Joe Campanale is a renowned sommelier, restaurant operator, author and wine expert.

After co-founding several wine-focused concepts with the West Village-based Epicurean Group (dell’anima, L’Artusi and natural wine bar, Anfora), Joe branched out on his own in 2017 to open Fausto in the former Franny’s location in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Immediately after, Jon Bonne named Fausto’s wine program “one of the country’s most exciting” and the restaurant has received numerous accolades from Eater, New York Magazine, The Infatuation, Time Out New York and Travel + Leisure, among others.

Following Fausto’s immediate success, Campanale opened LaLou, a neighborhood wine bar and restaurant in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn with a focus on natural wines from France, Eastern Europe, Germany and Austria. LaLou has been named one of the “20 Best Wine Bars in the US” by Tasting Table and “One of the Best Wine Bars in NYC” by Eater and The Infatuation.

In April 2022, Joe released Vino: The Essential Guide to Real Italian Wine published by Clarkson Potter. Co-written with author Joshua David Stein, Vino has been coined “the Italian wine bible for a new generation” and was named “One of the Year’s Best Books on Wine” by the New York Times.

In Spring 2023, Joe and his partner Ilyssa Satter opened Bar Vinazo, Park Slope’s preeminent Spanish wine bar and restaurant. Bar Vinazo is the first venture in Joe and Ilyssa’s independent hospitality company, Partner Hospitality.

Joe has been named a Food & Wine Magazine “Sommelier of the Year” and has been featured on numerous “30 under 30” lists, including Forbes and Zagat and was later listed as one of Wine Enthusiast’s “40 under 40.” In January 2020, Joe was included in Eater’s New Guard, “the chefs and restaurateurs defining the next generation of dining.” He is a regular participant in the New York Times Tasting Panel led by Chief Wine Critic Eric Asimov. He has also hosted more than 200 episodes of his wine-focused podcast “In the Drink” and is an avid marathon runner.