If you are considering making the jump between a single unit operation and a multiple unit operation there are several considerations you must ask yourself before making the change. Are you someone who really enjoys working the floor, managing your own program, and retaining control over all aspects of it? Is the best part of your current position engaging with guests and staff on a daily basis? Do you like working with a wine program that requires you to be on the floor each day? These are some of the questions to ponder because they represent what you may not be able to achieve in a position of management over multiple units. However if you enjoy training staff and watching them grow, working behind the scenes and through others, creating programs that will work at several locations—and you don't mind giving up some of the control over the program—then multiple location operation can be a rewarding evolution in your career as a sommelier or wine director. I made the jump myself, and am currently the Wine Director for the Left Bank Group, consisting of three Brasserie restaurants and two Steakhouses.

One of the many questions to ask when contemplating this move is: “Will I be okay leaving the floor?” The day-to-day, face-to-face contact many of us have with our guests and fellow co-workers is often the most enjoyable part of embarking on a career as a sommelier (along with all the wonderful beverages we get to enjoy). In the multi-unit world we become more like support players or guides of the program as opposed to the lead figure on the floor. How do you get similar results, creating a top-notch beverage program, solely by working through other people? You are basically looking to recreate your values, professionalism, service skills and passion on the floor of each restaurant, even though you won't physically be there every night. This requires a bit of recalibration to accommodate some of the principal changes that you will be experiencing, and it can be somewhat isolating for those that have had a close working relationship with the staff at their previous position. When you are working with restaurants that do not have committed sommeliers at each unit, maintaining a level of professionalism with the program can be especially challenging. There are many rewards and obstacles to overcome when making the move to multi-unit.  

When I moved into my new position of Wine Director for the Left Bank Group, I needed to consider several factors prior to making any changes. First I looked at what was working for the restaurants. The easy initial response might be to go in and completely revamp the program, but you are stepping into something that has been working on several levels. There was a wine program before you came on board, so the program’s history and your evaluation of sales trends should give you a reference for what is working and what needs changing. This is something I still find myself doing: re-evaluating and looking at the program on a weekly and monthly basis. I have been surprised by some changes I've made; some are more successful than I anticipated and some have gone the other way. In my desire to pour some wines that were off the beaten path, I put a Cahors on my by-the-glass list, unsure of future sales. Out of our 18-20 wine by-the-glass program at the Left Bank Brasseries it has become our third best-selling wine. This might seem like a risk, but I think labeling it as “Malbec” on the list helped drive sales and introduced people to something they may have passed over before.

Some of the other questions that I asked myself: What type of program will work here? What is the level of staff knowledge? Are they currently utilizing group buying power? What are the goals of the owners in bringing on a wine director and did I envision being able to create changes that would produce the desired results? I believe that there are a number of ways to get results, and sometimes they seem somewhat divergent. Methods can be dictated by the state of the position you have accepted. If you are directing several restaurants that employ a full-time sommelier at each location your job may be a bit different as you may have a like-minded person on the floor. If you are taking over an existing position much of what is expected may be clear. In my case, I took a position that was new to the company.

The last Guild of Sommeliers survey lists the most common sommelier position as “sommelier/manager.” This happens to be the way in which our restaurant group handles its wine programs—a manager is dedicated to the beverage program. Their duties usually include other management tasks along with running the beverage program, so this is not their only focus. If the list is a small one then it can make the most sense to handle the program in this way, but as the list grows it will be increasingly difficult to manage. Our Brasserie restaurants’ wine lists remain focused on French and domestic sections, consisting of about 100-110 wines, with both bottle selections and glass selections. The steakhouses’ wine lists include selections from around the globe and hover in the 150-180 bottle range. The managers running the steakhouse programs have to work harder to manage the list and keep the staff up-to-date. The goal of the Wine Director should be to streamline as much of the process as possible for the team on the ground.

