Higor Valle on Building Wine Programs for Miami’s Top Restaurants and Why the Beverage Industry Is at a Crossroads

Anthony Codispoti (00:00)
Welcome to another edition of the inspired stories podcast where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. As you listen today, let one idea shape what you do next. My name is Anthony Cotaspoti and today’s guest is Igor Balli, corporate wine director at Mr. Hospitality Group, where he designs and leads wine programs across three very different Miami concepts.

Queen Miami Beach, Marion, Miami, and Lafayette Steakhouse. Born in Brazil, Igor worked his way up from busboy to sommelier after a life-changing taste of a 1995 Chateau Margaux. Since then, he’s built high-performing wine programs at top restaurants, fast-tracked full launches on aggressive timelines, and earned advanced certification from the court of Master Sommelier’s.

At Mr. Hospitality, Igor oversees purchasing, staff training, partnerships, events, and the financial strategy behind each list, bringing fine dining discipline to Miami’s dynamic hospitality scene. He’s also the founder of Wise Cellar with a C, where he offers consulting and cellar management services, and he regularly shares his passion through tastings and industry events like Fine Expo Americas.

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All right, back to our guest today, corporate wine director of Mispner Hospitality, Igor Vali. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

Higor Valle (02:29)
Thank you for having me.

Anthony Codispoti (02:31)
So Igor, what were the circumstances that brought you from Brazil to the USA?

Higor Valle (02:37)
⁓ At the ripe age of 18, I ⁓ was very curious about spending some time in a different country. That had happened before, of course, even in younger years, but during my teen years, ⁓ I saw the opportunity of participating in a J1 program. ⁓ So it’s essentially a temporary…

job visa where you spend three to six months overseas or in this case here in the United States. So I took advantage of that program in 2006.

Anthony Codispoti (03:16)
And what were you doing when you came to the States and where were you?

Higor Valle (03:20)
It’s an interesting ⁓ journey that as you can imagine, this is a temporary visa during your college break for you to experience a different country. the jobs are very ⁓ basic. There’s a variety of ⁓ jobs. I don’t know if this program is to exist to this day, but at the time, you know, there were basic and fun jobs either at Disneyland or the Mohegan Sun.

casino in Connecticut. In my case, it was quite different. It was at CVS Pharmacy. So, you we worked as a clerk. ⁓ right when I landed here, and of course, internet access and all this was ⁓ quite different than it is today. You had to go to the library and all this. So we had a checklist of things that we had to do once we landed here. And one of them was contact your sponsor.

So then you could start the process of getting your social security set up and get in touch with your new employer and all this. And as soon as I contacted my sponsor, he said, hey, Igor, look, something happened in between the last couple of days that you were traveling and getting yourself settled here. The contract with your employer got canceled.

So you have two options. You can return to Brazil and we’ll refund the cost of the program. This is something unprecedented. I don’t know exactly what happened in the details, but that was jobless. And that visa works. One of the main requirements is that you have a job placement here, so you have a stream of income.

Anthony Codispoti (04:40)
boy.

Higor Valle (05:07)
And they said, look, you can return and we’ll reimburse you, just like everyone else that was part of this situation, or we’ll change your visa status as independent, meaning you have 30 days to find a job. Otherwise, your visa will automatically be canceled. And I said, I’m not going back. It took me so much to get all the documentation out here already.

Anthony Codispoti (05:32)
You came for the adventure. You wanted to see what this place was about.

And where were you physically? Naples, Florida. OK.

Higor Valle (05:38)
Naples, Florida.

And there were other challenges going at the same time. I still didn’t know where I was going to live. so I was staying in a hotel in Naples. And the receptionist had mentioned to me, I was just having coffee and chatting with this lovely gentleman at the time. And he said, hey, by the way, a couple of rooms down.

there’s a group of Brazilian guys, I think they’re part of the same program as you. You should go chat with them. I was like, my God, yes. They either will be in the same situation as me or better because they probably have a job. So I go there and luckily ⁓ a few of them had done this program already. Actually, this one guy was his third time here.

So they knew everything, all this everything that you’re supposed to do at the beginning, was so lost. And they said, hey, listen, ⁓ we are going to rent a three-bedroom apartment, so we need to find two other guys so there is space for you. And I was like, my god, living situation settled. And I said, what about work, guys? What are you gonna do?

And they’re like, oh, know, it’s this really cool place because we’re going to work in a convenience store. So you get to eat and drink for free. The hours are easy. And if you work overnight, they pay you $2 more an hour instead of $8 an hour. It was 10. This is 2006. And little I know it was 7-Eleven. But in my mind, you know, you’re 18 years old. You just landed here. And I’m like, wait, convenience store?

and it’s pretty easy and I can eat and drink for free. I said, ⁓ sign me up. So I took my ⁓ bike, you know, we each bought like these $30 used bikes and I got my bike and I actually biked to the 7-Eleven and I mentioned to the manager, said, hey, I just landed with this program.

And my colleague said that I should come here talk to you. And he’s like, ⁓ yeah, I’ve been waiting for you. I need to figure out. It was actually someone else, ⁓ but he signed me up right away. So I had a short stint of four months as a cashier at 7-Eleven, ⁓ which was a fun experience.

Anthony Codispoti (08:07)
And so how

did you transition from that into eventually getting into the hospitality space? You got an early busboy job.

