The Somm Journal

88 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 { q&a } Eric Hemer: Keith, it's great to see you again. As an introduction, tell me about your background as a chef. Keith Blauschild: I'm a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, and I am also on their Alumni Council. I graduated in 1988 and worked in high-end hotels and country clubs; then I developed my own catering business, which evolved into The Cook and the Cork. Can you tell me a bit about the background of the restaurant, what year you started and how you came up with The Cook and the Cork, which is such a creative name? We started three years ago. I didn't really start out wanting a restaurant; I had a catering business for about ten years and I needed a kitchen to work out of. After retrofittin the itchen, we realized we had storefront propertywhy dont we open up four nights a week and just have some fun, get creative? The menu is based on small plates, but we now have entrees. We were always not so serious about food . . . but we are serious about wine. I love wine, and that was kind of the theme of the restaurant. I was inspired by the names of some other restaurants like The Girl and the Fig, the Girl and the Goat, etc. The Boy and the Beer? That didnt ow so well, so The Coo and the Cor seeed riht. Looking around the restaurant, I see a lot of music memorabilia on the walls. Do you have a favorite genre or group? Is music incorporated into the theme of the restaurant? I'm a big Led Zeppelin fan, and I love rock music in general. We play all kinds of music at night: not just rock, but alternative, folk, you name it. So, what sparked your interest in wine? The CIA [Culinary Institute of America] also led me into wine. The wine class was the hardest class I took; it was notorious, and I barely passed. Michael Weiss was the instructor, so it was great to email him and tell him that the kid that barely passed his class 30 years ago just got a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. I liked wine before, but at CIA, I started to understand it more, Southern Glazer's Eric Hemer with Keith Blauschild at The Cook and the Cork in Coral Springs, FL. ERIC HEMER, MW, MS, SR. VP & CORPORATE DIRECTOR OF WINE EDUCATION FOR SOUTHERN GLAZER'S OF AMERICA, INTERVIEWS KEITH BLAUSCHILD, CHEF/OWNER, THE COOK AND THE CORK, CORAL SPRINGS, FL "I've always enjoyed drinking wine, and as a chef, I'm always interested in how food complements wine, and vice versa," Chef Keith Blauschild says. photos by Benjamin Rusnak

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