Eric Moorer
Gemini | Washington, D.C.
February 2026
Eric Moorer was 18 when he got his first job in hospitality. He spent the summer as a dishwasher and prep cook at The Café at the Frick Art Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but soon realized the back of house was not for him. While attending the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Moorer started working at Folks Café, roasting and serving coffee, before spending a year in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he bartended and served at Terrace Café. Back in Pittsburgh, he got a job as a server at Sonoma Grille. Intrigued by the restaurant’s robust beverage program, Moorer enrolled in classes at Palate Partners, completed his WSET, and fell in love with wine, embracing its ability to tie history and hospitality together.
A trip to Europe in 2012 solidified his passion, and he soon took over as the restaurant’s wine coordinator. Over the next few years, Moorer learned from other wine professionals in the area, including Rising Stars alum Dominic Fiore, Sommelier Sean Rosenkrans, and Sommelier Vanessa Cominsky. In 2015, he became the beverage manager of Pizzaiolo Primo, building on its Southern Italian-focused wine program while cultivating an interest in natural wines and small grower-producers.
After working on the opening team of Pittsburgh’s Or, The Whale, Moorer moved to Washington, D.C., in 2018 to work with Cominsky at DBGB before heading to Pineapple & Pearls. Not long after, he joined Domestique Wine, a natural wine shop in Washington, D.C., where he spent the next five years digging deeper into the agricultural systems that drive the wine industry. In 2023, Moorer joined the team at Gemini. At Chef Johnny Monis and Anne Marler’s wine shop and wine bar, Moorer has shifted toward a predominantly domestic wine-focused program, celebrating the range, diversity, and potential of American wines. Along with educating his staff and the local community, he is working to expand access and challenge the narrative around domestic wines while championing smaller producers from across the country.
2026 StarChefs D.C.-Maryland-Virginia Rising Stars Award Winner
