Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Sommelier breaks world record by balancing 51 glasses on one hand

A British sommelier smashed the world record for the number of wine glasses held in one hand on Saturday, according to organisers of the event, handling 51 glasses to surpass the previous record of 39.

Philip Osenton, a 43-year-old wine consultant based in Beijing, began handling dozens of glasses at a time early in his career working at major London hotels the Ritz and Savoy, which he said laid the groundwork for the feat.

Philip Osenton's first record.

YouTube link.

"The carrying of glasses is a sommelier thing. When I was head sommelier at the Ritz hotel, I've had a 140-cover restaurant to set up in the morning between breakfast and lunch, so basically with two glasses per setting I had got 280 glasses to put out with a very short amount of time," Osenton said. "You have a lot of pressure to get the room ready."

In his first attempt Osenton managed 45 glasses in one go, but made it to 51 on a second try, stacking the glasses on their side on top of each other in his left hand. The previous record of 39 glasses was made in 2007 by a Filipino man in a Barcelona restaurant.

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