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JORGE ALBERTO ALVARADO
Actor, wine boutique owner, occasional dictator, wine lover and above all bon vivant, ''Jorgito'' as his family and friends call him, is a fixture of Morningside Heights in NYC. I met him two and half years ago when I entered into his wine store for the first time trying to sell him some of my French wines. Jorge is picky and knowledgeable about the wines he selects for his shop. It took me a couple of months of convincing before he placed one of my bottles on his shelves. But when he and his wife -- Myriam or ''Lady Boss'' as he calls her -- decide to carry a wine, they look after it like it's their own child. After doing business with them for a couple of years, Jorge became my drinking buddy. I called him a couple of weeks ago and asked if I could interview him over a couple of drinks. His answer was : ''Whenever you want! The Colonel is hanging in, holding on, and selling grapes!''
''It's a good thing my wife isn't jealous."
When we open our first bottle, Jorge confesses to me that he moved to the United States on August, 13th 1975. Since that day, thirteen is his lucky number. He always plays it at roulette when he goes to the casino. Jorge is also huge fan of Alex Morgan, who plays for the US women's soccer team and wears the number thirteen jersey. "Good thing my wife isn't jealous," he tells me.
Upon his arrival in New York, Jorge managed to find and keep a job as an elevator operator for several years. He didn't speak a word of English back then. We spoke for at least an hour about how far he has come since arriving in the United States. He enjoys the good things in life now: fishing trips, soccer, and good wines.
''I was extremely happy and living the dream I never had.''
After opening our second bottle, I asked Jorge how he began his acting career.
"Out of nowhere this fellow walked into my wine shop," he begins. "Right away, of course, I volunteer my services by asking, 'how can I help you?' He turned around and told me: ''No, no, no. I need a Jorge character.' Before you know it, I end up doing a comedy, called Sin Matador about an illegal bull fight in New York City. In the middle of it, I receive an offer to do a commercial for Elite Turkish Coffee. They flew me to Romania, two body guards, a private driver, a private suite, a masseuse anytime I wanted. Unbelievable and out-of-nowhere! They handed me an envelope with money that I passed to my wife without opening it. Everybody [...] looked at me like was crazy. [But] I couldn't care less; I was extremely happy and living the dream I never had. Shortly after that, they asked me if I would be okay with a photoshoot. I said 'sure'. They sent me to a room to change with two beautiful models and I got butt naked... The two models smiled but never laughed. During the shoot they asked me to pinch the butt of the girl on the right and [hold onto] the waist of the other one. I never thought my arms were so long. [At the end], even the photographer told me thank you.''
''Not even F..k..g Hemingway could have come up with this shit.''
Our conversation continued for several hours and contained many more of Jorge's incredible life stories. Unfortunately, I can't get into it all here but -- you'll just have to believe me on this one -- Jorge's got a lot more incredible anecdotes to tell. While opening our third bottle, Jorge summed up his life like this: ''I am from Ecuador, I live in New York City, they flew me to Romania to do a Turkish coffee commercial that sells in Israel. Not even f..k..g Hemingway could have come up with this shit.''
Seriously, if you like affordable wines with character make sure to stop by his wine boutique: Vino Fino Wine Shop - 1252 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027. And don't forget that Jorge holds a wine tasting night every Thursday from 5 to 8 PM.
You can also find a list of Jorge's films below:
Filmography
Fadi -
Actor, wine boutique owner, occasional dictator, wine lover and above all bon vivant, ''Jorgito'' as his family and friends call him, is a fixture of Morningside Heights in NYC. I met him two and half years ago when I entered into his wine store for the first time trying to sell him some of my French wines. Jorge is picky and knowledgeable about the wines he selects for his shop. It took me a couple of months of convincing before he placed one of my bottles on his shelves. But when he and his wife -- Myriam or ''Lady Boss'' as he calls her -- decide to carry a wine, they look after it like it's their own child. After doing business with them for a couple of years, Jorge became my drinking buddy. I called him a couple of weeks ago and asked if I could interview him over a couple of drinks. His answer was : ''Whenever you want! The Colonel is hanging in, holding on, and selling grapes!''
''It's a good thing my wife isn't jealous."
When we open our first bottle, Jorge confesses to me that he moved to the United States on August, 13th 1975. Since that day, thirteen is his lucky number. He always plays it at roulette when he goes to the casino. Jorge is also huge fan of Alex Morgan, who plays for the US women's soccer team and wears the number thirteen jersey. "Good thing my wife isn't jealous," he tells me.
Upon his arrival in New York, Jorge managed to find and keep a job as an elevator operator for several years. He didn't speak a word of English back then. We spoke for at least an hour about how far he has come since arriving in the United States. He enjoys the good things in life now: fishing trips, soccer, and good wines.
''I was extremely happy and living the dream I never had.''
After opening our second bottle, I asked Jorge how he began his acting career.
"Out of nowhere this fellow walked into my wine shop," he begins. "Right away, of course, I volunteer my services by asking, 'how can I help you?' He turned around and told me: ''No, no, no. I need a Jorge character.' Before you know it, I end up doing a comedy, called Sin Matador about an illegal bull fight in New York City. In the middle of it, I receive an offer to do a commercial for Elite Turkish Coffee. They flew me to Romania, two body guards, a private driver, a private suite, a masseuse anytime I wanted. Unbelievable and out-of-nowhere! They handed me an envelope with money that I passed to my wife without opening it. Everybody [...] looked at me like was crazy. [But] I couldn't care less; I was extremely happy and living the dream I never had. Shortly after that, they asked me if I would be okay with a photoshoot. I said 'sure'. They sent me to a room to change with two beautiful models and I got butt naked... The two models smiled but never laughed. During the shoot they asked me to pinch the butt of the girl on the right and [hold onto] the waist of the other one. I never thought my arms were so long. [At the end], even the photographer told me thank you.''
''Not even F..k..g Hemingway could have come up with this shit.''
Our conversation continued for several hours and contained many more of Jorge's incredible life stories. Unfortunately, I can't get into it all here but -- you'll just have to believe me on this one -- Jorge's got a lot more incredible anecdotes to tell. While opening our third bottle, Jorge summed up his life like this: ''I am from Ecuador, I live in New York City, they flew me to Romania to do a Turkish coffee commercial that sells in Israel. Not even f..k..g Hemingway could have come up with this shit.''
Seriously, if you like affordable wines with character make sure to stop by his wine boutique: Vino Fino Wine Shop - 1252 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027. And don't forget that Jorge holds a wine tasting night every Thursday from 5 to 8 PM.
You can also find a list of Jorge's films below:
Filmography
- Sin Matador - 2012.
- Elite Turkish Coffee Advertising - Save the Captain - 2012
- Amateur Dictator - 2014 - Winner of Student Selects and Jury Honors at the Columbia University Film Festival 2014.
Fadi -
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