Higor Valle (08:14)
Yeah, so after that I worked at Abercrombie & Fitch at the mall and then for a period of time, know, would, anything that would provide a good weekly wage at the time, know, we were getting, we were having a good time, you your young kids and so I worked at

the mall like I mentioned and then after you know my visa expired with 7-eleven you have to extend your visa and then you kind of have to find your own thing again and At the time I used to live with this this group of guys was three or four of us. can’t remember now and One of them started working in this small family-owned restaurant in Naples, Florida Coincidentally also called Lafayette ⁓ Not related though

And I was still working at the mall at the time. I think I was, my wage was like $8.50 an hour. And he started working in this restaurant. And he would come home at night. And he would be so excited about everything that he saw at the restaurant. And he got to try some.

some food and he got to try some of the wines and especially for me at the time he would come home and tell us, guys you have no idea I made $97 tonight and we were like my god this is crazy what am I doing working at the mall I ⁓ I want to do this too ⁓ but of course I you know I had no experience I didn’t know what to do and then actually he’s ⁓

visa expired here so he went back to Brazil and doing so he told the family he said hey listen I you know I’m I gotta go back and I’ll do the program next year again but if you need someone right now there’s this guy that lives with me and he really wants to to start working in a restaurant that’s how it all started so essentially I replaced him

and I started working at Lafayette as a busboy and that’s how it all started where ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (10:32)
And did you love it from the beginning or was it kind of rough and like, don’t know what I’m doing, long hours on my feet.

Higor Valle (10:38)
Yeah, it was a good mix of both. I loved being there. I’ve always been curious about food and wine and a certain level of dining scene or as much interest as you can have as an 18 year old. And it was really challenging because I had no idea of the…

of the style of dining really, or the levels of gourmet restaurant, let’s put it this way, or fine dining, ⁓ the steps of service and everything that is involved in an operation like this. So I learned everything from zero. For me, it was really exciting at the beginning because, well, it still is, but it was really exciting because it was all so new to me. It was all so exciting and to…

discovered that you had different silverware for certain dishes and ⁓ you you you you seem cautious like you know to cover dishes and you know it’s you know as a kid you see that in cartoons or movies and you’re like ⁓ this is what it’s for you know i’m carrying it it’s gonna keep it warm and someone you know stands up to use a restroom and their food just lands so you put it there keep it warm and then all the different glassware and all this so

It was super exciting, but of course challenging as well, extremely busy. ⁓ We were a really, really small team. And as soon as I landed at the restaurant, your training is maybe four days, one week. And then right after that, you’re right, and you get thrown right into the fire. So definitely some challenges, but incredible experience.

Anthony Codispoti (12:32)
So here’s what I gathered from that is that you finally started to understand your childhood cartoons. But I want to go back actually to you first coming to the country and like it has to be a little bit intimidating. Right. 18 year old stepping off the plane. New place. You don’t know anybody. You had some English it seems like. But you know and then you find out that your job’s been canceled and now you’re on your own and you got to find a place to live. You got to find a job.

Higor Valle (12:38)
Exactly.

Anthony Codispoti (13:02)
What were those early days like? Emotional.

Higor Valle (13:04)
Yeah,

yeah. And you know, it’s so, it’s so for me, it was so thrilling to just picture that I would be going to a different country and, ⁓ you know, get to see all this and everything was so new, a brand new culture and all this. But then at the same time, it’s terrifying. ⁓ And I think that

you know, it’s a good moment to give a shout out to everyone that has had the courage to leave their home country and ⁓ really just, you know, figure it all out from zero from day one in a completely different culture in a completely different ⁓ country and

you know, very quickly, depending on, you know, depending on the situations and the day and the days at the beginning, very quickly, you get your excitement completely replaced by fear, right? Or, you know, you’re like, what do I do? have, you know, I need to make decisions in here. can’t, I can’t call my dad or, or, you know, how there is help, but it’s in a very different way as you can imagine. So

It was terrifying at times, ⁓ but as we were faced or as I was faced with these challenges, even if I didn’t want to, forced me to figure stuff out and come up with solutions, which ⁓ I would like to think that has helped me with my character and with my life experience.

Anthony Codispoti (14:52)
You learn to grow up pretty

fast in a situation like that. Yeah.

Higor Valle (14:53)
Yes, you don’t

get much time or many choices as far as growing up. You just have to do it.

Anthony Codispoti (15:07)
So you’re cutting your teeth in the hospitality and the food industry at this family owned restaurant in Naples called Lafayette. ⁓ It’s exhausting, exhilarating, you’re learning new things. But now I want to talk about this life changing wine tasting of this 95 Chateau Margaux. Tell us about that.

Higor Valle (15:31)
Yeah, you know, at the end of every shift, there was always maybe 30 minutes, 45 minutes while they were, wasn’t necessarily doing any admin closing duties, but as they were doing at the GM and the owners.

They would always taste a couple of wines either because someone left half of the canter for them of something that I didn’t know, something special or something interesting, or they would just share a glass of wine that we featured by the glass and things as such. And they would always offer me a little sip to try the wines. And I was always so curious about it. And I would ask…

All kinds of questions. And there was this one time I tasted this wine and I just, I was like, my God, what is this? Why does it taste so different and so good at the same time? And I remember perfectly, like at the moment I couldn’t explain anything. I couldn’t even say that I exactly liked it. It was just, I was just so.

⁓ curious about it. I was just so ⁓ tickled by it and I was like, my God, what is this? This is incredible. And they were all laughing and they’re like, ⁓ my God, here we go. Of course you love it. you know, right. And I come to find out it was a 1995 Chateau Margot. So that was ⁓ maybe, you know, a lot of people in the world of wine, they like to say that

Anthony Codispoti (17:00)
It’s an expensive wine,

Higor Valle (17:14)
You you have like the moment that you, you, you’re bitten by the bug. And so maybe that could have been mine.

