How This Escoffier Grad Built a Resume of Award-Winning Restaurant Jobs

TRANSCRIPT

Kirk Bachmann: Hello everyone, my name is Kirk Bachmann, and welcome back to The Ultimate Dish. Today, we’re excited to welcome Connor Fowler, an Escoffier graduate, certified sommelier, and rising star in the world of fine dining and wine service.

Connor’s journey is a beautiful example of how passion, persistence, and the right education can open doors across the culinary world.

Born in the U.K. and raised in Evergreen, Colorado, Connor made his way to our Boulder campus to pursue his culinary education. He was also a recipient of the Curtis Duffy Scholarship through Escoffier.

Connor’s path has taken him from our kitchens to an externship in Florence, Italy where his curiosity for wine turned into a passion. He worked on the opening kitchen team at Rootstock in Breckenridge, a restaurant that went on to win a James Beard Award in 2024. He then joined Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder, working his way up from glass polisher to front server, and was working service the night when Frasca received its first Michelin star back in September, 2023.

Connor is now a sommelier at Tavernetta in Denver, Colorado, Frasca’s sister restaurant and Michelin Bib Gourmand winner, where he’s tackling advanced sommelier certifications.

Like many in our industry, Connor’s journey has been shaped by both triumph and tragedy, including the sudden loss of his father, an experience that has profoundly influenced who he’s become both personally and professionally.

Get ready for an inspiring conversation about following your passion, the power of international culinary experiences, and how grief can become a driving force for growth.

There he is! Good morning, buddy. How are you?

Connor Fowler: Doing very well, thank you. Thanks for having me on today.

Kirk Bachmann: Absolutely! Our pleasure. We’re super, super pumped. You were here on the campus not that long ago. We had Curtis Duffy on just last week. He’s going to be in Boulder this week. We got to do a little research and remember that you were a recipient of his scholarship when you came to school here. So serendipitous. I know that we’re all huge fans of your bosses, particularly Bobby Stuckey and the Frasca Learning Lab where you were speaking to our students just last week. Why don’t I just pause for a minute and see how the heck you’re doing? You’re going about a million miles an hour!

Connor Fowler: Yeah. Sometimes it’s easier to keep going than to stop. Things are going great. They are a great group of people to work for for a reason. Whatever you want to learn there, it’s an absolute academy – with food, with wine. It makes me so happy to see that there is a partnership between Escoffier and Frasca Hospitality just because they’re both so dedicated to growth. There’s never any pinnacle when you work for a group like Frasca. That’s also not what you want out of Escoffier, either. It’s always a common theme – to keep growing, to keep learning.

Going back onto campus and talking to these students and seeing that Frasca was looked at in high regard, but also it seems students really want to push, keep learning, keep growing, it was super, super reinvigorating to see. It definitely sent me back to when I was a student there.

Culture Shock

Kirk Bachmann: You were floating on air when you were here popping from classroom to classroom. It’s your story. That was you five, six short years ago. Eyes glossed over, trying to understand what’s next.

Let’s go back a little bit. I don’t know that I knew that you actually immigrated here from the U.K. with your family. I think that’s absolutely fascinating. You were about eight or nine years old when you came over. Is that right?

Connor Fowler: It was right around the time of my eighth birthday. I lost the accent, unfortunately.

Kirk Bachmann: I get a little bit of it. But let’s talk about that. That’s a pretty significant age. What was that like, coming to America? Oh my gosh! Evergreen is beautiful, by the way. Absolutely spectacular part of the state. What prompted that, and what do you remember about that? You probably had an accent back then.

Connor Fowler: Of course I did. When you’re eight years old, you’re sentient and you have these memories, but you’re also so impressionable. I lost the accent within about a year.

Kirk Bachmann: I would just fake it if I were you. I would just fake it.

Connor Fowler: Honestly, I do. It seems blasphemous sometimes. I have enough people at work faking my own accent for me. I don’t know if I need to add fuel to that fire.

Kirk Bachmann: It’s so funny. The British must all laugh at us. I just had a student come by. She brought me a flower. She’s just going around. Mine’s more of a weed. Anyway, she brought this by, but she comes in, and she used a British accent. “Would you like a flower?” “I didn’t know you were from Great Britain.”

Go ahead. What was that like? Eight. What were you, second grade, third grade, something like that?

Connor Fowler: We moved in the summer, so it put me in third grade in the U.S. It was quite an experience. We moved in 2008, which was obviously a very tricky time. We kind of accidentally put in the wrong zip code when we were looking at houses, so we scored a really nice little spot in Evergreen. As a family, we decided why would we want to look at the mountains when we had this opportunity, we could actually live there.

