About Us
Husband and wife partners Melissa L. Smith and Monte Harhouri met while they were working at the famed Cantonese fine dining restaurant Hakkasan in San Francisco in 2016. Bonding over their love of food, travel, nature, adventure, and a drive to create an incredible future integrating all of their passions, they set their eye on finding a place that would allow them to pursue all of their goals and create a community of growth and generosity.
Maison Plas is the culmination of more than three decades of Melissa L. Smith’s work in food, wine, hospitality,
and bringing people together.
A Culinary Institute of America–trained chef, Melissa began her career in the culinary world, working in acclaimed restaurants and catering high-end events throughout Silicon Valley, California Wine Country, and New York’s Hudson Valley before turning her focus to wine. She went on to work as a restaurant sommelier and with one of the country’s leading wine and spirits retailers before founding Enotrias Elite Sommelier Services in 2014. Through Enotrias, she has built a career managing and appraising significant private wine collections and serving as an expert witness and consultant. Her expertise has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Robb Report, Condé Nast, and Food & Wine, among others.
For nearly eight years, Melissa and her husband searched for a property where they could bring those experiences together and create something of their own—a place centered around farm-to-table food, intimate gatherings, and a genuine sense of hospitality. Their search eventually brought them to New England, where Melissa has family roots and where her own culinary story began at the CIA and continued through years of catering weddings and events in the Hudson Valley.
They ultimately found that place in the historic property that would become Maison Plas in central Vermont. Maison Plas is an expression of everything Melissa has learned along the way: thoughtful hospitality, exceptional food and wine, a connection to the land and seasons, and the simple pleasure of gathering around a table.
Today, Maison Plas brings that philosophy to intimate weddings, private dinners, catered retreats, classes, and gatherings—creating experiences that feel beautifully considered, deeply personal, and entirely at home.