18 | PENTA | December 2020
Creating an Inclusive
Wine World
BIPOC professionals aren’t waiting for change—they’re making it happen
By ABBY SCHULTZ
M
arquita Levy’s uniform
on the floor at Chef’s
Club in New York con-
veyed her position: a
black dress, heels, and
a sommelier pin. Yet when a visiting
wine director from another restaurant
was pointed in Levy’s direction to
answer a question about the wine list,
he headed for the blue-aproned server
standing next to her.
The apparent explanation: Levy is a
“ My biggest
weapons
were
my smile,
charisma,
and
leadership.”
Marquita
Levy
Black woman, and the server was a
white man.
The server was “mortified,” Levy
recalls. He told the visitor, “If you have
any questions about the wine list you
should ask Marquita.”
The incident wasn’t unusual in
Levy’s 22 years as a sommelier. She’s
had to juggle bad behavior from guests,
and staff, related to her race and gender
for years while keeping businesslike
composure. “My mother let me know
early on that it was going to be difficult
for me, and that my biggest weapons
were my smile, charisma, and leader-
ship,” Levy says.
With that advice, Levy has forged a
career in some of the top restaurants in
New York, steadily rising ranks. But
she’s had few Black colleagues—male or
female—over the years working as som-
meliers, winemakers, producers, or
distributors alongside her.
Consider this: There are only two
Photograph by VICTOR LLORENTE