How to Pair Wine with Your Meal

Rebecca McKinney

I was born a foodie. My dad is a chef, baker, and restaurant owner and my mom might as well be because she owns whatever kitchen she walks into. I grew up working in my family’s restaurant and bakery in Pawling, New York – McKinney and Doyle. I started behind the bakery counter at 12 years old after begging my parents to let me start working. At 16 I worked as a hostess. By 18 I was serving tables and training behind the bar where I then worked every other weekend throughout my college career. Even now, when I am visiting my family in New York, I help out where I’m needed. To make a long story short, the food and restaurant industry has been my life for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.

So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!

Eat well & travel often,

Becky McKinney

Latest posts by Rebecca McKinney (see all)

FullSizeRenderI absolutely love to throw dinner parties. I get really into it too, planning out cocktails and hors devours to snack on before the meal and then mapping out an entire menu. I like to set the table nicely and pick up a new centerpiece. The music playlist is always thought out beforehand and I spend hours preparing the apartment to be guest friendly. The more dinners I plan and parties I throw, the more I care about whether the drinks I am serving compliment the food. It never used to matter. “ People can drink what they want, I don’t have time to figure out whether or not it goes with each course.” I have also always been spoiled having Andrew, our GM and sommelier at M&D, available through text or quick call so if I’m being honest, I never had to learn how to do this on my own. But one day I decided enough was enough and I needed to learn. In the following post I am going to take what I’ve learned about pairing wine (cocktails another day) and condense it to keep it short, simple, and easy to follow.

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