Anthony Codispoti (17:24)
and then sort of fill in some of the gaps here. You have that tasting and it eventually leads to you becoming a sommelier.

Higor Valle (17:33)
Yes, so you know ⁓ at that moment I was already very interested in ⁓ wine but I had no idea that I could work ⁓ selling wine or I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as a sommelier or anything like this but I knew that

I wanted to become a server at the restaurant because for me it was so cool to see the servers come in and they would have their sections and their VIPs and check who’s coming in and all ⁓ excited about the evening to start and all this. And I knew I wanted to become a server. And I also learned at the time that the servers that knew how to sell wine, they would get the preferred

⁓ service, let’s say, right? You gather better sections and all this and they are kind of like the OGs of the restaurant, right? So I said, listen, I need to do two things. I need to learn how to become a server and I need to learn about wine. I really like it anyways. I, you know, so I started just paying attention. I didn’t even start reading about wine, but I started paying attention to, you know, a couple of these.

guys were doing as far as movement and all this and I would just, you know, annoy them with questions and, you know, why do you decant and what is this crazy tool that you use to the old corks and all this. And then I became, you know, super, super, super, super into wine. And ⁓ luckily for me,

the owners of the restaurant decided to expand the restaurant. It was really, really small. And when I say servers before the restaurant expanded, I’m talking three or four, and ⁓ they had been there forever.

So there was no space for me, even if they had said, you know, Igor, you’re already good. You can become a server ready. I was a food runner at the time. There was no space for me. This was a very, very small restaurant and everyone had been there forever. So when they decided to expand, of course, they had to bring in a lot more employees in every front. So then they’re like, hey, listen, this is your opportunity. ⁓

you are promoted to server. And in another good opportunity, maybe I got lucky again, but this gentleman had moved in from San Francisco, who’s a friend of mine to this day. He moved from San Francisco with a ton of experience and an incredible, incredible hospitality professional with a lot of…

⁓ energy to train and teach people too. So he is, you know, he took me under his wings and ⁓ started showing me all kinds of things and ⁓ every time we would open a bottle of wine, he would tell me a little bit about it. And, you know, then when the wine room was ready at the restaurant, now the wine list was bigger and all this, then we set up the wine room.

⁓ together was, you know, three of us and it gave me a lot of opportunity to really start to understand, okay, what is Napa Valley? You know, what is Bordeaux? What is Burgundy? You know, understand the grapes and the regions and the style and all this. What makes it this producer special? Why is this one so famous? Why are these two from the exact same village, but one costs $300, one costs $3,000?

And ⁓ this gentleman at the time told me, hey, you you’re really into it. ⁓ You know, I’ll let a secret in here. I was never a good server.

Anthony Codispoti (21:36)
What made you a bad server? You were so

curious. You were so into it. Why weren’t you a good server?

Higor Valle (21:45)
I think I talked too much. I was probably not prioritizing my steps of service. ⁓ So I mean, was probably decent, but I wasn’t very good. I would never make the cut to the top guys. But that’s not the reason why this friend of mine said this. Now we laugh about it and he knows this. He’s like, yeah, yeah, was a good decision you made. But he told me, hey, listen, you’re so into wine.

Why don’t you study wine and become a sommelier? I was like, sommelier, what is this? And he’s like, well, you see the server, you see what we’re doing now? You do the same, but all your focus is wine. You go to the tables. I was like, oh my god, this sounds so cool. This is exactly what I want to do. I don’t want to have to fire the soup course and then re-silver and then think about the temperature of the steaks and the birthday candle that needs to be drunk.

Anthony Codispoti (22:39)
I just wanna

focus on wine.

Higor Valle (22:40)
I

want to talk to whoever is using the wine at the table. want to let them know about this amazing wine that I tasted last night and sell the wine open. I really started thinking about it. At the time, of course, the owners were the chef.

Anthony Codispoti (22:55)
So how did you head down that path?

Higor Valle (23:09)
and his sister, and his sister was taking that role, right? And of course we would all help and there’s a couple of us that were really more into wine than either the other servers or everyone else in the restaurant. So there was no such a thing there either as a sommelier. She was a sommelier but she was the owner, you she didn’t ⁓ title herself as a sommelier. So then I decided to move on and I said, you know, now I know enough.

that I can present myself at a restaurant, either, you know, and ask if they’re looking for sommelier or see a job listing. But, you know, in Naples, and this were fast forwarding maybe a couple of years, and none of this was really available in Naples, let’s say. Yes, a couple of restaurants had sommeliers, maybe the grill room at the Ritz and Blue Provence. But…

I couldn’t really find anything like this. And then at the time, my girlfriend, she used to spend a lot of time on Nantucket. Of course, summers on Nantucket Island, they’re incredible, but she was actually there year round for some time. So she said,

Hey, ⁓ you know I’m going back to Nantucket once season ends and you know it’s an amazing place and all this but she didn’t say you know why don’t you come with me she was just essentially just telling me like hey I’m heading out so this same guy he told me hey Igor do you know do you know that place that she’s talking about I said no I have no idea he’s like that place is amazing you’re gonna learn so much if you go there you you really really really should go

Anthony Codispoti (24:55)
So you invited yourself?

Higor Valle (24:56)
So I invited myself.

So I went to Nantucket and I learned so, so much more there and I was exposed to an incredible ⁓ hospitality scene there. And fast forward, and then when I came back to Naples, I was that much more confident. And at the time, the D’Amico’s group in Naples were the strongest restaurant group.