My dad got an opportunity to coach overseas. My dad’s side of the family, that’s the whole English side, but he spent a lot of time in America in his adulthood, bringing European tradition in soccer, influence. He was one of quite a few people to do that. He got an opportunity to live out here and work out here, and we just decided as a family to go.

It was interesting, definitely a bit of culture shock. I remember hearing somebody mention football for the first time, and I had no idea. What are these shoulder pads? What are these helmets? Why are they stopping every five seconds? It was a little confusing. It was good.

Overall, I’m happy we did. I’m definitely happy I grew up in Evergreen. It’s such a beautiful place.

Kirk Bachmann: Yeah, it really is. Did you play a lot of soccer growing up?

Connor Fowler: I did, yeah. In my childhood, and then I played throughout high school as well. I didn’t really go too far with it, but I just loved the game. Once I moved back to Frasca in 2021, I ended up joining some co-ed stuff just for fun.

Kirk Bachmann: Who’s your team over [in Europe]?

Connor Fowler: Man City. Blue.

Kirk Bachmann: That’s awesome! That’s awesome.

Connor Fowler: I grew up when they weren’t as prominent as they are now. I like to say, all their success recently, I like to say I deserve that as a lifelong fan.

Kirk Bachmann: I love it. I absolutely love it. And I love your story, too. I’m curious. We can bounce back and forth a little bit. I’m just curious: Evergreen is, what, two hours from here, an hour-and-a-half or something from Boulder?

Connor Fowler: No, it’s like forty-five minutes.

The Energy of Hospitality

Kirk Bachmann: Forty-five minutes. Not far. How did you get into the culinary industry? What sparked your initial interest? Then we’ll talk about Escoffier a little bit.

Connor Fowler: It kind of just happened. I think it was very reflective of who I was. In school, I was a good student in the sense that I showed up to my classes, got along with my teachers and all that. But I wasn’t an excellent student. I didn’t necessarily get a whole lot of validation in school. I had a good group of friends who I still keep in touch with every once and a while. Sports wasn’t really going anywhere for me. I played for fun, but it wasn’t going to go any further than that. I don’t know.

My sophomore year of high school, I wanted money. I was saving up for a trip later that year. I started working at a restaurant, and everything kind of clicked. I’m so ADD, and working at a place where there is just so much going on. It wasn’t fine dining by any means. It was a very good little local neighborhood spot. It was actually a decent little restaurant. There was a good bar area, but there were also games and stuff. It was the place to be for a town like Evergreen. There is just so much going on, and I enjoyed it. It made me want to work hard because the harder I worked, either I got paid more or I would just [feel] validation. People – the praise and the feedback, it was something that really helped me. It was something that felt consistent to me. It was something I looked forward to outside of school.

Kirk Bachmann: Those are great responses. I’m sure it’s the feeling that many people have when they’re trying to figure out “What’s next for me? Is it culinary school? Is it some other field? Do I want to be a doctor or a lawyer?”

I’m curious when you started thinking about going to the next level, what made you choose Escoffier specifically? What were you looking for, Connor, in your next step in education? Was it about Boulder? Was it about the brand?

Connor Fowler: There are definitely a few different things. When I first heard about Escoffier, I was actually in a high school culinary program, which I started my junior year. Warren Tech.

Kirk Bachmann: Yeah!

Connor Fowler: I’m sure you’ve heard of them. Some of the Escoffier group did a little promotion there. I was really curious, and I was really into it. There were a few things. Living in Boulder was something I was curious about, and also the fact that we got the opportunity to do an externship. We got the opportunity to travel. It just seemed like a really good, really welcoming environment, but I could also…. There were a lot of career paths that were visible at that time, and it just seemed like a very, very good path.

Going For It

Kirk Bachmann: Did you have a dream? You had experience in Europe. You ended up going to Italy for your externship, which I can’t wait to hear more about. Did you have a milestone or milestones that you were trying to achieve, and how did your experience at Escoffier flow into that? Did you change directions several times? Did you stay the course? Were you surprised by anything?

Connor Fowler: When I was in high school, I spent most of my time in the front of house. I worked a couple of back of house jobs as well. There were times where I did think I wanted to be a chef. There were times when I wanted to pursue the front of house. I think being at Escoffier definitely swayed those decisions one way or another. It was also very encouraging to know how compatible those two are; you can’t really have one without the other.

