JONATHAN MITCHELL BIO
Wine Director/Sommelier Jonathan Mitchell has fine-tuned wine lists for restaurants such as The Palm, Pacific Dining Car, Morton's of Chicago (in Boston, Beverly Hills and Burbank), and The Sterling Steakhouse/Sideways Lounge.
He has traveled the world, from California’s wine country to France and even to Japan, where he was the sole American judge at the Japan Wine Challenge, hosted by Steven Spurrier. Annually he judges the Central Coast Wine Competition in Paso Robles, hosted by Bob Foster.
Jonathan is regularly featured on Tom Leykis’s The Tasting Room, Indie 103.1’s Wino Wednesday with Liz Warner, and is a regular participant with Anthony Dias Blue's Tasting Panel Magazine (formerly the Bon Appetit Panel). He has also been featured in Chalk Hill's Guide to Sommeliers in America, Variety Magazine, FOX 11 News, the syndicated radio shows The Lighten Up Lounge and What's Cookin’, and is the palate editor for the website Wine and Music (www.wineandmusic.com), where he writes the column, "Sommelier Says".
He also runs wine seminars and tastings for private parties and major corporations. His wine lists are comprised of many of the greatest wines from all around the world, encompassing all price points and styles.
In his current role as General Manager at West Restaurant, Jonathan combines an easygoing, relaxed style with great passion as he helps guests find that perfect wine to complete their dining experience! His mission is to help demystify wine for them, emphasizing that they trust their own palate. The only thing they NEED to know about wine is if they like it or not. His credo is, “YOU know what you like, so that makes YOU the expert!" That attitude has won Jonathan fans citywide.
He keeps up on current wine trends for fun, and has a roundtable of his own, meeting monthly with LA's top sommeliers and wine professionals for a casual but educational double-blind tasting.
