David Orellana

Beverage Director

With nearly two decades of experience at some of New York’s finest dining rooms, David Orellana leads the beverage program for The Ragtrader, Bo Peep and The Parlour Room.

At FLHG, David has been instrumental in the opening of The Parlour Room, a whiskey-focused bar and restaurant with an inspired selection of American fare. David curated a full beverage program with over 500 whiskey selections that is becoming a bar destination for whiskey lovers and cocktail aficionados.  

Previously, David worked for the Howard Hughes Corporation at the reimagined Pier 17 and Seaport District NYC, leading the team as beverage director.  There, David opened and oversaw multiple venues assembling beverage programs serving a global clientele. While working very closely with the bar team and mixologists, David developed unique cocktail programs for all bars and restaurants, including The Rooftop, a half-an-acre concert venue that features performances by A-list artists.

With the hospitality industry in his blood, Orellana learned the business at an early age at the family restaurant in his native Ecuador. When he arrived in the United States in 2000, his very first job was in the restaurant industry, a job that helped him work his way through university. He earned his degree in literature in 2006 but discovered the potential of a hospitality career while opening trendsetting Scarpetta in the Meatpacking District in 2008. “At Scarpetta I found the true culture of hospitality and realized that was what I wanted to do with my life.” Mentored by Chef Scott Conant, David quickly worked his way up from sommelier to wine and beverage director where he managed and curated a wine list of well-over 700 labels. He remained at Scarpetta for seven years.

In 2016 David joined prolific restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Maialino at the Gramercy Park Hotel as head sommelier, at which he enjoyed the progressive, nurturing management culture and the restaurant’s formidable 1,500-label wine list. The following year, David worked as beverage director of New York’s Zuma, now-international chain of Japanese-inspired restaurants from German Chef Rainer Becker, and subsequently at the steakhouse Quality Italian.

A resident of nearby Brooklyn, David is passionate about old-world wine, whiskey, and cocktail creation. Whenever possible, David enjoys spending time with his wife Diana, a pastry chef, and their two young daughters at the beach.