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| SushiSamba
New York:
Park Ave. S. and 7th Ave. Chicago, Miami
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Paul Tanguay, SushiSamba
By Jim Clarke
Paul Tanguay’s grandmother not only inspired
him to pursue a culinary career, she pushed him through the door,
putting him to work in her restaurant in Quebec. Once he had learned
his way around the kitchen he worked his way through various positions
at a number of Canada’s leading restaurants. This would
be enough for some, but Paul decided to conquer the front of the
house as well. As a restaurant manager he eventually oversaw a
group of three restaurants around Montreal.
In 1997 a lead on a management opening at L’Express in
New York City drew Paul south across the border. It panned out,
and when he found there was a hole in beverage operations, he
stepped in and found a special niche for himself.
SushiSamba’s Concept Developer Shimon Bokovza must have
recognized Paul’s eagerness to be challenged, because in
1999 he put Paul in charge of developing a wine and sake list
that would complement the menu’s mix of Japanese, Brazilian,
and Peruvian cuisine. Multi-cultural restaurants often reveal
an identity crisis in their beverage program, and Paul also had
a big learning curve ahead of him as he added sake, cachaça,
and pisco to his growing understanding of wine. The beverage program
he eventually came up with offers a huge selection of wines, sakes,
and inventive, cross-cultural cocktails.
Paul’s responsibilities have expanded with the restaurant
group, which now has four locations in New York, Miami, and Chicago.
He aims to expose his guests to new tastes in wine and sake –
and shochu, a Japanese spirit – and emphasizes education,
both of his staff and his guests, as a way to make people feel
at ease. He’s even shared his sake knowledge with students
of his alma mater, the American Sommelier Association. Looking
ahead, he’s got some new ground to cover as well: not only
does SushiSamba’s next restaurant have a Greek-Turkish theme
– which means a whole new set of regional drinks –
but he and his wife Francine have just had their first child,
a baby girl named Kaley.
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