Jasmine loves storytelling and curating experiences. She is inspired by food as culture, lived experience, and personal story.
The past few years offered Jasmine pathways to honor her Black American and Sri Lankan heritage, love for bar and restaurant culture, community, and ancestors in her work. Her pop-up series, @lionsxpearls spotlights diasporic cuisines and is a blueprint for a future passion project.
She is an artist and a certified sommelier (CMS). Find her creative work, digital illustrations, and published work @corked.wines.black.lines and @barscapes__ for her visual and literary homage to bars.
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The Best Wine Shops in the U.S., According to Pros | Wine Enthusiast
The United States has over 40,000 wine and spirits stores. But for this list, we spoke to wine, drink and food industry pros to find the local retailers that prove there’s more to wine shops than the bottles on the shelf…
“[Sauvage Bottle Shop in Phoenix] is my go-to, and was our wedding weekend hotspot,” says Jasmine Senaveratna, a sommelier and beverage educator. “It’s a natural wine shop within the Churchill, a mixed-used community space, and you can buy bottles and sip in the courtyard or grab and go. Chris Lingua curates bottles for fans of, and newcomers to, natural wine, which I appreciate. He always has something new, and good sparkling, to boot.”
Photo by Nic Coury
Aubergine manager finds service success
Dinner at Aubergine is about so much more than sustenance – it’s a symphony with a chorus of servers moving around the intimate dining room delivering exquisite dishes and pouring premium wines. Overseeing this coordinated culinary crew is Jasmine Senaveratna, restaurant manager.
Behind all the luxurious plates, Senaveratna says humility of service is critical to the Aubergine experience: “I can’t tell you how much genuine eye contact, a shared smile or laugh uplifts morale and service.” Some diners may be apprehensive about “stuffy” fine dining, but Senaveratna emphasizes the notion of pretension is fading.
Photos by Wendy Winters
Q&A in LAST DESSERTS: A series by Wendy Winters
Name:
Jasmine Senaveratna (Senaveratna means Beloved Warrior)
What city were you born in?
Baltimore, Maryland
Three most important things in your life?
1. My friendships and my relationship - my family of friends.
2. Good wine
3. Sade