing, consistency, and control of detail. Dave Mattern’s work sits in that lane: director of beverage at Truluck's Restaurant Group, with a remit shaped by the relationship between what is poured and how service moves. The job is less about display than about building a program that supports the room.

Today

By 2026, he is Director of Beverage for Truluck's Restaurant Group. He also holds the title of Managing Partner and Beverage Director at Truluck's, bringing fine wine, spirits, cocktails, beverage menu development, and restaurant beverage programming under one remit. That scope is built on structure: selecting the list, shaping the menu, and keeping the pacing of service coherent from start to finish. Fine wine, spirits, cocktails, beverage menu development, and restaurant beverage programming sit together in Mattern’s practice rather than as separate specialties. The work calls for consistency across the room and an ear for how guests read a beverage program as part of the dining experience. It is the kind of role where standards are set in the details and maintained in the repeatable parts of service.

Signature

Those names point to a practice grounded in wine education and active conversation around the category. The Sommelier's Secret White Wine Challenge stands as his signature work, with the emphasis on keeping wine knowledge practical, current, and usable in service.

In Their Words “Wines" is an amazing resource for those of us who work in hospitality, to spread knowledge about this beguiling beverage.”

Recognition

That line frames Mattern’s approach plainly: wine matters when the information around it can be shared across the floor. The recognition attached to his name follows the same logic, with beverage leadership tied to education, clarity, and standards that can be carried through a team. The Sommelier's Secret White Wine Challenge and his beverage leadership at Truluck's Restaurant Group both point to the same emphasis: a program that is considered, teachable, and built to hold up under service. The result is a profile defined by stewardship rather than performance.