Because when I was a student there, I was eighteen. It was fresh out of high school. “I’m just going to go for it and see what happens. I’m sure wherever I land, I’ll be all right.” I’m kind of glad I did that. I’ve set milestones since then, once I landed on my feet and know more concrete about what I want to do. When I was eighteen, I had some ideas, but I more just wanted to learn and see what there was to see and go from there.

Kirk Bachmann: That’s great. Were there some moments that really stand out in your memory during the time that you were here?

Connor Fowler: Seeing TED talks during Business Com. I’m sure there’s a certain one that you know I’m mentioning. Seeing that, that was actually my introduction to Frasca. That was how I first heard about Frasca because I hadn’t really lived in Boulder before. That was something that opened up the idea of a sommelier’s path and where that can actually take you. Food and wine are so connected. There’s so much, this other side of the industry that is new to me. It didn’t necessarily change one way or another. It kind of opened my eyes a little bit.

Then, during – I don’t know what the name of the class is now, but what used to be called Classical Cuisine, we went over a lot of old-world European influence and also wine. That was my first ever introduction to wine. It was so foreign to me, but it was so cool because it talked about it regionally. It was very digestible bite-sized pieces. I kind of went down the rabbit hole there a little bit. It was a lot of fun.

It was just the whole experience, being there on a day-to-day basis, having that consistency and learning. It was great.

Kirk Bachmann: You’re super kind, too, and humble. Everybody talks about Connor and the great experience that you had here. I’m interested for prospective students – there will be a lot of students that listen to the show. They need to realize, “Wow! I can stay the course. I can do this.” Sometimes support channels really help. How did your family feel about your pursuit? I’m sure they were super supportive. Were they surprised? Encouraging?

Connor Fowler: I think by the time I decided to go to Escoffier, I think they knew it was going to happen. I was in my second year of doing Warren Tech’s culinary program. I was still working in restaurants after a couple of years. I think they just figured this was coming. They were super supportive. They did see the vision. They did everything they could to help me get there. I’m very thankful for the support.

An International Opportunity

Kirk Bachmann: When I hear you recounting the past, it’s pretty clear that your experience shows someone that doors can in fact open. You went from our Boulder campus to an externship in Florence, Italy. I’m sure you had a lot to do with directing that. In my mind – probably in yours as well – that’s an opportunity that can change everything. Can you tell us about that externship experience? Tougher question: how did that shape you as both a person and also the sommelier that you’ve become and the food person that you’ve become over the years?

Connor Fowler: We found out about the international externship. We heard a little bit about that. It was my dad who was like, “Travel. Make it work. Make it work. Go travel. This is an opportunity that you get. Don’t do your externship down the street from where you already live. There will be plenty of time for that. Go travel. Go to Italy.”

I was like, “I’m going to do this.”

Then, it’s so surreal. People say they went and they studied abroad. It actually felt like I was genuinely living out there. I was working a full-time job. I was paying for my housing every month, buying my own groceries. I actually like to say that I did live out there for a semester.

There were a lot of challenges I knew would happen. There always is a language barrier, but it was so interesting because everything was so simple. I mean that in the most endearing way possible. It was all about the absolutely freshest ingredients. It was all about very simple, very minimalist hands-on. It was such a fun experience. Pasta shapes and pasta salads that I’ve never even heard of before. I took a couple of cooking classes before going out there that would tie to the language school. It was such a different way of life.

Kirk Bachmann: Did you surprise yourself at times, too? “Wow! I’m doing this. I did this!” How impressed were you with Connor?

Connor Fowler: It was a lot of fun, for sure. Afterwards, I was like, “Oh my God! I did the whole thing.” I think it’s something that you’re thinking about in a moment. “Am I doing enough? Am I working hard enough? Am I learning enough?” Then you think about it when you wrap up at the end. I had a week left over to see some sights. I was sitting there thinking, “I’ve actually come a really long way. I’m excited to see what’s to come.”

Kirk Bachmann: What was it like [having] kept citizenship in both countries? What was it like being an American student in Europe? I think you’ve kind of answered this. What did you learn, Connor, that you could not have learned anywhere else in the world.

Connor Fowler: Oh, man! That’s such a good question. What I will say, what I learned about Italian culture, at least in Florence. Florence is a very touristy city – very historic city as well. It’s the fact that everybody was actually so nice when I tried to meet them where they were at. My Italian is not great now, but back then I was trying to speak as much Italian as I possibly could. I was trying to learn the language, and I was trying to be hospitable towards the people I was with, whether it was my colleagues, whether I would go sit down at a restaurant and ask for a glass of wine. The culture there, I think it’s something about traveling, period. The more you try and learn, the more that you try and put yourself out there, the more respect you’ll receive in return.

