F&B LA 2018

Caroline Styne
Sommelier & Restaurateur
The Lucques Group


Caroline Styne was raised in Los Angeles and began her work in the food service industry in 1989 when, at the age of 22, she co-founded Basically Baked Inc., producing and distributing specialty foods to retail accounts nation-wide. By 1994, she was managing restaurants and teamed with celebrated restaurateur Sean MacPherson at Jones, in Hollywood. While there, she was introduced to Suzanne Goin. The meeting was life-changing for both and led to the opening of their flagship restaurant, Lucques, in 1998. With Suzanne’s culinary talent and Caroline’s business acumen they made a formidable creative team. The restaurant met with instant success and their efforts helped her partner to be recognized as one of Food and Wine magazine’s “Best New Chefs” 1999. Lucques received praise from Condé Nast Traveler, Gourmet, Bon Appétit and Saveur, including a prestigious 3 star review by the Los Angeles Times. Caroline has served as the restaurant’s sommelier and wine director from the beginning, and has received multiple Awards of Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine. As Wine Director, Caroline is nationally recognized for her expertise in the restaurants’ much-admired wine programs. Food & Wine named a.o.c. Best New Wine List of 2003. The restaurant also received the prestigious Award of Excellence by Wine Spectator three times and was named among the 100 Best Wine Restaurants 2015 by Wine Enthusiast. When she introduced an entirely new list at a.o.c. in 2013 that included only wines produced from biodynamic, sustainable or organic farming practices, the restaurant was praised by The Los Angeles Times. In 20016, a.o.c. was named among best Wine Bars in Los Angeles by Thrillist and Eater LA. a.o.c. is consistently applauded for their imaginative craft cocktails that mirror the farmers’ market influence of Suzanne Goin’s seasonal menus.

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