Sonal Clare

Posted On November 29, 2021

Award Winning Sommelier & General Manager At Wilderness

cover photo from Birmingham food podcast breaking bread episode with Sommelier and manager Sonal Clare

Listen to this episode of Birmingham food podcast Breaking Bread with Sonal Clare & hear his incredible career in hospitality. Press play on the player above, alternatively, you can listen on your favorite podcast app, just select from the list on this LINK

Sonal Clare, Welcome To Breaking Bread

Hello & a very warm welcome back to the Birmingham food podcast breaking bread. Co-hosted by food-obsessed mates Liam & Carl, Breaking Bread gives you long-form interviews & discussions with the incredible people that make Brums food scene so amazing. This week we break bread with the awesome Sonal Clare.

From Birmingham collage of food to GQ Sommelier of year, brand ambassador for one of the best champagnes in the world & general manager of some of the best Michelin level fine dining restaurants in the city. Sonal is one of the most respected talents in the industry.

Sonal’s Career

Sonal’s love for hospitality materialised when he started training at Birmingham’s famous collage of food. After gaining real-world experience in high-end restaurants in Ireland Sonal returned to Brum, where he made it his mission to work for Glynn Purnell. A decision he made instantly after eating the Brummie legends food.

After constant hounding, the Purnells restaurant manager relented & gave Sonal a job in his front-of-house team. During his time at Purnell’s Sonal became a student of hospitality, a sponge for knowledge & worked his way up to general manager.

Sonal Clare GQ sommelier of the year Wilderness general Manager

On his way to becoming manager Sonal started paying more attention to the wine side of front of house. Wine quickly became his passion & his talent for matching wine to food & love of champagne gained Sonal Clare the role of ambassador for Krug as well as been named sommelier of the year by GQ magazine.

After a successful time at legendary Purnells, Sonal decided to take on new challenges at the exciting & original fine dining restaurant The Wilderness in Birmingham’s JQ. The Wilderness brings the opportunity for Sonal Clare to show more of his creative personality. Along with mega talented cocktail magician Rob Wood Sonal has been challenged to disrupt the traditional drinks pairing, a challenge that has truly captured Sonals imagination.

Choose Hospitality

Choose Hospitality is a collection of industry professional who are fed up with the old negative conetations connected to hospitality. They are on a mission to tell as many as will listen that hospitality is a special exciting career, with lots of unique advantages that more people really should consider.

It may look like I have the dream job, & I do have the dream job Sonal proclaims, but its just reward for a career of hard graft in hospitality. This is why Sonal has become an ambassador for the new Choose Hospitality collective. He wants to spread the message that hospitality is a legit career choice, a career that if you put the work in, has unbelievable rewards.