Six candidates earned the Master Sommelier diploma following two days of exams in Vienna last month, including the first recipients from Mauritius, Bosnia, and the Czech Republic. In New Orleans, Deke Dunne left Allegory after eight years to help launch the Cocktail Hour, a rotating bar residency in the French Quarter, before returning to D.C. next year to open his own room.
Louis Tikaram confirmed a September opening at Manly Wharf in Sydney, and Gabriela Chamorro was named What's On Chef of the Year after a decade-long path from supper club to 125-seat restaurant in Dubai.
The week's stories trace paths built over years: the candidates who sat theory and tasting across two days, the bartender who spent eight years at one counter before moving to the next, the chef who cooked 5,000 meals in her apartment before opening a commercial kitchen.
What We Published This Week
Six Candidates Earn Master Sommelier Diplomas in Vienna
Six candidates earned the Master Sommelier diploma following two days of theory and tasting exams at Vienna's Grand Hotel last month, including the first recipients from Mauritius, Bosnia, and the Czech Republic. The Court of Master Sommeliers has not released the names of the candidates, which is consistent with its practice of allowing recipients to share their results on their own terms.
The Master Sommelier diploma remains one of the most rigorous credentials in wine service, with pass rates historically running in the single digits and candidates often sitting the exam multiple times across years. Candidates face theory, service, and blind tasting components across two days, with each section judged independently by a panel of Master Sommeliers. A single weak performance in any section results in failure, regardless of strength in the other two.
The addition of first-time recipients from Mauritius, Bosnia, and the Czech Republic signals the Court's reach into markets where wine service has historically operated outside the formal sommelier credentialing system. The Vienna session marks a geographic expansion for the Court, which has traditionally held exams in North America, the UK, and select European cities.
For candidates, the path to the diploma often spans years and includes multiple attempts at the exam, travel to exam sites, and sustained study alongside full-time work in restaurants, hotels, or wine shops. The credential does not guarantee a specific style of service or a particular palate, but it does guarantee a baseline of technical knowledge and tasting ability that has been tested under exam conditions.
The Master Sommelier credential has long functioned as a signal within the wine trade: restaurants use it to anchor beverage programs, distributors hire Master Sommeliers to lead education teams, and collectors seek them out for cellar consulting.
Deke Dunne Leaves Allegory to Launch the Cocktail Hour in New Orleans
Deke Dunne left Allegory in downtown Washington, D.C., after eight years as beverage director to help launch the Cocktail Hour, a rotating bar residency in New Orleans' French Quarter. The project is a collaboration with John Stubbs and Chris Hannah, the team behind Jewel of the South, which won Outstanding Bar at the 2024 James Beard Foundation Awards and currently sits at number six on North America's 50 Best Bars list.
Dunne, Stubbs, and Hannah will host roughly 30 one-week residencies from mid-October through mid-June, with each visiting bar recreating its look, menu, music, and service style in the space. The inaugural lineup includes Dead Rabbit from New York City, Panda & Sons from Edinburgh, and Brujas from Mexico City.
Dunne describes the format as a high-lift endeavor, with the team transforming the room down to the look, food, cocktails, music, programming, and hospitality each bar is known for. The Cocktail Hour's exact address in the French Quarter will be announced in the coming weeks. Dunne plans to return to D.C. in the spring to open his first bar in Shaw, making the New Orleans residency a temporary move before he returns to the District to run his own room.
During Dunne's tenure at Allegory, the bar landed at number 57 on North America's 50 Best Bars, became a James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Bar, won multiple Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards, and became the first bar to win the Best Menu Award twice on the same list.
Allegory is currently nominated for World's Best Cocktail Menu, with the winner announced at the NOLA Fillmore on July 23. Princess Johnson, a longtime Allegory mixologist, has taken over as beverage director.
The timing of Dunne's departure coincides with Tales of the Cocktail, the annual industry gathering in New Orleans that draws bartenders, brand representatives, and spirits professionals from around the world. The Cocktail Hour project positions Dunne, Stubbs, and Hannah at the center of that conversation, with a format that brings visiting bars into the city for week-long residencies rather than one-night guest shifts.
Allegory's Food Service Remains Suspended After Michele's Seizure
Allegory has been unable to serve food since the D.C. government seized Michele's, the lobby-level restaurant in the Eaton hotel, for unpaid taxes in January. Michele's operated independently of Allegory but shared the same building, and the seizure has prevented another operator from moving into the space. The situation has left Allegory without a food program for more than six months, a significant operational constraint for a bar that has historically paired its cocktail menu with a full dining offering.
The seizure stems from unpaid taxes owed by chef Matt Baker, who ran Michele's as a French-influenced restaurant in the Eaton hotel lobby. A bankruptcy case at Baker's Michelin-starred restaurant Gravitas in Ivy City was dismissed this week, according to a report from the Washington Business Journal, though Gravitas remains listed as permanently closed.
The Michele's situation has created a gap in the Eaton hotel's food and beverage program, with the lobby-level space sitting empty while the tax matter remains unresolved. For Allegory, the absence of food service has meant operating as a cocktail-only bar, a format that works for some guests but limits the bar's ability to serve longer visits or groups looking for a full meal alongside drinks.
Louis Tikaram Returns to Sydney to Open Stanley at Manly Wharf
Louis Tikaram will open Stanley, his seafood-focused Cantonese restaurant, at Manly Wharf in September. Tikaram, who was named The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide young chef of the year in 2013, worked at Bentley, Tetsuya's, and Longrain before spending six years in the U.S., where he ran the acclaimed E.P & L.P. in West Hollywood.
