Marnie Old, an embattled sommelier?
Submitted by Wine Reviews from the Wine School
A recent much-talked about gossip column in the Daily News points out that longtime Philly sommelier Marnie Old is battling a budding restaurateur.
The owners of the Union Trust steakhouse have lashed out at a local sommelier (that’s wine expert to you and me) who’s trying to block them from getting a liquor license.
Marnie Old, who lives on the same block as the steakhouse, filed a protest letter with the state Liquor Control Board last summer. Read the whole article here: Marnie v Union Trust
The article implies that Marnie’s protest is hypocritical, since she has been involved with opening a number of major restaurants within Philly. The resulting hailstorm of blog and forum posts has been a bit overwhelming. From the personal attacks on Phillyblogs, to the misogynist comments on philly.com, to the criticism on Phoodie, this has not been a good week for Ms. Old.
Before Marnie is publicly tarred-and-feathered over this issue, it must be pointed out that she did nothing wrong. Any Philly resident can protest a new restaurant liquor license. These hearings are commonplace and part of the democratic process. Are we willing to deny a citizen the right to participate in the governmental process because she could benefit from it, both personally and professionally? This may come as a surprise to some, but self-interest is fundamental to the workings of both democracy and capitalism.
I don’t know Marnie Old, even though there was a persistent rumor a number of years ago that we were dating (we weren’t: I was dating a lovely woman named Marni). In fact, she is a competitor of my Wine School, and her luke-warm opinion of it is clearly evident in this Philadelphia Magazine article she wrote. I am not defending her out of friendship or kinship, but out of principle. Let Marnie be.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Do you have a great recipe or a great wine that you want to tell the world about? Register on Food and Wine Blog now and get published within minutes. Before posting, it is recommended that you review our posting guidelines.
