Daniel Toral, wine director of 50 Eggs, has taken the crown at the 6th annual Star Chefs Somm Slam. 50 Eggs, is a restaurant group that operates different restaurant concepts in Miami and Las Vegas, including Yardbird, Swine and Spring Chicken (opening soon).
Every year Star Chefs, a magazine for culinary insiders since 1995 hosts their International Chefs Conference. Its mission is to to help elevate culinary professionals’ success, this includes chefs, pastry chefs, bartenders and sommeliers. Every year the congress meets with a theme in mind and this year was the 10th year, Open Source Cooking: The New Era of Collaboration and Connectivity. Within this event, Somm Slam is held.
According to StarChefs.com Somm Slamm is:
“a real-time, mano-a-mano pairing competition led by the Master Sommelier Fred Dexheimer. After decanting the applicants, 10 of the best beverage professionals from across the country will be chosen to compete, all in the grape-soaked swirl of the 10th Annual StarChefs International Chefs Congress.”
The event is split into two days. Day one, participants answer trivia questions in front of a judging panel and all-somm audience. They are then presented a dish to pair, where they race to the wine cellar to make the perfect pairing and go back to the judges and audience and sell their pairing. Only five somms make it out of day one.
Day two doesn’t get any easier. The day starts with a blind tasting that immediately cuts one competitor. The remaining four are quizzed on very in-depth wine trivia, where only three move on. According to StarChefs.com: “The somm with the biggest (wine-soaked) brain, best palate, and that little extra on-the-floor magic will win the day, saboring the 6th Annual Somm Slam title and bragging rights for a year.”
This year that went to the graduate of Florida International University’s hospitality-tourism management program, Daniel Toral! Daniel can be found at any of the 50 Eggs locations around town. What we know for sure is that wine selection is great and the pairings are even better.
Swine
2415 Ponce De Leon Blvd
Coral Gables, FL
Yardbird
1600 Lenox Ave.
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Spring Chicken (coming soon)
1514 S Dixie Hwy,
Coral Gables, FL
&
1439 Alton Road
Miami Beach, FL