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What do you do with a love of people, wine, and the hospitality industry? Well Kristine thinks she has it cracked with her new venture Vineyard At Home! You get to take part in a wine tasting, from the comfort of your own home, exploring wines from several wineries across Ontario. If you love wine, or just want to do something a little different for your next night in, then Vineyard at Home could be exactly what you are looking for!
Casa London: Why don’t you start by telling us a little bit about your background in food and wine?
Kristine: My very first job when I was 16 was in a restaurant. I started off as a hostess and ended up spending in total about a decade in hospitality in various different positions, from server and bartender all the way up to manager and corporate trainer. So I’ve had lots of front of house hospitality industry experience and I always enjoyed the social aspect and the conversational aspect, especially as a manager being able to hop around and check in with everyone and make sure they are having a good time. In terms of making food and wine pairing suggestions, the knowledge was always there, and the entertaining social aspect was already there as well. After I had my second baby I thought why not combine all this experience and my passions and interests and teach people about awesome things like wine, and have a great time while doing it!
Casa London: What sort of restaurants did you work in?
Kristine: I’ve worked at Casey’s Bar and Grill, Moxie’s, Milestones, Jack Astor’s… it has been an amazing experience and I loved it all. But I feel it is a very challenging industry to be in when you have children and so this allowed me the flexibility, while still being able to call on my years of experience and knowledge of the industry.
Casa London: Where did the idea for Vineyard At Home come from? What inspired you?
Kristine: After having my daughter, I spent a couple of years in