When I started we had different wine lists in each of our Brasseries, a situation which had naturally evolved. The idea behind group buying or group discounting had not really been utilized to a wide degree prior to my arrival. I created a core list of French and domestic wines for our Brasseries, and allowed the wine managers to retain control over a portion of the list to tailor it to their clientele. This allows them to focus their attention on a narrower list of wines and gives me the opportunity to negotiate better pricing for the entire group of restaurants through the list of core wines. It can also be a useful tool in managing inventory for slower moving items by having more than one location carrying the wine. We don’t sell many wines over $100 in the Brasseries, but it is important to have a few of them for the guests that want to splurge on a great bottle. If it takes a location a year to sell a single case it is much better to have that case split between two or three restaurants, freeing up inventory dollars for faster moving wines.

As I looked into the most applicable program to create, several factors came into play that were similar to—but had to be looked at differently than—running a single operation. First was the level of complexity of the list. As beverage professionals we all desire to have the widest palate to choose from, and this can create some very large lists. A concise, well thought-out list that can be easily conveyed to staff is a better approach for multiple units. If your staff can make recommendations in an informed and confident manner, you are more likely to have a successful program. You may be very keen and able to effectively recommend a wine from the Canary Islands on your single operation list, but on a multi-operation list finding the balance between what is interesting and what you can sell can offer unique challenges. My initial foray was to tread slowly, and make guarded changes that the staff could digest and the clientele would be open to experiencing. I was careful to not get too far away from the comfort level of the guests, while still creating something fun and providing an opportunity to constantly educate the staff. Integrating staff education into the design of the wine program cultivates a constant focus of greater staff knowledge, more confidence with the wine program, and an increase in sales across the entire list. Additionally, factoring in the amount of wine you may need to supply your multiple restaurants will limit how esoteric of a list you may be able to write. On the other hand, easy sales and low-lying fruit on the list might generate their own problems. If there are a few wines that dominate the sales, is this because the staff is recommending them or because the guests are familiar with them? How will you be able to convince a guest to experience something new if he or she is already really comfortable with this one wine? It might be time to take it off the list and give other wines an opportunity to find new fans. It can be difficult at first but it will definitely drive dialogue with the staff and guests and create more of a learning environment, which will allow you to offer more wines to a broader group of guests.

The biggest factor in creating a successful equation for multiple restaurants boils down to staff education: where it was, where it could go and how much it would persist. Staff education will take on a higher precedence in your duties than it ever has before. Your staff—not you—forms the front line on the floor and represents your wine and beverage program. Depending upon the staff’s level of commitment to their positions within the company, you will see varying levels of success. It is paramount to create a training program that will support the wine list. Just as important is a training program that will be accepted and retained by the staff. There will always be those in the staff who will not have the same enthusiasm for wine and spirits that has been a driving force for you. Anything you can do to support their desire to learn and improve their knowledge should be encouraged at all times, regardless of how important it is in the development of the program. This is inextricably linked to their development as service professionals and will go far in helping you to accomplish your goals. Sometimes you have to take yourself back to a time when you were new to wine and found yourself enthralled in the basic concepts. The members of your staff that display this enthusiasm can become your greatest assets in promoting and furthering the wine and spirits culture in each of your restaurants. In a recent promotion linked to the Tour de France bike race we poured a Corsican Rosé for a three-day period while the racers were on the island. One server sold 32 glasses of the wine, and when I asked how she did it she mentioned that she just talked to every guest about the opportunity to try something they may not often see. On top of that, she had just returned from a Court Introductory Course and was excited to learn more about wine and spirits. If you spend the time nurturing this at each location it can pay you back with a high degree of success—more so than if you were making every decision. It all stems from the fact this is a team effort and, while you are creating direction, you will need to step back and let the individual staff find what works for them.

