Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Accomplishments
LANGUAGES
Timeline
Generic

LAUREN CARO

Los Angeles,CA

Summary

I am a dynamic, curious and hands on person who thoroughly enjoys working in a team environment, thriving on professional challenges. I am personable, outgoing, bubbly and creative in my work ethic. I have been part of the wine and hospitality universe, with over 20 years of experience, working in France, The United States and South America. I am exceedingly passionate about wine education from staff to table. As an epicurean and oenophile, I love to share with the world my expertise and knowledge of wine. I am extremely driven and ambitious. I consider myself to be hard working, self-disciplined and eager to learn.

Overview

21
21
years of professional experience

Work History

Wine Director

IB Hospitality, Juliet, Margot & Norah Restaurants
11.2021 - Current
  • Manage and maintain wine cellar and storage warehouse and inventory worth 3million dollars.
  • Manage a team of 3 sommeliers and educate 65 staff members across 3 locations with specialized wine programs tailored to each individual restaurant.
  • Strong and hands on leadership on the floor at all times.
  • Design and curate 46 page wine list using Indesign software, including 60 wines by the glass with various pours, measurements and the highest quality glassware.
  • Handled questions and concerns skillfully and redirected customers toward higher profit items to increase per-ticket revenue, upselling from one glass to a complete wine tasting experience.
  • Represent establishment professionally with guests and have earned consistent repeat and referral business.
  • Train, develop and motivate all staff to uphold IB Hospitality standards of excellence, assisting them with certifications, enhancing creativity and pushing the team's confidence and knowledge on the floor during service to maximize revenue and maintain stellar reputation for service.
  • Set up successful and high profile wine tastings, pop up events and unique wine dinners to increase business and promote special offerings, attracting new clientele and generating additional revenue streams.
  • Develop strong relationships with distributors and vendors, ensuring access to exclusive bottles and competitive pricing, while monitoring industry market trends.
  • Actively engage in wine service and lead with a direct approach, providing personalized wine recommendations based on guest's preferences and menu selections, aiming to create a seamless and delightful dining experience.
  • Increase restaurant's reputation as a leading destination for oenophiles by consistently offering exceptional products and services.
  • Develop strong connections with wine makers, planning and booking them for special and private events as well as preshift for the team and participating during service.
  • Collaborate closely with executive chef to create harmonious food and wine pairings.
  • Monitor and track key financial targets (revenue, beverage cost, labor cost, etc.)
  • Fully engaged with marketing and social media team, creating all digital content and photography to promote specific bottles, new additions and events featuring winemakers or themed tastings that attracted targeted demographics.
  • Keep facility compliant with health codes, sanitation requirements and license regulations, alleviating potentially heavy fines.

Creator, Owner + Certified Sommelier

Girls Gone Wine LLC
01.2012 - Current
  • Company Overview: www.girlsgonewine.life
  • Unique, Playful, Educational & Personalized Wine Tasting.
  • Teaching wine tasting basics and techniques, viticulture, vinification, terroir, minerality, tannins, acidity, appropriate glassware. World class tasting topics : Appellations, Regions, World, Grape Varietals, Biodynamic/Organic, Grand Crus, American VS French Chardonnay, World’s Syrah.
  • Initiation and training on blind tasting.
  • Private & Corporate Events - creative food and wine catering.
  • Complete Receptions Prepared by a Private Chef, with Wine Selection Pairing and full Gastronomy Service.
  • Personal Wine Broker and Cellar Management.
  • Advising and on selecting your wine according to your taste, budget and menu; cutting through the intimidating and complex wine world, from the easy lively drink to the sophisticated high quality bottle.
  • Eclectic, sustainable and mind-conscious wine selection, with utmost respect for the Winemaker and Terroir.

Sommelier + Wine Educator

Restaurant SOMOS
01.2019 - 01.2020
  • Granting my expertise - advising, consulting and identifying restaurant inefficiencies - executing improvements.
  • Designing and modeling current Wine Menus in order to innovate and escalate wine list development, trend and sales - constantly revising, rotating, marketing and promoting wines.
  • Importing of French Wine - developing wine sales in Ecuador.
  • Educating and managing of entire training program including all team members - viticulture, vinification, service, food and wine pairing knowledge aligning with restaurant standards.

