Lindsey Menard is a born and bred Washingtonian who enjoys good food, great wine, and bad jokes. After earning a degree in English and Education at Bucknell University, she moved back to DC to teach English and throw the occasional dinner party in her backyard. These days you will find her organizing the events in Via Umbria's Demonstration Kitchen and Cafe, talking incessantly about her dog, and writing one too many groan-worthy puns on social media.

Rachel comes to us from New Jersey, bringing us some flair with her expertise in arts and crafts as well as her self-proclaimed title of alcohol aficionado. If Rachel's not setting up for an event, you can likely find her in the wine room or near the cheese.

Scott Daniel Weiss, the butcher at Via Umbria, is a Northern Virginia native who, a few years ago, realized he liked eating more than almost anything else. He had this realization for the first time while studying abroad in South Tyrol, Alto Adige, in the land of speck. But, he continued to have this realization over and over again while plowing through an undergraduate education in North Carolina, home of the best barbecue on planet Earth (he's pretty sure this is a scientific fact). After finishing a year in Scotland learning the simple joys of not wasting off pieces of meat (really, haggis is delicious, people), Scott returned home to a brief career in food service and aggresively teaching himself how to cook, with no small amount of help from his foodie folks in his off hours. All this drove Scott step by step towards going whole hog and learning butchery. Now he's happy to bring you the best meats money can buy, cured or raw. Stop by the Via Umbria meat counter and plan some dinner!