And they were set to open this steakhouse called the Continental. And that was the talk of the town at the time. Everyone was saying, ⁓ wow, the Mico’s, you they’re opening a new restaurant and, know, this is going to be essentially, it was set to be the hottest place in town. And I was just dead set on getting a job there. said, look, that’s where I’m going to work.

And then again, the challenge, there was no sommelier position for the restaurant. And of course, at the time, I had already experienced and I knew better and I was able to understand more ⁓ how restaurants work. And I looked at the ⁓ setup that was to be at the restaurant on this. And I said, you know what, I’m going to apply for a server.

I’m going apply for a server position, but I know they’re going to need us on LEA. It’s a steakhouse, and it is going to be large and busy and all this. So I got the job. And during my job interview, or after the job interview, they let me know that they were offering me the position, I go back there and they say, hey, listen, you are really well versed in wine, and we’re certainly going to need this help.

you should help us train the staff on the wines by the glass and all this. We’re going to connect you with our beverage manager and we would love for you to be involved with the wine and all this. And I was like, oh yeah, absolutely. So the restaurant opened and I was right. You really needed someone.

on the floor dedicated to sell wine. maybe very shortly after two, three months after opening, I said, hey, listen, ⁓ how about, you know, I would love to be the sommelier here. You know, I have my section, but I’m still going to other service tables and I’m helping them. I’m essentially already kind of doing it.

Anthony Codispoti (27:33)
Were they receptive to this?

Higor Valle (27:37)
And they said, yes, we agree, yes, we see what you’ve been doing. Let us get back to you with a proposal. I don’t promise anything. At the time, I was asking the GM, I don’t promise anything, but I agree. I’ll try. And then they told me, listen, how about this? You work as a server on the weekdays, and then Thursday, Friday, Saturday, you work as a wine steward.

And I was thrilled. was like, oh my god, finally I’ll be able to work as a sommelier and just dedicate my time for it. Kind of, I still had to work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Tuesday and Wednesday as a server. So it went really well, except that the deal was that a

Anthony Codispoti (28:24)
So how did this new role go for you?

Higor Valle (28:33)
When I worked ⁓ on Thursday, Friday, Saturday as a wine steward, of course, there was no tips or anything like this. So they said, look, you’re going to have to pay forward ⁓ for this. So Thursday, Friday, Saturday, I was essentially almost ⁓ volunteering my time. But.

Anthony Codispoti (28:57)
So you got to do

the thing that you love, but you’re not getting paid very well for it.

Higor Valle (29:00)
Exactly.

you know, looking at it today, it worked out very well because it was education, right? I was essentially getting paid to learn the trade. So it all went very well and the season ended and then right after that, ⁓ I became the official sommelier there. And then shortly after, I was promoted to beverage manager.

And when this happened, then I really started thinking, OK, I need to know now, do I?

take this to the next level, right? If I want the growth, do I take it to the next level or what am I gonna do here? And at the time I was familiar with some of the certifications, but I really didn’t know what was the court of master sommeliers or anything like this. And one of the gentlemen that used to work at the restaurant, he said, you were, look, I am a level two, am a certified sommelier and you should really do this.

And essentially, so I went and took my level one. I really loved it. And then almost back like two months later, I went to, it was at their, it was Houston and I took my certified and I passed and I had a pretty good run at the Continental.

⁓ while I was working through my certifications and learning and gaining experience and all this. But then this ⁓ guy that I met working at a different restaurant, he’s like, hey, I’m gonna go for my advanced. I’m gonna go for my level three. And I need someone to study. I need someone to study with because you cannot do this alone. And he’s like, have you considered, I was like, man, I’ve never been.

really an academic person. Let’s say I get fidgety if I’m just hitting the books for too long and I get distracted. And I said, I don’t know, but look, I’ll help you. Let’s go, let’s go for it, let’s study. And then I started studying for the advanced and of course it’s that much more difficult. It’s intimidating, it takes a very, very long time. It may be

maybe three to five years after you’re level two. ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (31:34)
Sorry to interrupt, Igor. I want

to make sure that we leave enough time to talk about what you’re doing present day, Mr. Hospitality, the consulting and everything. So I understand sort of the overall arc here, like you’re getting more experience, you’re getting the opportunity to level up. Now you’re getting your own certifications. And then from here, connect the dots for us to get to how the opportunity at Mr. Hospitality came about.

Higor Valle (31:39)
Yeah. yeah.

yeah, sure. So ⁓ when I was in Naples, fast forward, I stayed with the D’Amicos for about eight years and ⁓ I wanted to experience a different side of hospitality. And one of the things that I didn’t have was a member only environment. So I started working at Bay Colony Beach Club in Naples. And ⁓ after about 18 months there, Hurricane Ian passed.

So it was in 2022 and Baycolony Beach Club is as waterfront as it gets. So the property sustained quite a bit of damage and it was closed indefinitely. Because of that, I needed to figure out what to do. So I started reaching out to people everywhere, Naples, but also San Francisco, but Naples was, the whole city was still in shock from all this.

So I started reaching out to friends in San Francisco, in New York, and Nantucket as well, and then this friend of mine had just moved to Miami. And I was thinking, okay, look, do I either make the long journey move across the country to California, or I look for other places around here?

And I called this friend to pick her brain on her experience in Miami, what she was doing and was it difficult to find rent and all this. And she’s like, why are you asking me all this? Are you looking to move? And I said, well, I kind of have to, know, things are really complicated here after the hurricane and all this. And she said, well, look, might not be what you’re looking for, but I’m looking for a sommelier.