Kirk Bachmann: That’s a really good comment. I’ve heard that before: making the effort to try to embrace another culture, trying to speak the language, that is endearing. People love that. They’re receptive to that.

Connor Fowler: Exactly. What I learned, I think my knowledge of Italian food was so small compared to – even just being in one city. I went to other cities as well. But what is Italian food? It was absolutely everything. There was so much diversity. Whenever I’d go out to eat – I didn’t buy a whole lot of souvenirs; I was just going to restaurants all the time. It was a different dish I’d never heard of. There were obviously all the classics. I think the overarching theme was how simple Italian food is. It’s meant to be simple.

Kirk Bachmann: I love that word, the idea of simplicity. Probably in most cases, locally sourced.

Connor Fowler: Exactly.

Kirk Bachmann: It’s a beautiful thing. You’ve mentioned that your curiosity for wine turned into a passion during your time in Florence. Gosh, Connor. There’s something really magical about being in Italy or anywhere and discovering wine or another medium in that context. I’m curious: how did that transition from food to wine happen? I know you were thinking about it a little bit. It sort of captured your attention while in school and then you go over to this beautiful part of the world where wine is literally paired with food all the time. It’s just one and the same. Again, I’m just curious because it’s a fascinating field. How [did] your curiosity for wine turn into a passion? Or when you came back from Florence, did you know “I’m going into wine. I’m not applying for a line cook position”?

Connor Fowler: I think by the time I got back from Florence, I was more set on wine. It was always a line between front of house and back of house in my career. It was kind of cool – it’s happened since then – that I could go to either side if I wanted to, but I was nineteen when I did my externship.

I’d just turned nineteen. I said this to all the students, “What can a nineteen-year-old do for wine in America? Very, very little.” Actually being around it. I could sit at a restaurant and ask very knowledgeable people, “What should I drink? Why should I drink this? Why does this go with this? What would you recommend?” They were so generous, and they were very hospitable about it. Same thing. That was the first time I’d ever really been exposed to that. It was just invigorating. It was a side of this industry that I’d never actually heard of before. I had never really sunk my teeth into [it].

I came back, and it was like you said: curiosity. It was just a side of this industry that I really wanted to see and I really wanted to learn.

Working Through Grief

Kirk Bachmann: Something really struck me there that I didn’t even think about until I heard you just share that. Connor, the idea that at nineteen, technically, you weren’t legally allowed to drink wine, much less serve wine. You spent a great deal of time learning and educating yourself so that when you had the ability to be technically legal, you were ready. That’s even more impressive, the patience that you demonstrated to get to where you are here today. Really, super impressive.

I hope that we could talk a little bit about finding strength sometimes in a loss. You and I have talked about this a little bit, and if you’re comfortable today that we chat a little bit about something very, very deeply personal that you’ve been open about. You mentioned listening to Natalia, one of her episodes, another Le Cordon Bleu online student. She talked a lot about combating grief. You had a similar experience. Are you open to sharing a little bit about what happened with your beloved father and how that experience really either motivated or shaped or changed your journey to where you are today?

Connor Fowler: Absolutely. I think it’s something that’s definitely worth talking about. As a person, he was very forthright. He was very confident and, in the best way, really, really pushed me and was as supportive as anybody could possibly be. He, unfortunately passed away very suddenly, very tragically less than a week after I flew home from Italy. Middle of December. Yeah.

Obviously, regardless, it was such a horrible situation. It came at a weird time as well. It was the first time in my career where I didn’t have anything lined up. I had just flown back from Italy. I had just graduated from school, didn’t have a job lined up, and was just back to enjoy the holidays and see what would happen next. That was the plan.

Then, end of 2019 into 2020, that was when Covid happened as well. Obviously, being industry professionals, it was a very, very difficult time. I picked up a couple of Covid jobs. Those were fine, but really what helped was trying to do something to keep me consistent, whether it was trying to read something, trying to study something, or even just buying ingredients and practicing.

There was definitely a time when that was so, so, so hard. I had a great group of friends. I was living with my mom, and I think that was a very appropriate time to be doing that. What happened afterwards, once things settled down a little bit, the restaurants opened back up. It was almost freeing to be working again. It was almost freeing to be busy. Right before I went to Rootstock, I was working at this little wine bar in Arvada. I worked in the kitchen and worked in the front of house there. I was busy there. That was super, super helpful. I think during a period of grief, I think it was so important to have something that I could hold onto.

I was also boxing and playing soccer at the time. That definitely helped. Eventually, all across America, all across the world, things returned to some sort of normalcy. It was just nice to have an actual routine again to be back on the path.

