Wine Business Has Vintage Appeal for Restaurant Exec

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Growing up in the kitchen of his parent’s Honolulu restaurant, Michael Jordan learned to embrace his Italian roots by sharing food and wine with family and friends. The master sommelier, whose father owned Matteo’s Italian Restaurant in both Los Angeles and Honolulu, has taken this family tradition and turned it into a career of his own.

As the new president of the Beachcomber restaurants in Malibu and Newport Beach, Jordan is working to update the menu, and will provide wine education courses for both staff and customers.

“I’m just delighted and thrilled because now I’m back at the beach,” said Jordan, who grew up in Hawaii and received his degree in food service management from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu.

Jordan honed his skills during nine years as general manager of Napa Rose Restaurant in Anaheim, owned by Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. He taught wine education classes for more than 400 Disney employees to certify them as sommeliers, earning the nickname “sommelier of the people.”

Now at Beachcomber, he looks forward to working along the Malibu coast, which has a young but thriving wine country.

One of his goals, wherever he has worked, is to demystify wine for everyone, teaching appreciation without taking it too seriously.

“In the old country, where my family came from, wine is part of your daily life,” he said. “It’s not so serious. It’s not so intense.”

Jordan also has uncorked the challenge of opening his own wine company, Word, with his wife, Teresa. The couple recently bottled their first Cabernet Sauvignon, and hopes to release it along with a pinot noir in the next couple of months.

“We’re really excited because everybody’s clamoring for the wine,” said Jordan, who plans to offer the wine at both Beachcombers. “There’s a lot of demand for it.”

Jordan, 52, lives in Costa Mesa with Teresa – they met on the beach. When he’s not serving up wine, he spends his time surfing and playing Hawaiian music on his guitar.

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