And I said, no, it is perfect. I said, because I didn’t want, you know, to be in a new city, in a completely new environment with big responsibilities already and all this. For me, what I wanted for the first job to be in a new city was exactly that. Going back to being a song on the floor, you you clock in, you come in, you step on it.

Anthony Codispoti (34:00)
Because it’s

because in some ways, this was a little bit of a step back, right? You’ve been food and beverage director, now kind of stepping back into a sommelier role. But you’re like, No, this is very comfortable for me. I would prefer to move forward in this way.

Higor Valle (34:13)
Exactly,

because I wanted, know, what if it doesn’t work out? What if the move doesn’t work out, right? Or what if the adaptation in the city, you know, takes a little longer? You don’t want the massive responsibilities of ⁓ a beverage director role to be all jumbled up into this. And it was, so it worked out really well. And ⁓ I started there, this was at Fisher Island Club here in Miami. And ⁓ five months later, maybe four or five months later, they handed me the beverage program.

So then I took over the beverage program as a whole. And then I stayed there for about 18 months in total, almost two years. And then at the time, I was really curious about experiencing the real Miami or the properties that are more into this pulsating energy of Miami. at the time, Mr. Hospitality was…

building the mood boards that was in early stages of their new ⁓ venture, which would become Lafayette. And they were looking for someone to put together the wine program. But the challenge was that there were six weeks until opening. I’m fast forwarding a little bit, but there were six weeks until opening and there was nothing done ⁓ as far as the wine program.

So I got this phone call by this friend of mine who at the time was the director of operations there. And he said, Igor, listen, I have a challenge for you. And there’s a couple of guys here that I think that can do this. And please, please say yes. And he said, we need to build the wine program for a multimillion dollar steakhouse. And we’re looking to go for awards right off the bat. We really want a beautiful wine list.

And I said, oh, that also sounds great. What’s the challenge? It’s all exciting. It’s like, well, the challenge is that there’s nothing done yet. No wine has been bought. And you would have about five weeks to put it together.

Anthony Codispoti (36:24)
How long would you normally want to start a program from scratch?

Higor Valle (36:28)
⁓ three to six months, three to six months, I would say. So I made it happen, yes. I made it happen. Yeah, well, thankfully, I think with the years of experience and ⁓ for all the years that I spent at the Micos del Continental as well, being a high volume but also

Anthony Codispoti (36:32)
Okay. But you made it happen, didn’t you? And how did you do it? I mean, this is pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

Higor Valle (36:52)
high-end steakhouse. I’ve had that experience of running that beverage program, which I was able to implement with some changes, of course, to completely different cities, to completely different markets, being Naples and Miami. But I was able to kind of readapt my ideas from those years and implement at Lafayette’s, and it worked out very well. So after…

eight weeks of consulting, the restaurant was open, and we were running and training. I had a nine week contract with the group. Then organically, the opportunity appeared to ⁓ join the team as an employee. So then ⁓ the other two properties also needed some love, either revamping the program or…

know, staff training and all this, which I had already plans of doing. So then I became the corporate wine director for the company. So I consulted for about eight weeks and then I joined the team right after that.

Anthony Codispoti (38:00)
You join the team.

So here’s my question as an outsider, somebody who just, you know, knows wine from having consumed it, but doesn’t understand sort of the nuances of your role. What is so challenging? What is so difficult about setting up a wine program? You know, I see you’ve got these three restaurants. Why not just serve the same wines at each location?

Higor Valle (38:29)
The main reason or one of the main reasons would be the demand, the demographics and the placing time that any given city is at the moment. This is something that could be very challenging where I can’t, for instance, mirror what I have done in San Francisco.

to Miami, right? Because the demand, the demographics, the stage that the city is as far as hospitality or dining is completely different. So it’s an ever-involving thing and it’s certainly a moving target. So this is a challenge. The other thing is really understanding the…

What takes a successful beverage program? What do I mean by that? A lot of times when someone is building a beverage program, it’s very easy to start thinking that you’re building the program for yourself.

you know, you’re like, I like this and I like that and I like this and this region and all that and you forget that you’re not building the program for yourself, right? You’re building the program for the people that will come through the doors and experience that. And you still have many chances and many opportunities of showing your personality or showing what you love and your preference in

in being the wine list or cocktail selection or styles of service and all this, but ultimately you are reading what the guests are looking for. So this is another challenge, right? And this changes from one concept to another or from one city to another, or even from one wine region to another in the same wine list.

Anthony Codispoti (40:38)
So obviously we’ve been talking a lot about wine. That’s where your big passion is. But as beverage director, you know, you’re also responsible for other drink options. How do you approach, like what’s your thought process in choosing those?

Higor Valle (40:54)
Yeah. You know, yeah, a beverage as a whole, you know, you cannot have a fantastic, and you see it happen, right? It’s not going to necessarily tank a business, but you cannot have an amazing wine list and a very weak cocktail list, right? Or you cannot have a really great

tea selection and not have a good coffee machine. So understanding that is very important. And then also, you know, learning that you can put your ego aside and use your team members or bringing in people that you know have either the know-how or have the experience to develop

a section of the beverage program that maybe you might not be as well versed or as creative at. For instance, I cannot mix great drinks. I can mix drinks and I can probably figure it out if I get thrown behind the bar, but I cannot create cocktails. I cannot create ⁓ something exciting. So I have the humility, let’s say, to…

to understand that do I have a good bar manager here? Do I have a mixologist? Do I have a strong team that I can give directions, I can show, I can share my vision and have it developed as a team? And this is also a great opportunity to empower.

team members to allow them to exercise their creativity. So it’s a win-win for everyone.

