Club Management - September/October 2007 - (Page 23) (Wine and Food) 1 Marriage 2 3 4 5 1. Know Your Drinkers. One distinguishing characteristic of clubs, as opposed to public bars and restaurants, is the degree of knowledge you should have about the likes, dislikes and patterns of members. It is not uncommon for a good club manager to brief his service staff on everything at a given table – from what the members are inclined to order to how many refills they will request. Member tendencies also can lead you to the people who are more inclined to try new things. These tendencies are a big ordering help once the reservation list begins to fill. 6 By Jason Christy 2. Utilize Your Staff. A true bartender will amaze you with the amount of information he or she has on what people drink. They are your most current resource. For example, Joe Member and his wife have been sharing a bottle of $60 Chardonnay (that no one else drinks) every Wednesday night for two years. If they decide to switch, the bartender is going to be the first to know, and that is a chunk of change off an order. Also, in the absence of an official expert, the bartender tends to be the de facto person members ask for suggestions – a big help in inventory control and customer service. 3. Involve the Chef. In the absence of an in-house sommelier, the most knowledgeable member of your management team most likely will be the chef. “It is imperative to include the professional knowledge of the executive chef in the holiday food and wine pairing,” said Ronald A. Banaszak, CCM, general manager/chief operating officer of the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. “The chef needs to be included in the decision-making process and updated on wine selection changes. Creativity of the culinary department starts with an idea, a thought, and the chef is your culinary inspirational person.” 4. Do Your Research. In addition to mapping tendencies among members, pore over the wine numbers from last year. Also, before throwing yourself into the wine selection abyss, think of your research in terms of the ripple effect: start close, then move outward as necessary. If you do not have an in-house sommelier, check with wine experts at upscale liquor stores. There is, of course, the Internet, with more than 5,000 hits on holiday wine pairings alone. But local is a much better bet, and the more local, the better. 5. Crunch Numbers. This is not about cost, per se. Cost is unique to each club, while number crunching is universal. It has less to do with money than preparation and courtesy. For example, if you told your spouse you were picking up a bottle of wine for dinner, he or she would expect it to be reasonably priced for the occasion; neither too cheap, nor too expensive, but commensurate with the budget to which you are accustomed. The same principle applies here. “It is important to keep contribution margin in mind when pricing wine,” Banaszak said. “We put dollars in the banks, not percentages.” 7 8 9 10 6. Look Your Vendor in the Eye. Where, how and from whom you buy your alcohol is going to vary based on circumstances such as state and local law, club character and relationships with salespeople. Whatever the case may be, if you are entrusting another person to deliver the goods, do not take chances. Make them understand they are to get it right without exception. “Have the vendor conduct employee training when bringing in a new wine or seasonal wine,” Banaszak said. “It is always best to have a representative from the winery participate. Sales tend to increase when the staff is well educated and feels comfortable speaking about seasonal wine.” 7. Create and Have Fun. When you have what you want, have fun making the list that is the fruit of your labor. Don’t be shy in this phase; use wine words, ham it up, get excited and get staff excited. Wine expertise is complex, sophisticated and capable of overwhelming the novice. But drinking it is fun, so you should make it sound fun. Don’t try too hard once you have chosen your wine. Give your list some personality, have some fun, and be careful about trying to impress. 8. Talk it Up. Furthering the fun theme, talk up the wines you have chosen, but be careful to keep to the theme of the pairings with holiday food and how you got a kick out of doing it. This is a subtle point, but an important one, because astute people do not like to get the impression they are being sold. Talk up the idea and the process of pairing up the wine and food, and that is suggestion enough. People who want to know more will ask, and people who don’t will give signa ls. 9. Butt In on the Final Menu. You have invested too much to let this slip through the cracks. Make sure the last menu is absolutely right. Banaszak notes, “The quality of paper, layout, design and theme of the menu is as important as the menu items listed. Similar to eating your meal with your eyes, so is the menu.” 10. Cross Your Fingers at Crunch Time. The staff, the food, the fi nal set-up, the timing: bringing together all of these things during the holidays when members want something special can be stressful, to say the least. Your wine list is going to be remembered for better or worse, based on what you have put into it. There you have it: 10 basic things and a host of helpful info for a memorable holiday wine list. Good luck, and remember that whatever you choose to do with wine or any other endeavor, know your members, and get it right for them. ❚❘ About the author Jason Christy is a freelance writer and former bartender at Golden Eagle Golf & Country Club in Tallahassee, Florida. SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007 • 23
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