Sam the Somm Wants to Put a Sommelier on Every Table (Via QR Code)

We've all been there. The menu is great, the wine list is three pages long, and the server who might know the answer is across the room refilling someone's water for the fourth time. So you order "the house red" and hope for the best.

Sam, better known as Samthesomm (@samthesomm), has a fix in mind. She's a CMS-certified sommelier whose bio promises to "make wine fun again," and with about 9,150 followers and more than half a million likes, she's been doing exactly that with sketches that are one part wine class, one part restaurant-industry group chat. In this one, she plays both sides of a surprise party to announce what she's been working on.

What Sam says she's building

Sam says she co-founded an app that "takes the individual beverage and food menus from a specific restaurant and automatically pairs them." Here's how she describes it:

• The restaurant gets a QR code. Guests scan it at the table.
• It opens that restaurant's own menus. All of the food, all of the drinks, in one place.
• Pairings come built in. Wine, cocktails, beer, sake, "whatever," matched to the dishes and vetted by sommeliers.
• No flagging anyone down. The point is a great pairing "without having to wave down a server or talk to a somm if there isn't one available."

Her own verdict: "pretty effing cool." Congratulations, Sam! I'd throw you a party too, but you already did. We'll keep an eye out for where it lands.

Pair like a somm in Sarasota, starting tonight

You don't have to wait for a QR code to eat and drink smarter around here:

• Long wine lists, small decisions. Somewhere with a big by-the-glass list? Pick your dish first, then ask for two glasses that go with it and choose between them.
• Happy hour roulette. Half-price pours and fried grouper bites are a pairing all their own. Bubbles and fried anything is the move.
• Not just wine. Grouper sandwich on a Siesta Key patio? A crisp lager earns its spot, and Sam's idea counts beer and cocktails too.
• Talk to a human. Plenty of Sarasota and Bradenton wine bars and shops have staff who love this stuff. Tell them what you're eating, and let them show off.

Play along at home: next time you're out, guess the pairing before the server suggests one. Keep score. My heart is on the fried grouper either way.

Huge thanks to Sam for the laughs and the good wine content. Go give her a follow, and cheers to the launch!