Anthony Codispoti (42:52)
Talk to me about how you view the state of the hospitality industry today.

Higor Valle (42:59)
⁓ challenging. There are different ways to look at it. It could be ⁓ scary in a way, it could be tense, depending on which cities that we talk about, but definitely challenging.

And ⁓ because of a combination of factors, one example that we can use is the high costs of everything, right? And the prices that, especially in a city like Miami, you see, right? ⁓ there’s a, let’s use Miami as an example. ⁓

2020 or after COVID, Miami was going through this ⁓ era that the sky was the limit, right? And we still see that today the city is growing like crazy, but there was this number of years that the city exploded and then you start seeing

⁓ situations where the top restaurants in the city were the most expensive ones or every top restaurant in the city was also expensive restaurants, right? And I know to some people this might seem obvious. yeah, of course the best restaurants in the city will be the most expensive ones, but that’s not true, right? You can have ⁓ legendary restaurants in any given city or you can have really famous and really popular

restaurants that are not necessarily high-end or celebration places. But then because of this situation happening in Miami, out of a sudden every place you go to is expensive, right? And then when we look at ⁓ the beverage being such an important ⁓ revenue stream for the restaurant, it’s a fine line where you…

look at it and you’re like, our wine selection or our beverage program is making really good money, know, we have a really good COGS or cost of goods sold, meaning, you know, I paid $20 for this and I’m selling for $100 and people are buying and etc. There’s a very fine line from this to people coming in and saying, wait a second, you know, there’s this glass of wine that

I don’t know what it is. I’m not a wine ⁓ expert or anything. I just want to glass a wine with dinner and it’s $27. Then this person will be like, ⁓ you know what? I’m just going to have ⁓ vodka soda for 18. He’s going to give me the same buzz. It’s going to be my drink of the night anyways.

And then it comes and then that develops into a situation where people are like, oh, people are not drinking any more wine or people are already drinking less and less. And people will drink even less if you go to any restaurant and you’re like, man, I ordered a beer. And then after text and tip, this beer is $14 for Corona, let’s say. And this is something that is very common here now.

So it is challenging because not only we have inflation all across, right? Not only with, ⁓ you know, dining out, but also at the groceries and everywhere, right? We see this inflation. And then operating costs are extremely high, as we all know. And then in addition to that, there is the pressure of, of course, turning a profit, making sure you’re,

a beverage program is being successful in terms of profitability, but then at the same time, figuring out how to provide a form of value to the consumer. And I feel like these years, maybe last year,

or 2024, 2025, in these first couple of months of 26, this has been the most challenging thing in the beverage program, along with people drinking less and less, which, you know, it’s maybe the most talked about subject in the beverage world right now, how the current generation is drinking 30 % less and all this.

Anthony Codispoti (47:36)
Talk to me about the resilience of the hospitality workforce.

Higor Valle (47:40)
Yeah, ⁓ you know, it’s a as you know, it’s an industry that almost

almost always someone joins either because of plain necessity, right? Or just like, look, I need some quick cash. You know, I’m going to go and, you know, I’m going to work in a restaurant for a few months. you know, I need that money or I, you know, I don’t have experience or I don’t have a diploma or this for whatever reasons that necessity could come or

because it is a labor of love, right? It’s like, I’m gonna go because I’ve always loved food and wine and I wanna, ⁓ this is what ⁓ makes me happy. And that creates a very, ⁓ not that creates a very challenging ⁓ industry, but naturally it becomes ⁓ volatile.

industry, let’s say. And then on top of it, is, you know, there’s so much, the variables of a restaurant. When you compare that to other industries, there’s just so much, right? You can have a great restaurant, but if the location is not ideal, the restaurant will suffer. You can have a perfect location, but if you don’t have a great restaurant, the restaurant will suffer. If

You have everything perfectly, but then a hurricane comes by, then the restaurant will suffer, or rain, or things like this. Or if you don’t have… And then in addition to that, you have the hours that are crazy in some places, and then you have the…

Anthony Codispoti (49:26)
or if you don’t have the right team in place.

Higor Valle (49:43)
You’re walking and you’re standing and the level of stress, it’s a continuous barrage of things. Then on top of it, then we have things that can come up like COVID. I remember ⁓ when it happened, at first when we got the notice that we were all going to be furloughed. ⁓

in like three days when COVID happened, you’re like, you know, what do I do? Right. And ⁓ I understand if you have to switch from one restaurant to another, but now there, there is no restaurant, right. ⁓ What are you, what are you going to do? And then it was so ⁓

Of course, it was challenging, it was difficult for all of us, but it was so inspiring to see also how quickly so many people figured out in our industry. Like, hey, ⁓ I’ll use myself as an example. I said, look, I run beverage programs, I know a lot of people from dining constantly at restaurants. People have texted me for… ⁓

for questions either when they’re shopping at a wine store or if they’re entertaining and they’re opening this special bottle of wine. And I said, maybe I can do something with this experience outside of restaurants. And that’s when I set up Y-Seller. And, you know, the idea was

Anthony Codispoti (51:13)
Sorry, make sure

everybody heard it correctly. Wise seller. And the seller is with a C, like a play on words with wine seller. Okay, so out of the stress and the turmoil of COVID came, you you came up with this new opportunity.

Higor Valle (51:17)
Wise seller, yeah. Yeah, it’s like a wine seller.

