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Glancy Wine Education Foundation Welcomes New Board Members
Glancy Wine Education Foundation Welcomes New Board Members

Associated Press

time6 minutes ago

  • Business
  • Associated Press

Glancy Wine Education Foundation Welcomes New Board Members

- Brandon Ford and Annie Shi join board to advance fundraising and community initiatives - SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., July 23, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The Glancy Wine Education Foundation (GWEF) today announced the appointment of two new board members, Brandon Ford and Annie Shi, as the organization marks a leadership transition with the stepping down of Vice President Alder Yarrow after five years of dedicated service. Ford, Sales Director at Formulated Solutions and elected councilman of the Summit County Council in Ohio, will join GWEF's Fundraising Committee. Shi, the acclaimed restaurateur behind King, Jupiter, and Lei in New York City, will spearhead the foundation's newly formed Community Committee—focused on fostering scholarship recipient networking, mentorship, and community building as GWEF celebrates its fifth anniversary. 'I'm honored to join the Glancy Wine Education Foundation board,' said Ford. 'Their work bridges the gap between passion and profession, making wine education more accessible to those who have historically been underrepresented in the industry. Supporting that mission is both a personal and professional calling for me.' Ford brings 18 years of wine industry experience, including work with the American Wine School and WSET Advanced Certificate credentials. His multidisciplinary background spans degrees in nursing, law, and business, along with extensive teaching experience in wine education. Shi, a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and Yale University graduate, leads beverage programs at her restaurants, which have garnered recognition from The New York Times, Food and Wine, Vogue, and New York Magazine. King was named to the top ten of The New York Times' 2025 Best Restaurants in New York City list. 'GWEF's mission to bring accessible wine education to more people is one that is near and dear to my heart—I wish GWEF had existed when I was starting out in my career,' Shi said. 'In my day-to-day life in restaurants, I encounter so many wonderful hospitality professionals who have aspirations of continuing their wine education. I can't wait to spread the word about GWEF and connect them with our organization.' The appointments come as Vice President Alder Yarrow concludes a five-year tenure with the foundation. Yarrow was instrumental in GWEF's founding during the COVID-19 pandemic and helped shape its mission to support underserved communities in wine education. 'We are deeply grateful to Alder for his vision and leadership over these foundational five years,' said Ana Keller, President of GWEF. 'His contributions have been essential to building GWEF into the nationally recognized organization it is today. We're excited to welcome Brandon and Annie, whose expertise will help us expand our impact through enhanced fundraising efforts and stronger community connections for our scholarship recipients. Their locations in the Midwest and East Coast respectively reinforce our national reach.' The new Community Committee, led by Shi, represents GWEF's commitment to supporting scholarship recipients beyond their initial education, creating ongoing opportunities for professional development, networking, and mentorship within the wine industry. Since its founding in 2020, GWEF has awarded 249 scholarships totaling $350,000 to aspiring wine professionals from underserved communities nationwide. The foundation maintains a four-star rating from Charity Navigator and a Platinum Transparency rating from Candid's GuideStar. GWEF board members serve on an all-volunteer basis, and the foundation's educational partnerships now span San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, providing access to WSET qualifications, Society of Wine Educators certifications, Wine Scholar Guild programs, and other specialized wine education courses. Professionals in need of financial aid are encouraged to apply for scholarships year-round at Applications are available in Spanish and English, with awards made monthly. About The Glancy Wine Education Foundation Established in 2020, The Glancy Wine Education Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization dedicated to assisting underserved and minority communities with scholarships to further their professional wine education, increase diversity, and raise earning power. Find out more at MEDIA CONTACTS: Kimberly Noelle Charles, DipWSET and Board Member [email protected] 415-701-9463 Angela Slade, Slade Consultancy [email protected] 415-819-5131 NEWS SOURCE: Glancy Wine Education Foundation Keywords: Education and Schools, Glancy Wine Education Foundation, DEI, BIPOC, Diversity, Wine Education, Scholarships, Philanthropy, Hospitality Education, Sommeliers, SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (Glancy Wine Education Foundation) who is solely responsibile for its accuracy, by Send2Press® Newswire. Information is believed accurate but not guaranteed. Story ID: S2P127971 APNF0325A To view the original version, visit: © 2025 Send2Press® Newswire, a press release distribution service, Calif., USA. RIGHTS GRANTED FOR REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY ANY LEGITIMATE MEDIA OUTLET - SUCH AS NEWSPAPER, BROADCAST OR TRADE PERIODICAL. MAY NOT BE USED ON ANY NON-MEDIA WEBSITE PROMOTING PR OR MARKETING SERVICES OR CONTENT DEVELOPMENT. Disclaimer: This press release content was not created by nor issued by the Associated Press (AP). Content below is unrelated to this news story.

