The Sonoma Table

Dame Melissa Smith is a consummate polymath. Talented in many areas and endlessly curious, Melissa has worked in hallowed restaurants such as Terra and the French Laundry, blows glass as a hobby, cultivates a wide circle of wine and food people around the world and has forged a unique path as an expert in cellar valuation—a rarified skill that lands her in courtrooms as an expert witness and in articles chronicling the world of wine collectors. Generous with her time and her myriad skills, Melissa is known for arriving at gatherings with a collection of expertly baked gougeres, exotic desserts and hand-bottlings of rose water—a nod to her Tunisian husband’s roots.   

Let’s learn more about Melissa.

• How'd you get into the food industry?

  • I grew up in Fremont, and during high school I worked at a high-end catering business and managed their retail shop. Because I had no idea what “culinary” meant, I'd spend my time reading Gourmet and Bon Appetit while my classmates were reading Cosmo and YM. One day on a family trip, we stopped at the giant stone castle (Greystone!) on highway 29 in St Helena that I’d always been curious about and were asked if we wanted to join the cooking demonstration. By the end of it I knew I never wanted to leave the building. I took the one-week career exploration course during spring break when all of the other seniors went to Cancun and by the end of the week I had three job offers at Greystone along with many other opportunities.

• Who Inspired you to get into the food industry and who inspires you still?

  • I loved the programs on Channel Nine. Yan Can Cook, Jacques Pepin, Joanne Weir, and Rick Bayless all had massive impacts on my career. Now I am inspired by my travels, the tucked away gems where they are perfecting a handful of dishes. 

• Is there a woman in the food industry that inspires you?

  • Fellow Dame Christina Topham is such an inspiration, she's making incredible food and constantly facing the challenges of a small business owner with grace and transparency. 

• What are you currently doing? 

  • I am the founder of Enotrias Elite Sommelier Service, a wine appraiser, expert witness, and the creator of the Wine Collecting Master Class. I am spending my days cataloging a 14,000-bottle cellar for a collector who passed away. I also do private tasting events and am working towards buying a property where I can conduct farm-to-table events focusing on extreme sustainability, plant medicine, and community. 

• What do you enjoy about being a Dame?

  • Spending time with mentors and peers! It's been very hard for me throughout both careers as a chef and sommelier to find women to relate to, commiserate with and exchange support. I think many of us bootstrap our businesses, self-fund and hold it all together. The more that we can come together, share stories, lessons, and community, the better we’ll be able to support future generations of women entering our industries. 

• What do you like to do for fun?

  • Travel! Having the time and means to explore new countries and cultures is the ultimate for me. I also blow glass, paint, and do random creative projects involving plant medicine. Kayaking and horseback riding are also my favorite outdoor pastimes that need to present themselves more often. 

• Talk about your accomplishments.

  • Beyond my restaurant, retail and many other areas of experience in the industry, I’m the only person in the country with a legal accreditation on the Valuation of Wine Collections.

    
    My first major expert witness assignment was for the Department of Justice in the "Fat Leonard" trial, the biggest bribery scandal in US history involving the US Navy.

• Anything else you’d like to share with us.

  • I am more grateful for the friends I have in this industry that have shown up for me in various ways than I ever could have imagined. The value of quality women that support other women is more valuable than I think we all realize, and I am so very excited for these bonds to strengthen, for opportunities to thrive and support our communities to present themselves, and to face this next chapter in our lives with fortitude, optimism, experience, passion, and friendship. 

Thank you Melissa for all you have contributed to the chapter in this relatively short time!

—Written by Dame Gilian Handelman