Almost a year later was when I started to work at Rootstock as well. I love my family tremendously, but there’s only so much time where I can actually live there. Having a way, having a place to go, and then moving up and out was a really positive change. I’m very thankful. I ‘m very thankful to Rootstock for giving me that opportunity. I think they definitely helped me grow as a person, because I don’t know what would have happened if I’d just stayed living at home.

Kirk Bachmann: Thank you, Connor. I appreciate your genuine transparency and your emotion. I’m curious as you think back on that experience coupled with the pandemic, how does loss like that impact you or someone else as you think about approaching your career and your life going forward? It feels like perseverance, and it feels like courage, and it feels like understanding that you have to move forward. Is that the type of advice that you would give to someone in a similar situation?

Connor Fowler: Yeah, I think so. I know so. At the end of the day, you do have to move forward. The show does have to go on, whether that be your show – well, it is your show. What’s equally as important is being able to take care of yourself as well. Facing those emotions and moving forward with those emotions is different than pushing them aside and refusing to acknowledge them. I think maybe Covid helped that because there wasn’t really much else to do.

I saw a therapist. I started seeing a therapist pretty quickly after all of that happened. I was very, very open with my family, with my friends about where I was at and how I felt. I think that was a skill I was blessed to have. Not everybody does that, especially men. I think having a goal and having something to keep working towards was super, super helpful. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to be doing. I knew I wanted to get into wine; I knew I wanted to keep working. Regardless of the tragedy, I was still excited about my own future. I didn’t want to let that completely fall to pieces.

There have been some times since then when—grief is never linear. It comes in waves. There are days when things are really good, and then there are times when you catch yourself and it can be quite upsetting. There are times in my career when I definitely do wish he was still around. I do wish he was around to see all the things that I’ve been doing and all the things that I’m trying to do, and what my goals are for the future.

On a little bit more light-hearted side of the story, I grew up in England. My dad was the English side. He knew how to climb a fence. He knew how to run away from the police. A skill that I sort of inherited. The day I took my Certified [exam] was November 3, 2022, and his birthday is the day after.

Kirk Bachmann: Oh wow!

Connor Fowler: I was sitting at the Ponta Vedra resort in east Florida. At midnight, after I’d just passed the third or the fourth. They had closed the beach for the night, so I ended up climbing up over the fence and taking a walk along the beach and had a little conversation with my dad. That was nice. Having that sort of presence and giving myself those moments, I think, were super important.

Take It Seriously, But Take Care of Yourself

Kirk Bachmann: So well said, Connor. Thank you for sharing that. Really beautiful. It is, in fact, your show. Totally going to quote you there quite a bit.

You’ve said that the industry has been so good to you. Your quote. For students, Connor, who might be going through their own challenges, personal or otherwise, there is something powerful about finding a professional family in this industry, in this craft that we love. What advice would you give to other young people in the industry who are trying to navigate personal challenges, financial challenges, and so on and so forth, while trying – like you did – to build their own careers?

Connor Fowler: Really take it seriously. If you’re here for a reason, going to culinary school, which is a huge investment in your career, take it seriously. As far as financials go, culinary school is a huge investment. I know that. My parents – I was very lucky to have some support from them. They definitely knew that, too. Really, if you’re committing to go to culinary school and you’re committing to have a really long career in this industry, take it so seriously. You get out of this what you put into it. That means take care of yourself. Do your homework. Push and learn.

When I say that the industry has been really good to me, it’s been there for me. I feel like everything I’ve gotten out of the industry is equivalent to what I’ve put in. Nothing happens overnight. It takes a little while to eventually come around, but the point of working in this industry, the point of going to culinary school, is not to have a fast track. It’s to learn as much as you can over a long time. It’s to build a huge foundation which eventually turns into a career. That being said, I’m still so new in my career. I’ve been working as a sommelier for less than two years. I’ve only been out of culinary school for about six years. I still have a long way to go in my career. On a day-by-day basis, that’s how I look at it.

Kirk Bachmann: I love the comment about taking care of yourself. I remember shortly after Frasca received the Michelin star. I was there. I talked to a few different people, and it was a common theme. Everyone was really, really excited, but also how important it is to take care of yourself, your health. Gosh, nobody leads by better example than Bobby, every morning riding or running.

Connor Fowler: I’ve seen his Instagram stories. He’s out there.

Rootstock

Kirk Bachmann: Every single day. It’s super, super inspirational. We started a running club here at the school, too, mostly because we’re inspired by Bobby and the work that your colleagues are doing.

