{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Tasting Notes Toronto by Insider Wine","title":"Is Fine Dining Burning Out Its Best People? — Merrin McHugh","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2590,"description":"What does a wine career look like when your body can't do the hours anymore?\nMerrin McHugh ran the floor and the wine pairings at Actinolite for seven years. Then a stroke in 2023 took her off the floor. Today she is the Wine Director for restaurants Sara and Rasa,  the founder of Wine by Merrin, and does sales at Boires.\nWe talk about the 10-hour days and the 400-name handwritten wait list that burned her out, the three days she was alone after the stroke, and how she now runs two wine programs without being on the floor — a $60 pairing at Sara included. Plus: can fine dining and a life outside it coexist at all? \"No. Maybe.\"\nWe also get into the kitchen that used fermented white-currant juice instead of lemon, and \"no news is news\" — her advice to every wine rep and every buyer.\nIf you work in restaurants, hire sommeliers, or just want to know what the hours really cost, this episode is a must-listen.\nIs Fine Dining Burning Out Its Best People? — Merrin McHugh\nTimestamps:\n00:00 Would she do it again at 40?\n00:35 Joining Actinolite the week the Globe review hit\n02:36 Cooking the Canadian landscape: no lemon, foraged dishes, the health inspector\n04:29 From Yours Truly to running Actinolite's wine list\n07:14 Building pairings for vegetable-led menus: orange wine, a sparkling red, the egg dish\n11:30 A day in the life of a 26-seat restaurant\n12:42 Burning out: bonfire dinners and the 400-name wait list\n14:47 Leaving for a fishing lodge in BC\n16:07 The stroke\n18:14 Rehab, her voice, and learning to walk and speak again\n20:42 Wine by Merrin: consulting for Sara and Rasa from home\n23:48 What a working week looks like now\n25:17 Is this sustainable? Partner, parents and rest\n27:40 Can a tasting menu afford a full-time sommelier?\n30:17 One thing she'd change about the industry\n31:32 Advice for the next generation\n33:43 Life as a wine rep, and what reps and buyers get wrong\n36:27 Ontario producers worth finding\n39:20 Her favourite Toronto wine lists\n42:11 Where to find...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/qu6sl5IgAAe55ng9ARpyYSW-PPfIZ_6b8pSn9asQ7QY/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS81ZTNh/NGU4YjQ5YmQ5ODk4/NTdiOGYwNGZhNDM1/ZjZmZi5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}