Open That Bottle by LINDA GARSON photography by INGRID KUENZEL
“If you work in a place and you’re miserable, I don’t know if there is a dollar amount that can be attached to that. The work that you’re doing has to be rewarding and challenging,” says Karen Kho. Growing up in Niagara Falls, in a Philippino Spanish/Chinese family, Kho was surrounded by food and drinks, with an open door policy that has had a huge influence on the person she is today - an 42
entertainer who likes to make people feel welcome. “My parents wanted me to be a lawyer, there was definitely an encouragement to use my voice for good,” she explains. “And I still think I help people but in a different way, a very social way.”
apply,” she says. “It’s pretty romantic to work for a company that has been built on a foundation of service. Successful businesses in the restaurant industry get the grand picture, which is the moments that you’re creating for people, and I like to be a part of that,” she adds.
Graduating Western University with a political science degree, in 2000 Kho spent a year travelling and living in Australia, before taking a leap of faith and moving to Calgary. Here, she studied wine with the International Sommeliers Guild and WSET, but says her real education was a job she adored, working in the wine trade at BIN 905, in tandem with running wine programs for CRMR restaurants. It was only when the opportunity came to create the wine program at Vin Room, six years later, that Kho leapt at the challenge of a new idea for the city, and spent four happy years there.
So what bottle is Kho saving for a special occasion?
Eventually, she and her partner decided to stretch their wings, and went to Vancouver where Kho embarked on a six-month culinary course at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, ticking off another box on her bucket list. “I wanted a greater understanding of technique in the kitchen, and I wanted an understanding of what service on a very basic level would look like if I ever owned my own place, and ever had to be the person who filled in,” she says. “I feel if I was ever in a place that needed someone to chop onions, I’m your woman,” she laughs. A year later, the pair came back with the idea of eventually opening their own business in Calgary. “The support we get from this community is heartfelt, and this is a city of opportunity. People with the right concept are seeing a lot of great success; it’s still our game plan,” she says. Meanwhile Kho applied only to Teatro, where she is now Group Service Director. “I wanted to work at a place that had a challenging wine program, and had a level of service with high expectations, and where professional service teams
Paying homage to her time at BIN 905, Kho explains, “I have a bottle of 1996 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, which was given to me with some very kind words on my last day at BIN. I’ve always just appreciated my time there; it was where I learned the vernacular of wine, and it’s my first job where I really saw the benefits of serving people with intention.” She continues, “I always see it thankfully as the stepping-stone to a broader wine profession, and eventually to the position that I have now. It was given to me by very close friends that I’m still friends with to this day.” And when is she planning to open the wine? “When (partner) Dave and I open our own restaurant,” Kho says. This isn’t something that something that will happen tomorrow, but fortunately the wine will last until they’re ready!