Let’s talk a minute about your career progression. You’ve been so gracious with your time today. Your theme is always talking about others and the respect you have for the industry and such. Your story, Connor, is such a great example of how this industry rewards hard work and dedication. You moved back to Breckenridge. You worked, as you mentioned, with the opening team at Rootstock, which went on to win a James Beard Award. Awards kind of follow you around a little bit. What was it like being part of that opening team, and what did that experience teach you? I’m just curious, if you’re a football coach, a soccer coach, and you are looking around that room, and you just know that there’s enough talent in that room to win the championship, or with the league – is that what it felt like at Rootstock in those early days? Hey, we are winners!

Connor Fowler: Yeah, it was. That was such a cool experience. I’m so glad that I worked in a kitchen there. I prepped pastry while I was there because that’s what they needed. I think that was some of the most growth, personally, that had ever happened to me in my life. The way I found out was I had a culinary agent’s program, and I kind of got poached online. I was working at a wine bar, and I was working at Whole Foods because of Covid. I originally wasn’t sure I wanted to go, but had a great conversation on the phone with Matt. He told me about the concept and also the lifestyle that comes from living in Breck. I think I’d just turned twenty at this point.

I was like, “You know what? I have absolutely nothing to lose. I’ll see what happens.”

I was able to find a little bedroom in a house. That was an experience. I’m going to say it. I’m going to be fully honest. Looking for housing in Summit County is a nightmare. I was able to find a little spot.

It was so cool, seeing the evolution of that restaurant. We were all – when I say all of us, there were literally four or five of us in the kitchen, and that was kind of it. It was so cool seeing the evolution of the restaurant. We started off with a menu that was just executable, that was all about the quality of the ingredients, very good preparation. Eventually, the team got more comfortable with each other, we got more comfortable working service. During the slower times, we could really hone in on our technique, and then when it became busier again, we’d have this technique down and we could work at a quicker and quicker pace. That was such a cool experience. There were very, very long days there, and it was so rewarding.

I know we’ve talked a lot about Bobby, but another great leader in my life is Matt. It was so cool seeing him bring his concept from the ground up. He worked start to finish every day for months until we were properly staffed, until that menu was as it needed to be. He took such a chance on that restaurant, and he also took a chance on me and the people that he hired. I think it was a little over a year ago that they won their James Beard. Seeing that restaurant come from the ground up, taking over the concept that it used to be, and seeing it as now one of the most important restaurants in Colorado if not outside of Colorado as well. It’s so inspiring.

Learning Curve

Kirk Bachmann: It’s amazing. Local guy doing well in the area and all of that. And he has a great voice in the state of Colorado through the Colorado Restaurant Association and such as well. Really. 100 percent agree.

Then you moved to Frasca Food & Wine here in Boulder. I love that you started exactly where every team member starts, as a glass polisher. You worked your way up through food runner, expo, back wait, all the way to front server. I just love how organized the brigade is there. You do everything. What was that progression like? In the spirit of Escoffier, what was that progression like, and what did it teach you going forward?

Connor Fowler: It’s cool that you mention that. There are quite a few people around me that got hired at a very similar time who were newer to the industry. I thought I was going in with a little bit more of an edge, having gone to culinary school and gone to Florence, worked at a wine bar, and worked at Rootstock, but still started at the bottom, learned the foundations, learned how this restaurant ticks. I think it’s so important.

In the spirit of Escoffier – and it’s something I talked to the students about when I visited a couple of weeks ago – in the sense that culinary school is not a fast track at all. I went in there with a pretty decent product knowledge, a pretty decent sense of world cuisine, specializing in Italian cuisine, but none of that mattered if I couldn’t learn the mechanics. There are so many nuances in the front of the house that you can only learn by working in the front of the house. It’s all about open-hand service, open-hand service from the left, all table numbers and seat numbers and timing of courses, all of these nuances. That was such a learning curve.

I started out as everybody starts out with polishing glassware. Then you learn the menu and you run food. I got called out for not knowing the things I needed to know on the menu. They call you out for it. It was like, “Okay, what do I do? Do I just bury my head in the sand, or do I actually sit down and push and actually learn these things that they need us to know.” It was a good lesson to have early on.

As a bit of a side track, I worked as an expo. Probably the majority of my time at Frasca was actually working as an expo, which was one of my favorite jobs I’ve ever worked, one of my favorite positions. It’s like the perfect liaison between the front of house and back of house. If it’s an hourglass, you’re the little point in the middle where everything goes in and out of.

Kirk Bachmann: Oh, that’s a great analogy. I love that.

