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The sommelier carousel keeps spinning, and acclaimed former OON and The Purple Pig beverage director and sommelier Jon McDaniel has landed at Billy Lawless' The Gage and Henri. McDaniel, who was a finalist in the Central Region for the 2013 Top Sommelier by the Guild of Sommeliers (and finished in the national top 30), left OON last month after helping to open it four months prior.
McDaniel says that working with two different restaurants at once drew him to the position. At The Gage, he says that he wants to offer a "tight wine list that is all about being in ingredient to the food and energetic environment," including "off-the-wall varietals and regions." Expect McDaniel to add more depth to the vintage selection at Henri; he wants it to be "the best list in Chicago for Burgundy and other classic French varietals and regions."
McDaniel takes over both programs from Jason Wagner, who returned to New York to work on Fung Tu. Expect McDaniel's touches to the wine lists to come soon.
· GM/Beverage Director Jon McDaniel Out at OON [-ECHI-]
· Chicago Sommelier Jason Wagner Joins Fung Tu Team [-ENY-]