As a teenage busboy, Bobby Stuckey had aspirations of writing a book about wine. Red wine in particular. He credits his mother, who ran a catering company and let him sip vino at the dinner table for inspiration. But when he proposed the idea after failing out of his Jesuit high school in Arizona, she told him to cool his jets.
“‘You can barely write your name. So let’s just get done with high school before you’re telling me what books you’re going to write,’” he recalled her telling him.
Stuckey might have been sour grapes when it came to traditional academics, but he has excelled in matters of the fruit of the vine.
Now a master sommelier and renowned Boulder restaurateur, Stuckey is this year’s winner of the Julia Child Award, given by the foundation entrusted with Child’s legacy. He is only the 11th winner. Stuckey won for his commitment to hospitality and mentorship.
“Julia’s impact on American culinary culture extends far beyond cooking techniques — she championed education, excellence, and the joy that comes from sharing good food and wine,” Stuckey said. “These values have guided my career.”
Stuckey may have to scooch over a few wine bottles to make room for this honor. Frasca Food and Wine, his northeast Italian eatery in Boulder, won Outstanding Restaurant in the nation this year from the James Beard Foundation. Its wine program won in 2013. Frasca also has a Michelin star, which represents “high quality cooking.”
The Frasca Hospitality Group, of which Stuckey is co-owner, also has to its name Sunday Vinyl, the restaurant and wine bar at Denver Union Station, and Tavernetta in Denver and Vail, among others.
The Child award comes with $50,000, which Stuckey will invest in the Bobby and Danette Stuckey Endowed Scholarship for first-generation students at Northern Arizona University, his alma mater.
Indeed Stuckey not only graduated high school, he finished college. And he eventually wrote that wine book, too, with Frasca co-founder Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson.