Connor Fowler: That’s how we learn. It was such an amazing kitchen to be working with. Then I started back-waiting, which is another very humbling position. You’re kind of the support staff or the supporting actor for your front server. The expectation of a front server is to have all this knowledge and all the story and to be able to take guests to a place. The back-wait, their job is to get the plates on and off the table at the correct time, get the silverware down, get the glassware down. Keep in charge of the pace, the risk of the feet of rapidly pedaling under. Again, getting the hang of that position was such a lesson. It took longer than I probably would have wanted, but I’m also glad I got the best experience out of it.

I actually picked up a couple of shifts at Frasca the last few months, and I actually worked as a Frasca back-wait for somebody that I actually trained as a back-wait years ago. It was kind of a cool full-circle moment. I was still running around, a little bit more composed, but still back-waiting, making sure all of these steps were in place. It’s a cool position.

Eventually I was ready to start front serving. That’s where a lot of people progress, and it’s also where a lot of people stop. If they don’t want to pursue higher education, wine, or bar, or management, you can have a very fruitful career – not just at Frasca [but] in any fine dining restaurant – as a front server. In the industry it’s also called “being captain.” You can have a very, very fruitful career as a captain.

Sommelier Exams

Kirk Bachmann: The whole time I’m listening to you, it’s magical. You mentioned the word “storyteller.” You have to be a storyteller. It’s almost like a symphony. Everything has to happen at the right time. I love how you explain the plates have to be placed and removed at just the perfect time. It’s beautifully orchestrated. I just love how you share that. And I love that you get to go back in now and again and test yourself.

You’ve been super, super humble, but I need to go down the path here of you passing the Cordon Bleu Master Sommelier Certified exam after your first year. That is a really significant achievement for someone – for anyone, let’s say – but being young and relatively new in the industry, four, five, six years, something like that. Wow! On top of all the hard work and the studying, the late hours, getting ready, pushing yourself. What drove you, Connor, to pursue sommelier certification? For those who don’t know, maybe you could take a minute and explain what that process [is], what the steps of getting to Bobby’s level would be?

Connor Fowler: Got a long way to go for that!

There’s two paths you can go if you want to learn about wine. One is WSET [Wine & Spirit Education] which is a lot more wine-making. For the purpose of this, let’s talk a little bit more about the Court – the Court of Master Sommeliers. There’s really four levels. Starting at the top, you have somebody like Bobby. It is a crazy exam. It’s not just about the exam; it’s about all the steps you have to take to get there, all the wine that you taste, all the producers that you learn and that you work with, the amount of services that you work. When you get to that level, it’s not just an exam; it is a lifestyle. There are only several hundred M.S. in the world and in the U.S.

It’s something that I’ve learned. Something I’ve learned from Bobby is that being an M.S. isn’t necessarily the pinnacle of being a somme. Thinking about Bobby: he passed the M.S. before Frasca even opened. The night that he came back from the award ceremony, we were still doing service. He was over the moon about it. The M.S. is the ultimate exam. It’s theory, service, and tasting.

Below that is the Advanced, which is still an extremely hard test, something that you have to dedicate so much time. You learn so much by yourself, taking that exam. Then the Certified, which I passed. It is the one I passed in 2022. That’s really the first exam that you really [feel] like “Okay, now I have my feet on the ground. Now I do want to take this seriously.” A Certified is a great launch pad, if you will. You can go so many places with a Certified exam, but it’s also like “Now I’m really in it.”

Below that, obviously, it’s the Intro. It’s a very quick theory test. I did the whole thing online. I just studied for a little while, for a couple of months, and signed up online, took the exam.

The Certified is such a cool experience. I took the exam pretty much right at my one-year date of working at Frasca. It was really cool because I knew little bits here and there about wine before starting at Frasca, but I learned so much while I was there. It was kind of crazy that it all happened in a year. It was just a few months after my twenty-second birthday when I took that exam. It does feel like a while ago, but at the time, it was such a cool achievement.

We talk about these things being a journey. I was so convinced that I didn’t pass that day. I was staying at this hotel, a resort. I went down to the pool after I tested. I was just thinking all these things. “It’s a journey. It’s okay. I didn’t pass, and that’s okay. I learned from this. I’m going to come back next time.” When they called my name, obviously, that all went out the window!

You learn so much about yourself from doing these things. I think that’s the most important part. I know so many people who have taken multiple attempts all across the board. It is so much about who you become during this time as opposed to what score you get. I took the Advanced exam for the first time in February. I missed it by one percent. The day that I got those results back sucked, but Bobby called me, and he had some really, really good words of encouragement.

“Dude. You’re twenty-four years old, taking Advanced for the first time and only coming short by one percent? Dude. Put your ego aside. Be proud of that. Don’t be an ego maniac.” Those were his words.

