Zoltan Szabo is the quintessential North American success story: from non-English-speaking busboy to star sommelier in under a decade. Zoltan has been recognized repeatedly by his colleagues, winning Toronto Star sommelier of the year in 2003, top spot at Tony Aspler’s Ontario Wine Awards blind tasting competition in 2005 and most recently was named “promoter of the year 2006″ for the Ontario Wine Industry during their annual Cuvée gala in recognition of his significant support of local artisans of the grape.

Professionally, Zoltan has created and oversees many award winning wine programs for some of the finest restaurants in Toronto garnering him additional accolades from the local media and the Wine Spectator. He is a contributing editor for CityBites Magazine, Drinks editor of Asian Gourmet, and contributes tasting notes to a variety of prominent publications and organizations, such as winerytohome.com, Vines Magazine and the Ontario Restaurant News.

You’ve got $10 to buy lunch - where do you go?

Halleluia Restaurant (870 Eglinton Avenue West). Usually I have a mixed platter of cold and hot appetizers; hummus, babaganoush, matbucha, samsa and chebureky. I know the owner, Boris, he is a lovely guy.

The budget’s unlimited, someone else is paying and the choice is yours - where do you pick for dinner?

Opus on Prince Arthur (37 Prince Arthur Avenue). The Amaro brothers are friends of mine, they have best wine list in town and very creative cuisine.

Tell us some of the food shops you frequent when buying groceries to cook for yourself.

Nortown Foods (892 Eglinton Avenue West) has a great meat counter with fresh fish. They have specials on every night before closing. It’s not cheap, but very good quality.

When ordering in for a quiet night at home, what’s your favourite place for take-out or delivery?

King Falafel (875 Eglinton Avenue West), corner of Eglinton West & Bathurst. I order shawarmas, falafels, honey cake, baklava, shortbread cookies, and fruit juices. It’s all homemade and cheap.

Oh, no, relatives are coming to Toronto from out of town where do you take them?

7 Numbers (516 Eglinton Avenue West) - Mama Marinuzzi’s Italian country style cooking is delicious, unpretentious and reasonably priced. The service is awesome, Vito Marinuzzi runs the floor, and Massimo serves me most of the time, he is a real character.

Your favourite place to grab a couple of drinks and hang out where everybody knows your name?

Sette Mezzo (936 Eglinton Avenue West). I know all their names - from Sol the owner to Blaze the dishwasher - and they all know mine.

What’s coming up?

The Outer Limits of Ontario Wine by The Ontario Wine Society takes place on July 23rd at the Savoy Bistro & Lounge, 253 Victoria St. Tickets are $30 per person.