My initial training materials included what I considered rudimentary knowledge in wine education. I soon found out that many on staff felt it too difficult to understand and it was not being utilized to the extent I had hoped. Although the management in each location felt the information was valuable, I was having less than a 20% impact on the serving staff. So I recalibrated, to the point of making the training materials more focused on a specific aspect of wine and less on general comprehensive knowledge. In the beginning I was sending out training material that covered a country, its history, regions, climates, varieties, production methods and vintage variations. Currently the trainings focus more on just one or two of those aspects. It was the difference between writing a tutorial on France versus just talking about Pinot Noir and the types and styles of the wines of Burgundy. To this end I also started creating most of the basic staff tutorials in PowerPoint as opposed to Word to allow for a more dynamic presentation involving pictures, maps and other graphics. There is always a lot of information to digest in any restaurant, and if you are not creating interesting training materials for the staff they get drawn to something else.

The general comprehensive knowledge is something I still feel important, but to attain results I had to take a more basic approach. This process has taught me to be a better teacher by realizing that it is important to instruct in a manner and level that will be appreciated and retained by the staff. The end result was a small, dedicated group at each location that took the trainings to heart and became much more interested in wine education for themselves, their co-workers and their guests. Those staff members that have embraced the training and are looking to educate themselves are helping to create an environment of learning and interest at each of their locations. Once the ball was rolling it was easier to generate more interest in improving wine knowledge throughout the entire staff. If some of these key servers are selling Chassagne-Montrachet to their guests instead of domestic Chardonnay (which many guests order without recommendation), then other servers wonder how they accomplished this. When they see that by improving their knowledge and becoming more comfortable with the many options on the list, they in turn are able to create a better guest experience, and that translates to a better situation for all involved.

Things in motion tend to stay in motion unless they encounter an obstacle. If you achieve this desired environment of learning at your locations, it can be maintained with less effort than getting it started. However it can’t be maintained with zero effort. Revisiting learned topics, quizzes, drills, staff competitions and contests are all ways to keep the focus and learning going. Rewards are also important in letting staff know you value their contribution and hard work. It can be as simple as a thank-you or “great job,” to a trip in wine country, but most people will not find motivation in doing it all by themselves and in a non-recognized way. It pays you to keep the momentum moving with little nudges from time to time.

It can seem overwhelming at times to juggle multiple lists and staff at each location. If you find yourself in this situation it is probably because you are treating this position as you would a single location operation in which you had the time to do all the tasks you did before. When relying on staff to essentially be you, it puts added pressure on your shoulders to make sure all the information that is being disseminated to staff is as accurate as possible. In addition you want to ensure that they will be doing the same for guests and other staff members. Reviewing the training materials and testing the staff and managers for consistently delivering the message is important to achieve the desired results. It is like a jet flight that is off-course 90% of the time; only by constantly tweaking direction does it arrive at the proper destination.

Many multi-unit restaurants have a culinary or aesthetic theme; the wine lists may also express a cohesive theme. The programs at the Brasseries focus on domestic and French wines, while the steakhouses use global selections—as long as they work with steak. The training program at the Steakhouses is more comprehensive in scope but I send it to all restaurants in the group in case any staff member is interested in increasing their knowledge. Measuring success in staff education comes from confidence on the floor, guest satisfaction and increased sales ability. When a guest contacts me and tells me that they have seen improvement in service on the floor it always makes me feel great. Tracking per Server sales in the POS over like time periods can give you the proof that your efforts are working. It can also help drive their enthusiasm by seeing the success in figures which will go a long way to the longevity of the training and education you are providing.

In the end, I found the experience to be both challenging and rewarding. I still miss the floor, and I miss turning a guest on to a new find or new pairing experience. But those experiences have been replaced by the satisfaction of turning our teams on to a new find or pairing experience, and that has brought it full circle. The challenges are different but the rewards are definitely worth it if you find yourself contemplating a move in this direction.

Eric Entrikin MS made the jump from Alexander's Steakhouse to the position of Wine Director for Left Bank Group in 2012.