Discipline More Than Intensity

Kirk Bachmann: That’s such great advice. You have so much to be proud of. Your father would be so proud of you. Honestly. It is a journey, and you’re still on that journey. And my gosh! You’re so, so young. I look forward to when you hear your name for Advanced, and then the next step.

Now you’re at Tavernetta. You’re a sommelier. You’re tackling even more challenges like the Advanced exam that you mentioned. I love that you say you’re “learning your place in the wine world.” Before we got started, you did the yawn exercise. I can’t imagine. What are some of the biggest challenges? Do you have to do a little bit of studying almost every single day before you hit the floor?

Connor Fowler: The thing is, it’s discipline far more than it is intensity. There’s a philosophy. I think it’s another Bobby-ism. “An hour is just an hour a day.” There are times where that’s really easy. There’s times where you don’t really want to do that. Setting aside a really, really good hour a day, you learn so much. It builds over time. It goes back to the thing that it does not happen overnight.

I don’t know if it was a mistake I made. I think I was relatively consistent going into my last exam. Leading up to the exam, I was pushing as hard as I possibly could. I took a few days off of work beforehand, which honestly might not have been the best idea. It would have been good to just have my routine and go into it as opposed to spending all this time to think and dwell on it. It’s just about discipline, and it’s about consistently, and it’s about your own pace.

We all fail at some point in our lives. It’s okay. Me not passing the exam this first time, that was one of the first real big lessons of failure that I’ve had. It’s still so new. It’s still so fresh. Even since then, I’ve learned a lot from that. The things you also learn about yourself during these things, it’s how much you need to be taking of yourself. I’ve said it quite a few times. How can I change my lifestyle to accommodate this, because this is the goal. This is what I want to do. What other noise can I cancel out to really focus on this? That includes money that you spend at a bar after work however many nights a week. No. You go home, and you sleep well. You get a better study session the next day. That money that you didn’t spend? You buy a bottle of wine from a producer that you wanted to learn about. Those are all things that build up over time. It’s just little things that add up in the long run.

Connor Fowler’s Ultimate Dish

Kirk Bachmann: Gosh, Connor. I just love the maturity in your voice, the experience, and the continued passion.

Before I let you go, this has been incredibly emotional. A really proud show for me. I got to know you pretty early on when you had just wrapped up here. Back then, you guys wore the different-colored jackets. There are only a few of you left out there. It was so cool to see you in it the other day.

Before we let you go: the name of the show is The Ultimate Dish. I know you’re on the wine side, so I’m sure you’re going to figure out a way to answer this question by pairing food and wine. In your mind, what is the ultimate dish?

Connor Fowler: I fortunately spent a little bit of time thinking about this.

Kirk Bachmann: Of course you did.

Connor Fowler: For me, it has to be my mom’s lasagna.

Kirk Bachmann: Oh wow!

Connor Fowler: It was my absolute favorite meal as a kid. My mom was the OG great cook I had in my life before I really started pursuing culinary school or anything like that. That was like my absolute favorite dish. Back then, it was the greatest thing I could ever have in front of me. Nowadays, it’s something so nostalgic. It’s something that I look forward to when I know it’s coming. If we are talking about wine, it’s Chianti Classico. It’s something that I definitely would drink with that. If I go to my mom’s house, sit outside, eat lasagna, drink a bottle of Chianti Classico, it’s a whole experience.

Kirk Bachmann: Do you know how to make the recipe yourself?

Connor Fowler: Theoretically I know how to, but moms just always do it best.

Kirk Bachmann: Mom’s going to do it.

Connor Fowler: Exactly. She let me help. Once I actually knew what I was doing, she’d let me help out, but there were other times where she was like, “Get out of the kitchen.” It was her kitchen.

Kirk Bachmann: Oh, gosh.

Connor Fowler: I very much understand the feeling. Very much understand the feeling.

Kirk Bachmann: Well, I hope she enjoys the show. You did a great job, buddy. I’m so proud to have you on the show. Continued success. I know I’ll hear from you and see you quite a bit. Thanks for everything.

Connor Fowler: Thank you so much for having me. It’s always a pleasure to talk to you.

Kirk Bachmann: Thank you for listening to the Ultimate Dish podcast, brought to you by Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. Visit escoffier.edu/podcast to find any materials mentioned during the podcast, including notes, links and other resources. And if you can, please leave us a rating on Apple or Spotify, and subscribe to support our show. This helps us reach more aspiring individuals ready to take the next step toward their dream careers. Thanks for listening.