Chef-Instructor Andrew Gold acquired his penchant for fine foods at a tender age. His parents were proud of his refined taste and adventurous nature when he savored escargot as a 7-year-old, but they also had to limit his ordering inclinations. "Eventually, they told me that I would have to order burgers when we went out for dinner," Gold recalls. As a teenager, he cooked elaborate dinners from the recipes of Julia Child and Craig Claiborne.

Gold has over a decade of experience in the kitchens of luxury hotels, as well as many years as a restaurant consultant. He began as a chef saucier at the Waldorf-Astoria in 1979, and went on to become the executive chef at the Omni Berkshire Place and the Omni Georgetown. Gold learned that one responsibility of the executive chef is to maintain beverage sales and to match the wine selection to the restaurant's cuisine. "In Europe, the understanding of marrying wine with food is standard knowledge for all chefs," Gold says. "But this is not always the case in the U.S."

As a consultant, Gold worked to upgrade, re-theme, or fine-tune a variety of restaurants; the tasks included designing kitchens, developing menus, and supervising operations.

In 1999, Gold opened Andrew Gold Wines, a company that imports and distributes French, Italian, and Chilean wines. He sells his selections to top New York establishments, such as Chanterelle, Union Square Cafe, and Lespinasse, and they are also featured at the wine merchant Sherry-Lehmann. Gold has long been involved in hosting winemaker dinners, first at Wine Spectator Grand-Award-winning Restaurant 301 at the Carter House in California, and now at the James Beard Foundation.

Gold strives to impart his knowledge of wine to his students. He teaches avocational seminars in pairing wine with cheese and with meals. In the professional classes, he always explains why a particular wine was chosen for use in a sauce or marinade.