Wine connoisseur finds a home in Hinsdale restaurant

Since Yamandu Perez was born his life has been an adventure.

While originally from Uruguay, Perez spent his junior high and high school years in Fairbanks, Alaska.

He took his first job in the restaurant business at McDonald’s when he was 14. Although his position was cooking on the grill, Perez got to know the customers. The general manager was so impressed by Perez’s people skills that he created a special “host” position for him, which entailed refilling coffee and chatting with customers.

Two decades later, he continues to greet customers as one of the owners of Zak’s Place, Hinsdale’s newest restaurant that opened two months ago.

“I think what stands out about Zak’s is its comfortable environment,” Perez said. “You can either come in with jeans and a T-shirt or with a suit on and you don’t feel out of place either way. I like to call it ‘Smart Casual’ — casual with an elegance to it.”

Located at 112 S. Washington St., Zak’s Place is contemporary American with dishes ranging from steamed mussels to a 22-ounce bone-in rib eye. Already the restaurant has hosted six private parties and weekends are almost completely booked for January. Along with a full bar, the menu offers about 300 varieties of wine.

It was Perez’s interest and knowledge of wine that brought him to Chicago. While taking one of the Master Sommelier exams in Boston, he was asked to blindly taste his first glass of wine and say what grape it was, what region of the world it was harvested in and what year it was bottled.

The gentlemen to his left said if Perez got the right selection, he was going to hire him. That man turned out to be Gabriel Viti, chef and owner of Gabriel’s Restaurant in Highwood. Perez got it right.

From sommelier to general manager, Perez spent five years at Gabriel’s, where he managed a wine list of 1,400 selections.

Gaining experience and meeting new people, Perez had the desire to open his own restaurant. That opportunity came this August when he found a space in Hinsdale. With Executive Chef Marc Stein, with whom he worked at Gabriel’s, and longtime friend Matthew VanValkenburgh, the three opened Zak’s Place — named in honor of Perez’s beloved dog who ran away a year ago. The owners say it has been a great experience so far.

“Yamandu is definitely one of the best front people you’ll ever find in the restaurant industry,” VanValkenburgh said. “He’s really great with people and is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to wine ... It’s going well.”