Travel Day 1A

Sunday night was pretty uneventful. Arrived at YOW a little early to find out the deets of staying overnight in YYZ before moving on the next day...paid a friggin' baggage charge in Ottawa 'cuz the attendant said it would speed things up as we looked to depart to the US the next morning...we'll see about that, I guess.

Got to the Hotel Indigo, checked in, went to the bar (of course we did) for a little night cap...meet the band "The Kopecki Family Band" who liken their sound to a PG 'Fleetwood Mac'...if you're in MTL on Monday or YYZ on Tuesday (playing at The Drake), check 'em out.

Wake up call set for 5:15 friggin AM!

G'nite!

...welcome to my blog...

If you're reading this, you've probably been directed here by my Facebook account.

My decision for leaving FB is pretty simple, really--I'd want that 90 minutes a day in my life back. While many of you may say "you should not go on it so much" & "you wont be able keep in touch with your friends", etc.

While one could limit oneself to the time they spend on FB, I liken it to a train wreck--you don't want to stare, you want to move on, but there's so much going on, you just can't look away...and it's for that love/hate relationship that sees me bidding adieu to Facebook today.

We will still be able to share ideas, talk, rant, laugh, smile, cry and more, but now in a less regimented format that provides a little more privacy (if you want it). 

My posts here will be more in depth, most open for discussion, a few, not, but in the end, I hope I'll keep you entertained & enlightened...

And what about:

"you wont be able keep in touch with your friends"

You're here, aren't you?

Safe travels,

Randy

The Break-down of a Wine List--the beginning

Over the past 5+ years, I have developed Petit Bill's wine list, or more so, developed it...

When we opened in April of 2007, finances forced us to go the easiest "in/out" route, where purchasing readily available (aka Vintage Essentials {VE} & LCBO General List {GL}) was a necessity.  We chose lesser known brands while covering the bases of what the customer wants. 

There was a Shiraz, a Merlot, a Cab Sauv, a Pinot Grigio and so on...our original list consisted of no more than 12 wines, all available by the glass or bottle.  As we settled into our digs, we aggressively moved away from VE & GL and into the world of Consignment, dealing with people & companies I've both met and known for years who offered good value wines that weren't available at your local LCBO.

We continued to stock the aforementioned necessities of a wine list and also looked to add a few wines and varietals that weren't common and/or weren't on other neighborhood wine lists...the issue is, you can't just add a wine because you think it's different; it has to match your food and if not, your food has to match the wine. For those who haven't figured this out, the two are NOT necessarily the same.

So where do I start? How do I decide?
...it's called "TASTING!"  The single most rewarding part of designing a wine list--or so you would think. As you embark to create a fun, creative and exciting wine list--tasting upwards of 30 wines a day over 15 days can cause a lot of wines to taste the same.  What to do?  Add food, of course!  Ask the representative what food she/he would recommend and give it a whirl.

When PB's first opened, our menu was decidedly French with a smidgen of seafood & Canadiana on the pages. The list was easy to create as most of the standard essentials would do the job, but then we decided to give our list a bit more Canadian content.  With VQA wines becoming better and better and the eruption of the wine industry two hours away in Picton/Prince Edward County, we thought it important to grow this portion of the list.  Our work was rewarded as we won two Epicurean Awards for Wine Service and numerous awards from the VQA Award of Excellence program. 

Over the years, our wine list has evolved from a small 3 page "duo tang" to, what our customers would call; "an encyclopedia of tasting notes" to what we have today, a precise, ever-changing array of some of the best medium-level wines to the spectacular.  We have dabbled in 'exclusive' VQA, offered up some very upper-value Malbecs (when the grape was the "in-thing"), run the 'rose gauntlet' and much more, but the ultimate goal was to offer the customer a great wine match for their food choices as well as the opportunity to try different varietals that they might not have even heard of.

At the end of the day, no matter what we think we know, we have to give the customers what they want--be it Shiraz, Merlot, Cab Sauv, Pinot Grigio or whatever, and so we do...but now that we've got the wines the customers want as well as the other varietals we feel will fit well with our food, how do we serve them and how do we price them?

...that's later...

for now, get outside and enjoy the sunshine!
Randy

A syde note...

the ryte syde actually...

...I spent my day off today, sitting on a wonderful patio, partaking in a few beverages, munchin' on some food, enjoying the company and having a great 'ol' time...however, it didn't start that way and, as I watched, I wasn't the only one...

why, just why do businesses only unlock ONE door when they have a double door entrance?  It's not for insurance reasons (an insurance broker could tell you that you might actually be violating your agreement).  It's not for estestics...the doors always look the same whether locked or unlocked.  It can't be for the stability of the building, the place wouldn't be open in the first place...

...then, what, just what is the reason for a door, on a double door entrance, to  be left locked...

...the answer, simply put...LAZY

Think about your life in North America for a moment...you drive on the right, walk on the right, shop on the right, look to the right (first)...geez, we do ev'ything to the right...but for some reason, businesses, restaurants in particular (at least from my experience) tend to keep the right door closed/locked.

Is a locked door inviting or is it frustrating?

Is pulling on a locked door an annoyance or "n'eh"?

What sort of message does your first impression (being a locked door) set the tone for the rest of your visit?

...this afternoon, I watch over 40 people try to walk into the location I was at, only to be initially denied by the right hand door...and why? I asked, I asked the server, the hostess, the manager, even other customers and in the end, there was no answer, no definative reply, no explanation other than "we just don't unlock it"

We're in North America/Canada people!

Unlock the doors and let your customers come in...

cheers...
Randy
(and I promise, wine-speak later!)

Wine? Wynot?

Over the past 5 years, while teaching the Sommelier Advanced program at Algonquin College, I have had the opportunity to see, read, study and disect wine lists from over 80 restaurants, clubs & bars.

I've seen various forms of layout, from simple one-page list, to elaborate 1200+ selection lists complete with degrees of tasting notes, food matches and insights.

Over the past 5+ years, at Petit Bill's, we've won awards for our wine list and continue to receive accolades from different people from all over the country, yet alone, the city.

...back to the wine program...over the years, I have also seen various types of mark-up in determining the selling price on a list...be it a percentage or multiplier (eg a 2.5 multiplier of a $15 bottle of wine would sell for $37.50), a set price or the "flat mark up"...

In determining what exactly each one means to the business, we have to account for many factors adn this blog, over the next couple of weeks will examine & try to explain the rational behind each system.
It should provide you, the reader; with some "insiders information" and perhaps give you a better understanding of how and why a restaurant sets it's wine prices like they do.

A few of the aspects I'll be covering over the next little while include, but are not limited to:

What will this mean to the average consumer?

How will this impact our business?

How will this affect our wine list?

How quickly will it get us to our ultimate goal (aka profit)

...and more...

I hope you'll take the time to read this blog and see where we at Petit Bill's take our wine list next.

cheers!
Randy Fitzpatrick
Co-Owner, Petit Bill's Bistro