A Master and his wines…

Allegheny Country Club

Friday, March 22nd, 2023 6:30 PM

An evening beginning with a Formal Sit-Down Curated Wine Tasting followed by a Four Course Perfectly Paired Dinner, created by Allegheny Country Club Executive Chef Hayley Karczewski.

Larry has 30 years of experience in the restaurant and wine businesses. His wine career hardly seems likely as it began as a Teamster casual worker for a beer and wine wholesaler in Youngstown, Ohio. While the beginnings were humble, Larry earned opportunities at Bern’s Steak House in Tampa, FL, Emeril’s in New Orleans and Orlando, FL, and Station Casinos and Resorts in Las Vegas, NV.

In 2010, Larry joined Jackson Family Wines and in 2012 he became the National Ambassador for Kendall-Jackson, a career-defining role. He travels extensively and works closely with Jackson Family’s distributor partners to deliver sales results for both retail and restaurant accounts.

Larry represented the United States in the prestigious international sommelier competition Meilleur Sommelier du Monde Concours Mondial in 2000 after winning the title of Best Sommelier in America earlier that same year. In 2001, he became one of approximately 190 Master Sommeliers in the world and the first Master Sommelier in Florida. He has sat on the Board of Directors of the Court of Master Sommeliers. He has served as a judge for the Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs’ Jeuene Sommelier Competition at the national and regional levels. He has participated as a wine judge, with other internationally recognized experts, at the Starwine International Wine Competition and the TEXSOM International Wine Awards, formerly the Dallas Morning News Wine Competition.

If he had the skill, Larry would give up all this wine drama for a chance to join the Professional Bowlers Association.

Executive Chef Hayley Karczewski

A graduate of Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management, Hayley quickly realized she wanted to continue her education and pursue a career as a chef and immediately started working at the Duquesne Club in 2012. She acquired a Culinary Arts degree from Westmoreland Community College in 2014. As we all know, the Duquesne Club has sustained a strong reputation for superior culinary offerings and is widely considered one of the very top private city clubs in the Country. Chef Hayley spent nine years working in various management positions within kitchen operations until she accepted an offer to become Allegheny Country Club’s Executive Sous Chef in 2021. Chef Hayley has made a tremendous impact on our culinary program here at ACC, and I am truly excited to see her continue to transform our program and offerings as our Executive Chef. It was easy to offer Chef Hayley the Executive Chef position as I know she brings tremendous experience and passion to the position. Her love for cooking and the culinary arts is evident and her temperament and overall management style fit well within our management team. I am very confident Chef Hayley will continue to provide positive contributions to our operations while creating a world-class culinary program. Hayley lives in Mt. Lebanon with her dog, Hank, and her cat, Cat.