Community & Curation: A Fresh Start

*The zucca marinata from yesterday’s Alla Norma luncheon at the Garibaldina Society*

For nearly a decade, I wrote a blog about alcohol, the wine & spirits business, and my experiences navigating the industry, updated just about every day without exception. This was before the iPhone, before Instagram, and before our attention spans were completely destroyed by short-form video.

It started in 2009. I was a new buyer for the beloved K&L Wine Merchants looking for a way to share my ideas with customers. When 20-30 people began tuning in, I was thrilled. Five years later, I had thousands of people reading what I wrote and producers flying me out to cover their distilleries, brand releases, etc. It was all so new and exciting! Eventually, I had celebrities wanting to do interviews and I was meeting all these people I really admired, drinking with them, and listening to their incredible stories.

By the time I left K&L in 2018, I was completely burnt out. The blog had pretty much been an ongoing journal of my life, and I was tired of sharing it with people. I retreated from anything public for the next five years, until I started my consulting company Two-Nineteen in 2023. The original form of this website previously housed a blog where I occasionally opined about industry trends and business practices, as my goal was to win new clients.

Last night, however, while I was falling asleep after an incredible evening of Italian food at the Garibaldina Society, I decided to erase the entire site and start over. I did this because, after years of telling people how to market their brands and talk to consumers, I realized business strategy is completely moot if you can’t lead by example. If I can’t personally demonstrate how today’s wine and spirits professionals should be communicating, why would (or should) anyone listen to me?

On top of that, my client list is currently full, so a business website dedicated to winning new business isn’t really all that helpful to. Also, I kind of miss writing about stuff. So here we go. Here’s the blog I would write today if I could write about anything I wanted to: community & curation.

*The old school bar at the Garibaldina Society set up for Alla Norma*

If you want to know why some retailers, bars, and restaurants are thriving while others are floundering in the new age of Ozempic and Gen Z malaise, I can tell you. Community and curation are the two biggest drivers of new business in the post-COVID world because consumers have never been more overwhelmed and lonely. If your business isn’t offering the ability for customers to build new friendships, while introducing them to all sorts of exciting new adventures, you’re missing the moment.

I’ll use myself as an example. Since moving to LA in 2018, my wife and I have continually been on the hunt for social interaction. We’ve joined restaurant clubs, private societies, and volunteered locally in community events. Few of these experiences have been as rewarding in such a short period of time as the ones we’ve had at the Garibaldina Society, an Italian-American social club that dates back to 1877. The reason for our enthusiasm is simple: we like to eat Italian food, drink cocktails, open bottles of wine, and dance. That’s pretty much what happens when you go.

What separates the Garibaldina Society from every other social club I’ve participated in thus far is the fact that everyone we’ve met is 100% on board with the same plan. There’s zero pretense in the room. No one’s posturing or pretending to be anything other than extremely excited to eat, drink, and have fun. Which brings me to yesterday’s pop-up event with Alla Norma—an Italian supper club experience from Napoli-based chef Steph Whitaker.

Community and curation, right? The Alla Norma event was a shining example of everything that restaurants, bars, and retailers need to be doing as often as possible. Create a cool space, fill it with fun and interesting people, offer them an experience that is uniquely tailored to a specific theme, and deliver it with positive, joyful, and unpretentious gusto. The theme was Napoli. The food was distinctly Neopolitan. Everything was served family style. Steph, herself, walked from table to table with a huge smile on her face, dropping giant bowls of pasta, checking in on everyone in attendance. Watching her work the room was both intoxicating and inspiring because, inherently, I’m a customer service voyeur who derives supreme satisfaction from watching it done properly.

Anyone who’s worked in the food & wine industry as long as I have knows the potential for pomposity at any ticketed event like this, especially when the authenticity of another culture is on the menu. Watching professionals use food events to sell themselves, their cookbooks, and their public personas has become something I genuinely loath because it’s about serving their egos rather than the guest. The business of hospitality in the influencer age has moved so far away from the needs of the customer, it’s rare to find a public event that isn’t centered around overt narcissism and social media clicks.

Working in conjunction with Garibaldina president and chef Amanda Lanza, and the outstanding baking of Lisa Thompson, these three ladies pulled off what I consider to be the most exciting and valuable experience available to people like me in 2026: a curated, culinary cornucopia of delicious bites, delivered by people who are excited to see you excited. Community-focused, seated in large family-style tables of 8-10, the entire event felt like eating at someone’s house with 70 people, with whom you wish you could have spent more time.

Community and curation. If you build it, they will come—and I will come with them! Because, like everyone else I know, I’m yearning for honest and unpretentious interaction when it comes to food and booze.

-David Driscoll