Yeah, you know, and now my idea was, you know, there’s no restaurant, right? Every restaurant is closed. So what do I do? And then I had this idea of using my experience to ⁓ provide consulting, seller management, ⁓ know, private client services and all this. And then luckily for me at the time,

because restaurants were closed, a lot of people were either entertaining at home or they were looking to get creative with their wine selection. Hey, listen, I have all this wine at home. I cannot dine out. ⁓ I have a private chef. I’m gonna turn my restaurant into, my home into my little restaurant, let’s say. I’m gonna invite 10 guests and of course, eventually,

opportunities started appearing where you know I would go to people’s homes and essentially provide sommelier service throughout the dinner.

And this is one example of ⁓ that resilience, right? And there are so many, right? This friend of mine, she is an extremely successful private chef today and it all started because of COVID. She was not furloughed and once the restaurant reopened, she would come back. She lost her job. The restaurant decided not, know, the owners decided to not reopen the restaurant. ⁓ And now she owns an incredibly successful catering business.

So, you know, these are good examples of the resilience from the world workforce of the food and beverage world.

Anthony Codispoti (53:17)
So I want to hear more about the state of ⁓ wise seller today. Are you still providing services? What does it look like in present day 2026?

Higor Valle (53:27)
Yeah, so today as the business evolved, ⁓ we provide services both for commercial, on the commercial side and private side. So ⁓ I provide ⁓ beverage management or beverage consulting to restaurants being either short term, hey, you know, we’ve noticed for the last three months, you know,

Our profits are really low. We don’t have a beverage manager. Our GM runs the program. Can you come take a look at it? Or long-term, such as how my experience with Mr. Hospitality started, I was contracted to build the wine list under Y. Seller.

So I was consulting for the company because they didn’t have someone to put the wine list together. And then on the private side, besides of course ⁓ private dinners and ⁓ sommelier services, we also do a lot of seller management, seller valuation. ⁓ I can assist with ⁓ connecting

different connecting collectors with each other. A lot of times they want to create a small group of people that they can go out and dine together. So I work as ⁓ the glue between them. so essentially anything around wine that one might need, we provide. Except I don’t make wine.

Anthony Codispoti (55:08)
But…

You don’t make the wine. That’s the only thing you can’t

do, but you can choose the great ones for them. And so you have the, the wise seller as its own standalone business and you’re a full-time employee of Mr. Hospitality today. Is that correct? Okay. Yeah. And so you’ve got time for both, obviously. I mean, you get to do your, your life’s passion every day. What is the future Mr. Hospitality look like? Are there more locations coming and any plans for growth there?

Higor Valle (55:13)
Right.

Yes, I do both.

Yeah.

So right now we’re staying with the three locations and essentially just developing, Lafayette is still fairly new. It’s on its second year and Marion, which is our longest ⁓ standing property, just over 10 years, recently went through a major renovation. So the idea is to focus on these three properties now and maintain and develop the all my…

department to develop these programs and maintain what we’re doing with tweaks here and there and adjusting to whatever we feel like the industry demands. But we’re keeping these three properties that I know of at least right now.

Anthony Codispoti (56:29)
Yeah,

you’ve got your hands full with a recent renovation and one of the concepts still being pretty new. You you talk about the stressors of working in the hospitality industry. What do you do to make sure that you and your team are having fun?

Higor Valle (56:46)
⁓ taste wine, that is one of them for sure. You know, ⁓ this is interesting actually, I ⁓ say this as a joke, but if you think about it, in this industry, people that do what I do, we get maybe a little desensitized about A, how intimidating wine can be to some.

but also how new and exciting it could be, right? We get so used to, we’re tasting wine all the time and people invite you to dinners and you go to these tastings and the winemakers there, the owners, and 200 different wines and all this. to a lot of people, even in the restaurant that you might be working in, to a lot of people, know, they never get to try anything. They never get to, you know, they see these bottles.

floating around the restaurant and going in and out and maybe the sommelier is excited about this bottle that he or she sold for this specific table. a lot of team members, they just see these things, but they don’t experience it. So I love ⁓ giving them the opportunity to try the wine, to understand why maybe we got excited about this one producer, this one bottle.

So I love ⁓ giving the whole team the opportunity to try special wines and, and, know, sharing a little bit of the passion.

Anthony Codispoti (58:19)
people who want to break into a similar role, wine directors, sommelier, folks that are listening now, what advice do you have for them?

Higor Valle (58:29)
⁓ If you are curious about it or if you love wine, do not be intimidated by the challenges that ⁓ appear at the beginning. Especially in the wine industry, it’s very common to see the moment someone thinks they know.

enough or maybe this person has some level of recognition, this person has a number of years of experience, sometimes you see people getting maybe a little too confident or too full of themselves and they’re like, this person just said this about this region and it doesn’t make any sense or this person doesn’t know what they’re talking about. And when you just start into wine, very…

common to either maybe feel like you don’t belong or maybe you feel belittled by some other people and you know, but of course whoever does that and you know, it’s They go in my black book. Whoever treats whoever treats newcomers like that. It’s really bad So but but it doesn’t happen, right? So I what I would say to people is ⁓ if if it feels

Anthony Codispoti (59:38)
Hahaha

Higor Valle (59:50)
intimidating, if it feels challenging and if it feels like a complete ⁓ crazy foreign world, whoever is maybe a master sommelier today or an advanced sommelier or a wine celebrity, they were there too at some point, right? No one was born ⁓ knowing about wine. It doesn’t matter if it’s Jensis Robinson or any of the, you know,

a master sommelier or a master of wine. Everyone started from zero. Everyone at some point had to know what is Chardonnay. So that’s what I tell people is just be humble and ask questions. There’s not a bad question that you can ask. And any opportunity that appears, to try the wine.

Anthony Codispoti (1:00:46)
Mm-hmm.