A King Co-Owner Opens an Intimate Chinese American Wine Bar
A King Co-Owner Opens an Intimate Chinese American Wine Bar

Eater

time05-06-2025

  • Business
  • Eater

A King Co-Owner Opens an Intimate Chinese American Wine Bar

Lei, a new wine bar, opens on Friday, June 6, on one of Chinatown's most historic streets, at 15-17 Doyers Street, along a winding car-free stretch of the neighborhood. It joins a new wave of Asian American wine bars that opened within a mile of each other in Lower Manhattan over the past year, like Ha's Snack Bar, a Vietnamese bistro, and Sunn's, serving Korean small plates, expanding what today's New York wine bars look and feel like. 'Doyer Street is just so iconic [and] historically significant,' says Lei's owner Annie Shi. Much of the open real estate in Chinatown is passed through word of mouth; it took time to find the right spot. There were various points where she wasn't sure she was going to be able to open a wine bar there, but she finally signed the lease in December 2024, just days out from her water breaking and giving birth. Across the board, Lei has been a labor of love; it's named 'as an homage to Shi's late sister Hannah (Lei was her Chinese given name),' per the release. Shi has made a name in New York for herself alongside Jess Shadbolt and Clare De Boer, partnering on King, in the West Village, and Jupiter, in Rockefeller Center, both with European-leaning menus. She'll remain involved in both, but Lei is her independent endeavor (much like De Boer has with her spot Stissing House). Lei references a modern take on the Chinese cooking that the Rego Park, Queens native grew up with, interwoven with her years as a restaurant owner and beverage director — a project she's been dreaming of for years. In a slender storefront like this one, even the smallest design details must be considered. There's no basement, so wine director and Heroes alum Matt Turner's bottle storage had to be thoughtfully positioned. And there's the all-electric kitchen: 'Obviously, gas is incredibly important for wok cooking, but to be frank, there are so many better places that do wok cooking around us, that's not going to happen here. So, okay, what else can we explore in Chinese cookery that is different?' she says of wanting to be considerate to the neighborhood. She added that she looked to wine bars in Paris, where they do so much with electric hookups, for some creative thinking. 'Steaming [and braising] is a big part of Chinese cooking that is suitable for wine because it's a little bit more delicate, you retain a lot of the natural flavors of the ingredient,' she says. For some, the electric set-up and small kitchen combo would be intimidating, but Lei's chef Patty Lee, an alum of Mission Chinese, says: 'I think the worst thing that can happen to you is having a blank canvas and staring at that. I feel more creative the more constraints there are.' The two spent a lot of time chatting through their collective dream menus. It's an edited list: There are fewer than 15 dishes on the menu, split into hot and cold sections. The hand-rolled cat's ear noodles, which Shi describes as a less 'rustic' version than what she grew up with, are tweaked to pair with wine and served with lamb braised in cumin and tomato. It's the kind of place to find specials that might include items like three-cup fresh squid, a play on the Taiwanese three-cup chicken. Lee also adapted a chrysanthemum salad recipe from her days running Kichin in Bushwick (which closed during the pandemic), on trend with other towering salads of late. 'The dressing is 90 percent tea that's been blended with vinegar — it feels like a bit more grown-up than the Vitasoy juice box.' While they considered outsourcing, Lee is making the sesame bread, shaobing, from scratch, served with a pat of butter. 'It's so delicious and kind of unexpected,' says Shi. Every wine bar needs its dessert: Lei will have two because Lee says she's 'such a sweets fiend.' To start, a guava shaved ice with pineapple guava, guava jelly, and tapioca; then there will be an eight treasure pudding with sticky toffee and vanilla ice cream. It's a take on a dessert staple of Chinese New Year, that Shi says her dad is obsessed with to the point that he keeps a freezer stockpile. 'Every family has a different version of what the eight treasures are. So it could be like black sugar, walnuts, or red bean,' Shi says. Overall, the idea is for the 24-seat Lei to be a walk-in-friendly spot. 'We really thought about what the difference is between a wine bar and a restaurant, and we wanted to make sure to keep that more casual feeling,' says Shi. There will be standing room at the intimate bar. Chinatown has many celebratory BYOB spots, and Shi wants Lei to offer something 'complementary.' She says, 'the idea was you can totally have a meal if you want, but more importantly, if you are going to dinner somewhere in the neighborhood' — on just this block alone, there's spots like Nom Wah Tea Parlor, Chinese Tuxedo, Taiwan Pork Chop House, and Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles — 'you can stop by for a glass of wine before or after your meal to kind of make it a full evening.' Sign up for our newsletter.

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