Evan Turner, sommelier and wine director at Krasi Meze and Wine in Boston’s Back Bay, leads the largest all Greek wine list in the country. He is now leading the way in introducing New England to Greek wine.
Evan has recently been published in outlets such as Vinepair, Wine Enthusiast, USA Today 10 Best, Wine & Spirits, and Estiator. And Krasi has recently been listed as: one of the top 50 restaurants in Boston from Boston magazine (#16), one of the best wine bars in the Boston area from Eater Boston, one of 25 of the best restaurants in Boston right now from Time Out Boston, one of the best restaurants in Boston from Thrillist and was Time Out Boston's 2021 Love Local award winner which was the fan favorite pick of the city.
Evan describes himself as “just a guy who was very lucky to live around the world, thanks to my stepfather who teaches English as a second language. We lived in Greece for about seven years and the nation captivated me immediately. I remember the very first meal I had in Greece down to who sat where. I ‘took to Greece like a duck to water,’ as my mom used to say.”
Turner worked in the restaurant business for several years as a bartender before becoming a sommelier. In 2005, he moved to Houston and worked his way up the Court of Master Sommeliers “until about 2008,” he says, when he decided Greek wine was it. He conceived and opened the popular Helen Greek Food and Wine — a James Beard semi-finalist — in Houston in 2015 before being offered the opportunity to run the wine program at Krasi. “I could not resist, so here I am,” he says.
Evan is the most Greek non-Greek in the hospitality industry, extolling the virtues of Greek history and wine with the city of Boston and beyond. His Symposium Wednesday wine series at Krasi are always sold out and he is now deemed the Dionysus of Boston’s Back Bay. He says, “Greece created nearly everything we take for granted when it comes to winemaking and wine culture. Shoot, my job exists because of the Greeks. So, to promote and drink their wines is to wrap yourself in history and a part of our culture that is as important as any we hold dear.”
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