Mercado Little Spain is a Spanish foodie’s dream come true right in the heart of NYC. Beloved Chef José Andrès has long aspired to bring the concept of “Mercado” to the U.S (namely, a grand marketplace such as those found in Barcelona and Madrid). Thanks to his collaboration with famed Chefs, brothers Albert and Ferran Adrià, Chef Andrès’ dream has finally come true. Partnering with this wonderful team of culinary experts is the class act and multi-talented A.J. Ojeda-Pons who oversees the Beverage Program for Mercado’s three restaurants and four bars.

In another life, A.J. Ojeda-Pons could have been an orchestra conductor.  Just like a masterful conductor unifies performers and shapes the sound of an ensemble, A.J. Ojeda-Pons inspires his beverage team and unifies them towards one common goal: To shape a beverage program that will lead Mercado Little Spain to great success! A.J. is a polyglot (he speaks English, Spanish, Catalan, French, Italian and Portuguese) who also loves fashion. In 2014, his love for fashion earned him the ‘Best Dressed Sommelier’ award by GQ Magazine. A well-deserved recognition in my opinion.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela to wine-loving parents, A.J. studied music in college at the Carabobo State Conservatory in Valencia. He learned to play piano, with the renowned pianist Natalia Acosta Frugoni, bassoon and harpsichord. A.J. learned the art of composition and sang as countertenor in the school choir: “My life revolved around classical music growing up.” He moved to NYC in 1999 at the age of 23 and worked as a sound engineer at a music production company, learning how to mix, record, and edit commercial jingles.

After the World Trade Center terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, music production work began to slow down considerably. The studio shut down shortly thereafter and A.J. found himself out of work. He took matters into his own hands and hit the streets of Manhattan in search of a job.  A.J. landed at the Tribeca Grill, where he applied for a reservationist position: “That was before OpenTable when you needed to keep track of reservations on a big sheet of paper and also trained as a host.”

It was at the Tribeca Grill where he became interested in wine. Wine meetings (to train staff) would take place before service right behind the reservationist desk. David Gordon (Wine Director at the time) and Yoshi Takemura (Sommelier) would lead the educational classes: “I would always remember when David filled a glass with an entire bottle of wine just to demonstrate the appropriate pour!” A.J. would listen and learn from the wine training sessions and would ask David for advice: “David Gordon is someone I highly esteem.”

A.J. has fond memories of his first trade wine-tasting (Polaner Selections), despite not getting off to a smooth start. David introduced A.J. to every wine producer in the room: “I go to the first table when someone bumped into me and I spilled a glass of red wine all over me. I was baptized in wine!” He ran out to the nearest Banana Republic to purchase a new shirt and went back to the tasting. However, that day was an eye opener for him. A.J. was eager to learn more. He started reading wine books, such as The Wine Bible, Windows of the World and The Oxford Companion from Jancis Robinson. He started buying wine from his local wine shop; he would buy two of the same bottle – one for tasting and one to save. He soon had a respectable wine collection of his own.

As his passion for wine grew, his career took on an upward trajectory. From 2005 through 2008, A.J. worked his way up from a reservationist at Gotham Bar & Grill to service manager at high-end restaurants such as Laurent Tourondel’s BLT Fish and BLT Prime, Riingo (Chef Marcus Samuelsson) and Perry Street (Jean-Georges).

2008 proved to be a breakthrough year for A.J. He earned the opportunity to work as a sommelier at ‘The Monday Room’ Wine Bar (part of Public Restaurant). The concept was small plates paired with ‘off the beaten path’ wines exclusively from New Zealand and Australia - a category he was not too familiar with.

In 2011, A.J. took on a sommelier position at The Lambs Club. One year later, he was promoted to Wine Director. His wine career took off at that point. He soon became a guest sommelier at La Nuit en Rose events, participating in tasting panels and traveling to wine regions - which are crucial to a proper wine education: “The Lambs Club gave me complete autonomy of the wine list and I was able to be as creative as I wanted to be.” To further his wine education, in 2013 A.J. obtained his WSET Advanced Certificate from the International Wine Center.  He is currently enrolled in the WSET Diploma program and nearing completion.

After 8 years at The Lambs Club, A.J. was ready to advance his passion for wine to an even higher level. Following 11 interviews, A.J. was offered the incredible opportunity to run the Beverage Program at José Andrès’ new Manhattan project, Mercado Little Spain, 35,000 square feet of Spanish delicacies. A.J. trained relentlessly with José Andrès’ team in Washington D.C., prior to the NYC grand opening in February 2019. His mission was to create a unique all-Spanish wine list. A.J. is a huge fan of Catalonian wine: “My great grandparents are from a small village in the province of Girona, Catalonia. My heart has always been there.” I asked him how challenging it was to keep the wine list exciting and his response was: “The true challenge is to keep the wine in stock. This place is huge. The first week we went through 70 cases of the wine we serve by the glass.”             

The next restaurant opening at Mercado Little Spain will be ‘Avant Garde’ in the Fall of 2019. It will be run by Ferran Adria’s team. There will be tasting menus with international wine pairings. In the meantime, enjoy some tapas and a glass of wine at Vinos Wine Bar and discover wines from the Canary Islands among an array of Spanish gems. With over 40 wines by the glass, you’ll find your match.

Given that I was totally star struck when I once ran into José Andrès at an event, I was curious and had to ask A.J. how it feels to work with such a personality, to which he answered: “I am honored and proud to be working for a good guy. He is such a humanitarian and an incredible individual!” Yes indeed…

Salud!

Anna