Rising Star Wine Director Brent Kroll of Maxwell Park - Biography

Brent Kroll’s career in hospitality has spanned the nation, thanks to time spent working for the Michael Mina Restaurant Group, which put him behind the corkscrew at Saltwater at the MGM Grand in his native Detroit, and Miami’s Bourbon Steak at the Fairmont Turnberry Country Club in Miami and Casa Tua on South Beach. In 2008, this state-hopping somm and Michigan native settled in Washington, D.C., and landed a position with renowned restaurateur Ashok Bajaj. Kroll oversaw the wine program at Ardeo/ Bardeo and later at the Oval Room, where he met mentor Madeline Triffon, who instilled in him a deep-rooted sense of hospitality. In 2010, Kroll accepted the position of wine director at Ardour at The St. Regis Hotel in Washington, D.C.

In 2013, he became wine director of D.C.’s Neighborhood Restaurant Group, which at that point included 16 distinctive chef-driven restaurants, a bakery, a butcher shop, and a retail wine shop. There, he created compelling beverage programs for Red Apron and Iron Gate, among others. In 2014, he was named a StarChefs Rising Star Sommelier. In 2016, he moved on to Max Kuller’s Fat Baby Inc., overseeing the wine program at Proof. In 2017, he opened his fi rst concept, Maxwell Park, with Fat Baby and partners Sommeliers Niki Lang and Daniel Runnerstrom. Together they’re redefining the wine bar with an entire cellar and concept that changes monthly.