Restaurant Manager + Sommelier

Restaurant “Belle Vie Food and Wine”
01.2016 - 01.2020
  • Intimate and Exclusive French Restaurant Business - Responsible for daily wine and operations management - Working extremely closely to the Owner and Head Chef - Liaising on menu creation, execution and full oversight from kitchen to mouth.
  • Heading up all FOH operations.
  • Creating a trusting relationship between the guest and the restaurant, earning undying loyalty.
  • Provisioning of the wine cellar - maintaining wine inventory and verifying wine deliveries.

Assistant Director + Importation & Distribution of Wines & Spirits

H.Mercer Wine Import, Inc.
01.2016 - 01.2018
  • Recruited to coordinate US imports - resolving all customs issues impacting the smooth receipt and distribution of orders, relieving the company director of dutiful tasks.
  • Designing and controlling technical presentation material for over 30 imported wines, creating image and label libraries and catalogues for imported wines with FDA approval.
  • Standardizing processes that instantly boosted order fulfillment capabilities and sales representative responsiveness.
  • Identifying import legality issues with various countries and wine industries.

Restaurant Manager + Sommelier

Restaurant “Le Caro de Lyon”
01.2006 - 01.2014
  • Hiring, training and managing a team of 20 people, 10 kitchen staff and 10 FOH staff, 200 seat capacity.
  • Annual Revenue: 1,4 Millions Euros. Managed a 60 000 Euro wine inventory, more than 500 wine list references from around the world.
  • Encountering with winemakers and agents, negotiating purchases and orders based on volume, on hand inventory, storage capacity, sell through and delivery schedule, wine rotation.
  • Preparing and distributing payroll.

Chef de Rang

Restaurant “Chefs de France - Paul Bocuse”
01.2005 - 01.2006
  • Performing Chef de Rang duties: set up, reception, taking orders, advising on food and wine pairing, waiting on customers, handling bills.

Education

Associate Degree in Sales & Marketing -

IDRAC Business School
Lyon, France

French Certified Sommelier -

Suze La Rousse Wine University
France

Skills

  • Wine education
  • Wine tasting events
  • Wine sales strategy
  • Cellar management
  • Communication & teamwork
  • Analytical thinking
  • Demonstrating leadership
  • Problem-solving skills
  • Attention to detail
  • Forging solid relationships with coworkers & guests

Accomplishments

  • 2012: Girls Gone Wine Creation: Wine Tasting, Events & Catering.
  • 2013: 3rd place at ‘The Best Mountain Sommelier’ Wine Tasting Competition, Val d’Isere, FRANCE – Only female sommelier to reach top 3.
  • 2018: Creation of a Rosé AOP Côtes de Provence, Cuvée Girls Gone Wine, La Londe-les-Maures, FRANCE.
  • 2019: Established Wine Menu for the restaurant SOMOS, Importation of French Wine, Quito, ECUADOR.
  • 2023 & 2024: Best of Award of Excellence Wine Spectator, Juliet, Los Angeles
  • 2025: Star Wine List Finalist, Juliet, Los Angeles


- WSET Level 3- Wine & Spirits Education Trust

- Champagne Masters- Wine Scholar Guild


LANGUAGES

French : Mother Tongue.
English : Excellent Level Spoken and Written.
Spanish : Reasonable Conversational Level.

Timeline

Wine Director

IB Hospitality, Juliet, Margot & Norah Restaurants
11.2021 - Current

Sommelier + Wine Educator

Restaurant SOMOS
01.2019 - 01.2020

Restaurant Manager + Sommelier

Restaurant “Belle Vie Food and Wine”
01.2016 - 01.2020

Assistant Director + Importation & Distribution of Wines & Spirits

H.Mercer Wine Import, Inc.
01.2016 - 01.2018

Creator, Owner + Certified Sommelier

Girls Gone Wine LLC
01.2012 - Current

Restaurant Manager + Sommelier

Restaurant “Le Caro de Lyon”
01.2006 - 01.2014

Chef de Rang

Restaurant “Chefs de France - Paul Bocuse”
01.2005 - 01.2006

Associate Degree in Sales & Marketing -

IDRAC Business School

French Certified Sommelier -

Suze La Rousse Wine University

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