George Brown elevates server towards a career in food and wine
John Praskey had worked nearly every position in the restaurant industry before he started thinking of it as a career option.
"I had always enjoyed hospitality work, but had never really evaluated it as a career until I began taking on more responsibility in front-of-house positions," says Praskey, who already held a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Waterloo. "As soon as I realized that I wanted to progress further, educating myself seemed like the right way to start treating hospitality as a career and learning where it could take me."
A campus visit solidified his decision to enrol in George Brown's Food and Beverage Management program. "When I toured the campus on Adelaide Street, it felt very alive— students coming and going, student teams meeting in the halls and working on projects in study areas, glass-paneled cooking classrooms. I knew I had found the right environment to learn in."
Towards working in wine
The program proved to be the first step on a journey towards his current position as a brand manager for wine importer and distributor Rogers and Company Chateau, Villa, and Estate Wines. His role involves facilitating relationships between the LCBO and the importer's 70 wine producer clients worldwide. Praskey says he regularly uses his food and wine pairing knowledge as well as the business communication skills he learned in his program.
The connections he made at George Brown have also been key, including the referral from one of his professors that got him his first job after the program, as floor manager at Mildred's Temple Kitchen in Liberty Village. Continuing to build his wine expertise in this role made him realize that wine was his ultimate vocation. He soon moved to a small agency representing Ontario wineries, and then to his current company.
A personal connection
Beyond providing him with the skills and industry connections, Praskey says he also found a lot of personal support in the program. "I met a number of students who have become close friends and several professors who have become mentors to me, even long after my graduation," he says.