Higor Valle (1:00:47)
It’s

important, right? Because a lot of times we… ⁓ You can read about a lot of wines and regions and you can hear someone say, this is what is great and this is what is not so great, being a region, a grape, being a producer. But ultimately, wine is very personal, right? You…

might like something that maybe most people think it’s not very good or the other way around or there’s something that maybe everyone loves and you might not be really fond of and you’re really going to find out all this by tasting the wine so when you have the opportunity try it.

Anthony Codispoti (1:01:31)
You know, we’ve already talked about some of the big challenges you’ve overcome. COVID, you know, coming to the States and your job not being here. I wonder if there’s anything else that you want to give voice to, a big challenge that you’ve overcome.

Higor Valle (1:01:46)
What is it? What is what is a big challenge? ⁓ I think, you know, I the the the toughest thing for me is as on a personal side is being fired from my family, right? You know, we even though moving

to a different country was a decision of mine. There is this big, big, big, big compromise which is to be far from your family. And this is constant, right? We always think of, did I move for a better life? Did I move because I wanted to experience something different and something new?

And then, you know, eventually, as we get older and time passes, maybe we get wiser, not that you start questioning your decisions, but you start realizing how much you also how much you had to, you know, part ways with, right, and and being far being far from. ⁓

all your relatives, right? Here I don’t have not even a cousin or, you know, everyone is back in Brazil. So this is a, you know, a big challenge. you know, the one of the things that happened, and I think one can only experience this by going through this life decision, is how much we end up

connecting either with friends or with partners, how quickly your friends become your family, right? And ⁓ eventually you realize how much you have to count on each other because you’re detached from your family. So this is a challenge and it’s something that I have told myself to not take.

you know, not forget it, right? And not to think, ⁓ you know, my mom and my dad will be there forever and, you know, it’s all good. And so this is a challenge for me to try to balance out the decision of living so far from my family and understanding why. But also, ⁓

you know, being able to cope with it, cope with the distance.

Anthony Codispoti (1:04:38)
How do you cope with the distance? it like FaceTime calls, Zoom calls, maybe a trip there once every year or two?

Higor Valle (1:04:45)
Yeah, you know, we try to, I try to visit as much as possible. And that’s the kind of part two of what we’re talking about. You know, it’s so easy to get sucked into our routines and work and you know, you just, you, we know it, we get, we get.

so busy, right? We get so busy with life and we’re like, I’m too busy to do this or I’m too busy to plan a visit. And sometimes, you know, when a family member calls you, you don’t pick up, right? You’re like, ⁓ no, I’m running, I’m busy, I’m running around and all this. And, you know, this is something that I have taught myself and I, you know, and I’m not perfect, right? And we all, I’m not saying that I pick.

I pick up the phone every time my mom calls, but this is something that I’ve been trying to do better. you ⁓ know, spending, you know, having more meaningful conversations, right? Maybe ⁓ expressing a little bit more often to them that, you know, even though you live so far…

away and maybe you’re not seeing them every weekend like your siblings do, then you still care for them very much and of course ⁓ you are thinking about them all the time. And then of course, then the usual phone calls and conversations and all this, but I have certainly gotten better into having more meaningful conversations, especially with my parents.

Anthony Codispoti (1:06:32)
so important that human connection. You are I just have one more question for you today. But before I ask it, I want to do three quick things for the audience. First of all, anybody that wants to get in touch with Igor, ⁓ know that Igor’s name is spelled with a silent H at the beginning HIG or so his email address is Igor with an H at wise seller.com. Remember, seller is spelled with a C like wine seller. So Igor at Y seller.com. we’ll have that in the show notes for folks.

Also, if you’re enjoying the show today, please take a moment to subscribe wherever you’re listening. It sends a signal that helps others discover our show. So thank you for taking a quick moment to do that right now. And as a reminder, you can get your restaurant employees access to therapists, doctors, and prescription meds that, as paradoxical as it seems, actually increases your company’s net profits. Real gains that can change how a business is valued. Contact us today at adbackbenefits.com.

So last question for you, Igor. What is your superpower?

Higor Valle (1:07:37)
being positive and smiling at almost all times. No matter how ⁓ difficult or challenging the situation might be.

Anthony Codispoti (1:07:50)
And where does that come from? Is that something you’ve had to develop over time? Or did you kind of pop out of the womb as a happy little kid?

Higor Valle (1:07:58)
That’s a good question. I don’t know if it’s a trade-off of my personality. Maybe it was, but I certainly developed it a little bit more throughout the years. It’s a lot easier to complain or be negative than to take a deep breath and stay positive about something and looking at…

the solution or the positive outcome of something. It’s much harder. It’s much harder to do that than to be negative and complain. Unfortunately, I wish it was the other way around.

Anthony Codispoti (1:08:38)
Did you have a helpful teacher with this mindset or some books or courses or podcasts that have kind of helped steer you in this direction?

Higor Valle (1:08:51)
You know, I think that even though ⁓ she’s not here on a daily basis, my mother, you know, my mother went through many challenges ⁓ her entire life. And every time I talk to her, every time I see her, you know, it doesn’t matter how difficult or how hard the situation might be. she always ends with, yes, but it would all work out.

God bless you would all work out. So I think it comes from her.

Anthony Codispoti (1:09:26)
There

you go. All right, well, Igor Valle from both Mr. Hospitality and Wise Seller, I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate you being here.

Higor Valle (1:09:39)
Thank you very much. It was a pleasure.

Anthony Codispoti (1:09:42)
Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us. And if one thing stood out, put that into action today.