BEHIND A GRAPE GUY
30+ Years in Wine, Beer & Hospitality
From restaurant management and beverage programs to consulting and education, Thomas Smith has built his career around helping people better understand and enjoy wine and beer.
MEET TOM
Thomas Smith
Award-winning Sommelier, Restaurateur, Beverage Manager, and Entrepreneur.
Thomas Smith created Raise The Bar to bring real-world beverage knowledge to the people who bring hospitality to life, servers, bartenders, and restaurant teams.
With decades of experience as a restaurant owner, beverage manager, consultant, and award-winning sommelier, Thomas has built, managed, and consulted over dozen award-winning restaurants.
A LIFETIME IN HOSPITALITY
Where It All Started
Thomas began his restaurant career at age 20 and quickly noticed something missing. While front-of-house teams were trained on service, procedures, and food, structured wine and beer education was often overlooked.
WHAT WAS MISSING
Restaurants often gave staff a beer and wine list to study, but rarely the education behind it. Without a strong foundation in wine and beer, it was harder for servers and bartenders to confidently talk about what they were serving.
A NEW APPROACH
Thomas saw an opportunity to make that knowledge more accessible. By teaching wine and beer in a clear, approachable way, he could help hospitality professionals better understand their beverage programs and speak about them with confidence at the table.
LEARNING FROM THE INDUSTRY
Knowledge Built Through Experience
Over the years, Thomas has worked alongside brewers, winemakers, beverage-industry leaders, and Master Sommeliers, learning from people who understand their craft from the inside out.
Those experiences shaped the way he teaches today: make wine and beer easier to understand, useful in the real world, and approachable enough for people to talk about with confidence.
A NEW WAY TO TEACH
Bringing Decades of Experience Online
After more than 30 years of teaching wine and beer in restaurants and bars, Thomas saw a way to make that knowledge easier for hospitality teams to access.
He developed Raise The Bar as an online class so servers and bartenders can learn at their own pace, while giving managers and owners a more practical way to train new employees as they join the team.
RAISE THE BAR
Give Your Team the Confidence to Talk Wine & Beer
When servers and bartenders understand what they’re selling, the conversation with guests changes.
Raise The Bar gives hospitality teams practical wine and beer knowledge they can use on the floor, from answering questions to speaking confidently about the beverage program.
