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GM Kurtis Kolt Gives His Notice At Gastown’s Salt Tasting Room

kurtis

I was sad to receive an email today from my old friend Kurtis Kolt, the GM and Wine Director at Gastown’s Salt Tasting Room, saying he’s given his notice. His last day is Friday, April 23rd. Read the text of his blast after the leap.

I have spent almost four years at Salt, more than any other place in my career, and consider myself privileged to have been at the helm of an extraordinary venture by Sean Heather & Scott Hawthorn.

Salt has been recognized locally, nationally and globally, with appearances ranging from The New York Times and Bon Appetit Magazine to NBC’s Today Show and various Food Network programs. The media have been very kind to Salt and myself, as have our colleagues and peers resulting in numerous awards from enRoute, Vancouver Magazine, the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival just to name a few.

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics have long been on the horizon and a fantastic opportunity for Salt to present itself to a wider global audience and I couldn’t be happier with both the record-smashing volume we dealt with and the fantastic opportunities we enjoyed throughout.

It is simply time for me to catch my breath.

I will be heading to Chile’s wine country at the end of April, followed by some time in the Okanagan – a region I’ve proudly promoted for the majority of my career, yet have spent an embarrassingly small amount of time in.

I will continue blogging at CherriesAndClay.com, plus doing freelance consulting and appearances as I look toward what else might be down the road for me.

I am also quite excited to pass along that beyond the end of April, Sean and Scott have happily allowed me to maintain Salt’s Wine Program indefinitely, as it has been my baby and, well, I can’t imagine life without free wine samples.

I am fiercely proud of my team at Salt, whom I honestly believe are the most invested, dynamic floor staff in Vancouver. I look forward to their continued success and am psyching myself up for their inevitable realization that they’re totally fine without me.

I wish Sean Heather, Scott Hawthorn and all of Salt my absolute best.

Any queries, don’t hesitate to contact myself at [email protected] or Sean Heather at [email protected] .

Kurtis Kolt
General Manager / Wine Director

Salt Tasting Room
Blood Alley, Gastown
Vancouver, BC
604-633-1912
http://www.SaltTastingRoom.com

Read a SCOUT interview with Kurtis from way back here.

PS. You’ll be missed, dude.