Tikaram opened the first Stanley at Howard Smith Wharves in Brisbane in 2019, where dishes such as tropical crayfish tossed through buttery lo mein noodles, kung pao prawns, and steamed Queensland coral trout with white soy, ginger, and shallots have become signatures. The 200-seat Manly location will occupy the space Merivale's Queen Chow held for seven years before closing last year.
The Manly location will include live seafood tanks, tableside Peking duck service, and dim sum, alongside a broader menu of meat-based dishes. Tikaram, who was raised on a farm in Mullumbimby, credits his Chinese-Fijian grandmother for his focus on Cantonese cooking. Whenever he caught a fish in his youth, Tikaram's thoughts turned to how his grandmother would later dress it up in ginger and shallots. "We always had to save her the eyeball," he said. Cantonese food is Tikaram's first love, and the Stanley menu reflects that lineage.
"When you open a restaurant, you don't choose the signature, but it's become the seafood," he said of the Brisbane location, which has been a critical success since opening. Both Howard Smith Wharves and Manly Wharf are owned by the Artemus Group, which facilitated the deal to bring Tikaram to Sydney. He tested the Sydney market with a low-key pop-up at Manly last summer, which reminded him of the location's unique appeal. "People used to say why don't you catch a taxi here. No way.
Catching a ferry to Manly is one of the great Sydney experiences. It's a great way to spend a day. I used to go over there to surf," Tikaram said. The opening follows recent announcements that three-Michelin-starred chef Björn Frantzen will open a restaurant at Crown and Curtis Stone confirmed plans for the incoming Waldorf Astoria Sydney. Sydney's run of landing big-name chefs continues, with Tikaram's move marking a win for the northern beaches.
Tikaram's time in the U.S. turned him into a celebrity chef, with his Asian fusion food at E.P & L.P. helping tell the story of Australian food globally. Much like the work of the late Bill Granger, Tikaram's cooking carried Australian culinary identity into international markets. The Sydney opening brings him back to the city where he first made his name, with a restaurant format that has already proven itself in Brisbane. The Manly location will add cold-water crayfish and local tuna from Ulladulla to the menu, ingredients Tikaram says he missed during his time away from Sydney.
Gabriela Chamorro Named What's On Chef of the Year After Decade-Long Path
Gabriela Chamorro, chef and founder of Girl & the Goose in Dubai's Business Bay, has been named What's On Chef of the Year. Before opening the 125-seat restaurant, Chamorro ran a supper club from her Dubai apartment for a decade, hosting 10 guests at a time and cooking roughly 5,000 meals. "I cooked 5,000 meals in my apartment first," Chamorro said. At the time, she was working as cabin crew with no restaurant background. "When you miss home, food becomes comfort, and the supper club was my way of staying connected to my roots," she said.
Between the supper club and the restaurant, Chamorro completed culinary school, staged at Michelin-starred restaurants, and trained under her mentor, Chef Fadi, before opening Girl & the Goose with the Rosy Hospitality team.
"Hosting 10 or 15 guests in your living room a few nights a week is one thing; running a 125-seat restaurant is something entirely different," she said. "People often assume that opening a restaurant is the natural next step after a successful supper club. It isn't." She reaches for a German saying to sum it up: Gut Ding braucht Weile, which translates to good things take time. "Girl & the Goose is proof of that. Looking back, every supper club, every lesson, and every challenge was preparing me for what came next," Chamorro said.
Girl & the Goose is Dubai's only Nicaraguan restaurant. Chamorro cooks recipes passed down through generations, drawing from family gatherings and everyday life in Nicaragua. "I cook the food I love. These recipes have been passed down through generations, and the dishes remind me of family gatherings, celebrations and everyday life back home," she said.
Central American cuisine, including food from Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, has had little visibility in Dubai's dining scene, which has historically leaned toward Mexican or Peruvian when representing Latin America. "Many people are still discovering countries like Nicaragua, which often leads to great conversations and opportunities to share our culture," Chamorro said.
The path from supper club to restaurant was not a straight line. While others might have moved quickly to capitalize on early buzz, Chamorro spent years building the skills and relationships that would support a full-scale restaurant. "Every opportunity had to be earned through building relationships, proving ourselves, and learning along the way," she said. The What's On Chef of the Year recognition marks a milestone for a chef who built her career outside the traditional brigade system, starting with strangers in her living room and working her way to a 125-seat restaurant that has put Nicaraguan food on Dubai's culinary map.
Sébastien Vergne Joins Château Léognan as Consultant Winemaker
Sébastien Vergne has been appointed consultant winemaker at Château Léognan. Under Vergne's direction, the estate is working with an unprecedentedly high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in both the vineyard and the final blend, a decision that is proving advantageous as the climate shifts. The estate sits in the Pessac-Léognan appellation, where Cabernet Sauvignon has historically shared space with Merlot and Cabernet Franc in varying proportions depending on the property and the vintage.
The shift toward higher Cabernet Sauvignon percentages reflects a broader conversation in Bordeaux about how vineyard composition and blending decisions respond to warmer growing seasons. Cabernet Sauvignon ripens later than Merlot and tends to retain acidity and structure in warmer years, making it a useful tool for winemakers navigating climate change. Vergne's decision to increase Cabernet Sauvignon at Château Léognan suggests he is positioning the estate for a future where earlier-ripening varieties may struggle to maintain balance in the warmest vintages.
No further details about Vergne's background, the specific vineyard percentages, or the estate's recent releases were provided in the announcement. Consultant winemakers in Bordeaux typically work across multiple properties, bringing technical expertise and a broader perspective on regional trends to estates that may not employ a full-time winemaking team. The appointment signals a new chapter for Château Léognan, with Vergne's approach to Cabernet Sauvignon likely to shape the estate's wines for years to come.
