Cheers is dedicated to delivering hospitality professionals the information, insights and data necessary to drive their beverage business by covering trends and innovations in operations, merchandising, service and training.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/123667
DRINK CULTURE The Beauty of Celebrity Sommeliers, Bartenders Noted winemakers have long used indulgent, multicourse dinners as a way to support their top operators, attract new business and reward local customers with perks. A handful of restaurants are taking the notion a step further by inviting wine "celebrities" and local personalities to tend bar or circulate on the floor for an evening. It's a great way for customers to meet stars of the beer, wine and spirits world, and it gives them an opportunity to try featured beverages. The celebrity gets to interact with fans, and the operator typically sees a solid uptick in sales from these events. Acquarello, an Italian restaurant in San Francisco, last fall invited Gaia Gaja, the daughter of iconic Piedmontese winemaker Angelo Gaja, to discuss her family's wines on the floor. The restaurant featured a wide range of the producer's reds and a handful of whites by the glass, as well as an extensive half- and full-bottle selection. "Our list already had 30-plus Gaja wines represented, so there was plenty for guests to choose from," says Acquarello's wine director Gianpaolo Paterlini. The restaurant offered wines from all three of the family's wineries, two of which are located in Tuscany and the third in Piedmonte. Most of the guests at the event were locals, and many had previously met Gaia on trips to Italy, Paterlini says. It was the restaurant's first foray into having a guest sommelier on the floor, he notes, and "wine sales were up almost 100% from a normal Wednesday night, and almost 75% of the night's sales were Gaja wines." Jardinère, a French/California cuisine restaurant also in San Francisco, has long welcomed local media and Local celebrity chef Ryan Scott (left), shown with Jardinère bar manager Greg Stone, served as a guest bartender at the San Francisco restaurant. personalities behind the bar. Wine director Eugenio Jardim thought the program would be something fun to try for his staff. The restaurant has chosen "a variety of guest bartenders from print, online and broadcast media [as well as] friends from the culinary world," he says. Jardinère promotes the evenings—usually held during the week—through local media channels, email blasts, Facebook posts and Twitter. The guest bartenders generally promote their stints behind the stick to their personal circles as well. The restaurant typically sees a sales increase from the event's traffic, Jardim says. In prepping the guest bartenders for the evening, "we ask them to choose an alcohol that they want to feature, and we create a drink around it," Jardim says, though some of them prefer to develop the drink recipes themselves. The guest bartenders name their signature cocktails, and Jardinère's chef creates an appetizer to pair with the evening's specialty drink. —Liza B. Zimmerman PRODUCTS: READY-TO-DRINK Malibu recently announced the addition of two new flavors to its 1.75-liter premixed cocktail pouches, and the release of 200-ml. Malibu cocktail cans. The 5% ABV cans come in three flavors: pineapple, cranberry and cola. The new cocktail pouches are Blue Hawaiian and Pina Colada Light (75 calories per serving). 8 | MAY 2013 Sauza recently launched its latest innovation, Sauza Sparkling Margarita. The ready-to-serve cocktail has the taste of a margarita with the addition of effervescent bubbles. The product comes in three flavors—original lime, wild berry and mango peach. At just under 20 proof, they're available for a suggested retail price of $12.99 for a 750-ml.bottle. www.cheersonline.com