Alice Borrman
OUR GOODMAN FAMILY
Meet Alice, our Sommelier
at Goodman Mayfair
“This is still very fresh,” explains Alice, looking around Goodman Maddox after moving from Goodman City. “But it’s nice. I’m still very attached to City, but this is smaller, with a different guest base. There’s still lots of regulars I’m getting to know, that makes it really nice.”
Not to mention the team. “Goodman is the longest job I’ve had, and the only place I’ve worked where people stay for a long time or even come back. We talk about this making up ‘The Goodman Family’. That should almost be a cliché but it really is. ”
Before Goodman, Alice studied performing arts and moved into hospitality, waitressing to fund her travel habits. “I worked in Thailand for a bit – volunteer, animal conservation stuff but also to see a new culture and have an experience. I went to Bosnia, Montenegro… I ended up in Albania.” Alice laughs. “I wanted somewhere a little different and found it!
“People want to have a nice wine, and enjoy it. Some want to talk about it, but at the end of the day, wine is there to be enjoyed. There’s no right or wrong.”
”The move into wine came almost accidentally. “We’d do lots of wine tasting at Goodman,” explains Alice. “I’ve always liked wine – that helps – but it stemmed from there. People at Goodman saw that I liked it and, after a couple of years, there was a chance to do some courses, like WSET.”
People want to have a nice wine, and enjoy it. Some want to talk about it, but at the end of the day, wine is there to be enjoyed. There’s no right or wrong.”
Alice will opt for Digestives over Hob Nobs (“and ideally chocolate digestives, if you’re offering”), a UK bone-in ribeye (but is also partial to a US porterhouse), cheese over dessert and, if you’re heading to the shop, she’ll have a Twix, ta very much.
Credits
Interview by Neil Davey
Photography by Tom Bowles