Market-inspired cooking and a passionate wine proqram make the California Grill one of Disney's--and the nation's--top culinary and wine destinations.
How do you sell 150 cases of wine a week when your operation is surrounded by people dressed like mice, dogs and ducks? * Just ask George Miliotes and the staff of the California Grill, the stellar dining attraction at Walt Disney World. That a restaurant in such a locale could sell more fine wine than most restaurants in the country is astonishing to the outsider, but it proves that training, education and great service can make the difference in virtually ANY setting.
"Wine sales are all about education," explains restaurant manager Miliotes, the aficionado behind the wine program. "Guests come here with money to spend, and when we educate guests we sell wine. People remember where they learn new information, and that builds a loyal following. That doesn't mean we sell $200 bottles to each table. The 100 by-the-glass selections open the world to our guests."
Sales pitches help, too, and servers are required to give a wine spiel to each table. "That's how I open," says Jeff Kundinger, a server and certified sommelier who helps order the restaurant's wines. "I say, 'You've got the wine list in front of you. Everything on it is available by the glass. If you want to taste a wine first, that's okay. If you don't see your favorite wine, I will help you find something similar. And, there is a good chance it is on our reserve list."' Since food and wine menus are printed every day, there are no specials to recite in addition to the wine pitch.
The wines carried here include many well-established California labels found in fine dining establishments, from both big-name wineries such as Beringer to small boutique ones like Peter Michael Winery and Barnett Vineyards. The quantities sold at this family-oriented tourist mecca seem amazing at first glance, given the typical image of visitors to the Magic Kingdom toting Mickey Mouse balloons and taking slow-moving mechanical boat rides through a Small World. One might think that most diners at every eating establishment would order cola.
FANTASY WINES
But Disney World is far more than Fantasyland, and the menu, wine program and customer base at the California Grill are proof of that. Located on the 15th floor of the high-end Contemporary Resort, California Grill attracts the upper echelon of the tens of thousands of tourists who descend upon the resort complex on any given day. Disney bills it as the resort's showcase restaurant, and local critics support the claim.
The wine list at the California Grill changes daily, and is a showpiece on its own. Overseen by Miliotes, the features 100 wines a day, all of them available by the bottle or the glass. Most are from California. Selections on a typical day might include Toni Mor pinot noir from Oregon, a Cuvaison merlot from Napa and a Cafaro cabernet sauvignon from Napa. A reserve list doubles the wine options, including Stag's Leap "FAY" cabernet, Morey Santenay "Vielles Vignes" pinot noir and Matanzas Creek "Journey" chardonnay.
The California Grill is one of 500-plus restaurants, nearly 80 of them full service, that meet the breakfast, lunch and dinner needs of the complex's many types of tourists: families with small children, conventioneers on corporate budgets; and newlyweds, who choose Disney World for honeymoons more than any other domestic location, among others. The restaurants are located in four theme parks, three water parks, 18 hotels and several other venues.
The menu is creative and ever-changing, offering a variety from tempura bonsai tuna and salmon roll with spiced miso vinaigrette to tamarind barbecue beef filet with crushed boniato and buttered swiss chard. Entrees run from $18 to $30. Meals are prepared in an open kitchen that juts out into the dining room, allowing easy viewing access as cooks and chefs sear, braise and steam. Large windows offer views of Cinderella's Castle and other Disney attractions.
WINE SMARTIES
Variety and tableside pouring alone don't sell 150 cases of wine a week. An educated--and a wildly enthusiastic--staff are important contributors. The education comes at two levels: when the restaurant opened five years ago, servers began learning about the initial 40-selection wine list during daily pre-dinner meetings; today, they still taste and discuss one new wine before service each evening. Eighty percent of the restaurant's servers have been on staff since the opening, so they've had the opportunity to learn quite a bit in that time. On occasion vendors will give 45-minute educational presentations to the entire waitstaff.
In addition, many of the servers have taken advantage of Disney World's wine education program, in which they are invited to study to be sommeliers through a program between Disney and the Master Court of Sommeliers. Five servers--yes, waiters (and a bartender!)--on California Grill's staff have already earned certification as sommeliers; Kundinger and Kaleel are studying now to become advanced sommeliers, a status few people in the world have achieved. The education feeds a competitive frenzy among the servers, many of whom seem to love wine personally.
Having an educated staff has freed Miliotes from ordering all wines himself; he now has Kundinger and Kaleel do most of that, which has the second benefit of giving the servers opportunity for career advancement. "Our ordering is fueled by need," Kaleel explains. "We look at the mix, at what's in inventory, and make sure we maintain a balance." Their biggest challenge, all agree, is keeping a good stock of California wines in the $40-$60 price range. "Prices of California wines have been out of control, and it's hard to find good bottles we can sell at $40 a bottle," he says.
The duo take their purchasing so seriously that they do some of the work at home: Kundinger's wife pours competing wines for them blind at his house. "We don't always agree," Kaleel acknowledges, "but we'd be foolish to think that something one of us doesn't like might not pair well with our food and sell well. Wine is so subjective."
HIGH PERCENTAGES
All of these efforts do sell wine. Thirty-three percent of the California Grill's sales are for beverage alcohol, and, of that, 90 percent to 95 percent are for wine. "I may be backwards, but I don't offer any signature drinks," Miliotes points out. "I have a full bar, but I want servers to be selling wine--not kamikazes--at the tables. That's our calling card."
When it seems appropriate, servers encourage even drinkers of low-end wines to inch up a notch, helping them through the process of wine appreciation that Miliotes says tends to begin with sweet wines like white zin and over time lead to a love of complex white burgundies. "If someone wants a white zinfandel, I'll tell them we've got a Riesling from Germany they're going to love. If they try it, they will have had something they've never had before, and learn in the process," says Kaleel.
For more advanced wine drinkers, the goal is to expand their wine horizons to higher levels still. "We talk about EBC--Everything But Chardonnay," Kundinger laughs. "Most of our customers know chardonnay and merlot, so we'll take them to a Viognier or a Riesling. It opens whole other doors for them."
Even the house wines at California Grill are of decent quality. Seven wineries produce house wines for the restaurant, from a Ravenswood zinfandel to an Iron Horse "Millennium" sparkling and a Honig cabernet. These are wines that earn high grades in wine publications. "We've got to have some wines that are always here, for the people who want that," Miliotes explains.
GREAT TASTES
When customers ask Kundinger for a chardonnay recommendation, he'll talk to the guests first. "I'll ask them what they like about chardonnays they've had in the past, then offer them tastes of three to five different ones, and talk about the differences," he explains. "I let them choose which one they want." The benefits last beyond the sale of one glass or bottle, he has found. "I've got a customer for life. The next time they're in--whether they're a local and return the next month or a conventioneer or vacationer who visits once every two years, they will return to this restaurant and order another great bottle of wine."
"I know that if I give someone three choices, they will pick one, and I have the sale of anywhere from one glass to more than one bottle," adds Lee Kaleel, also a server sommelier and wine orderer.
The tastings are not as much as a money-drain as one might think. "If I give someone a half-ounce taste of Phelps Insignia and they love it, chances are I'll sell two or three glasses of it," Kundinger notes. "But if I pour a whole glass and they don't like it, I've wasted five ounces of a bottle that we sell for $145. That is where your liquor costs get sorely out of whack."
