Meet Maxime Hamelin | Wine Merchant in Nice, French Riviera

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maxime Hamelin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maxime, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I’ve been working in the fine dining/michelin star hospitality for about 16 years. I’ve always wanted to work with the best professionals of the industry to improve and become the best. Customer experience matters the most to me so even if the michelin standards are not the ones I follow today in my Wine Shop, it is very important to me that my customers feel welcomed, get proper advices and recommandations and get the best value possible for their money.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As I said, Michelin Star industry is very demanding. As a front of house employee, you need to learn a lot, everyday, in order to deliver to best customer experience possible. Knowledge about food, wine, service, customer service. Being able to work fast with the best standards and to not get overwhelmed by stress. Outside of work, I’ve always been reading about food and wine so I could be the most knowledgable about those topics. In 16 years I’ve worked very hard in more than 10 different restaurants in 3 different countries, this has not been easy everyday and I would lie if I was telling you I didn’t think about quiting a few times but all this experience and knowledge brought me where I am today, proud owner of a successfull Wine Shop.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There are a few very nice places in Nice where you can eat amazing food, paired with great wines. La Canon is an amazing restaurant, as well as Le Mallard and Chabrol. Another amazing place is Les Plaisirs in Peillon which is a cute, tiny old village in the hills, about 30 minutes from Nice. You can have a great lunch there then walk through the old streets. If you have a car, you can drive 3 hours and end up in Piedmont in Italy, amazing landscapes, amazing wines and food !

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have been working with so many great individuals I would love to thank ! In this industry, I believe you can’t become good if you do not have a passion for food, wine and service and working with passionate people encourages to share your passion with others. I guess if I have to dedicate a shoutout to someone, it would be to Anthony Bourdain’s books and his TV shows. Hearing/reading him talking about food and the restaurant industry would really help going through hard times.

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