Santé
Q&A with David Gordon, Wine Director, Tribeca Grill, New York City
2004
Since graduating from the Cornell School of Hotel Management in 1982, David Gordon has been "wine guy" on a mission. He managed several esteemed Big Apple restaurants before opening the doors at Drew Nieporent's Tribeca Grill as the wine director in 1990. Gordon developed a wine program at Tribeca Grill equal to its Myriad Restaurant Group neighbor, Montrachet, and Myriad's Rubicon in San Francisco, expanding the wine list 20-fold along the way and earning every major wine list award. Amazingly, he has found time outside managing Tribeca's mammoth 1,600-selection list and 20,000-bottle cellar to develop lists for a number of Myriad properties; join Wine Geek Steven Olson to create the entire wine and spirits program for the 11 restaurants at the Borgata, a new hotel and casino in Atlantic City; consult for Continental Airlines; lecture aboard Crystal Cruise liners; appear on radio and TV wine and food shows; host numerous wine dinners and events at Tribeca; and produce and distribute his own California wine labels. Most importantly, Gordon has shared a joy of wine and wine knowledge with his staff and many guests.
Greatest management challenge: The continual training and motivation of the servers and bartenders. It is an ongoing job to instill in them the passion and professionalism that is necessary to keep our customers happy.
Most important wine trends: I think people are looking for value when they order wine. It doesn't mean they want only inexpensive wine. Value can be a rare older Burgundy that is on the list for $300 but goes for $400 at auction. You need to have value at all price points on your list.
Most successful wine promotion: Our wine list has over 1,600 choices and is over 40 pages long. But at the front of the list, we have a page entitled "Dave's Picks," where we offer my personal favorites and some of the more difficult-to-sell selections. Ten to 15 percent of all sales come off this one page.
Best training method or tool: If pressed to choose one, I would say that testing the staff on their knowledge is the only way to hold them accountable. Of course, you have to provide the proper information via seminars, tastings, etc.
Best cost-control measure: Building our own temperature-controlled storage on premises for our 20,000 bottle collection has saved us very high warehousing expenses while also ensuring proper inventory controls.
Best examples of how you create value: We believe our customers are aware of prices of many items from other restaurants and retail shops. We offer very competitive pricing from low-end, by-the-glass pours up to our most expensive listed bottles. We especially want to price common items like Dom Perignon particularly competitive so that our customers can identify the value easily.
Main short- and long-term goals: To continue to offer a world-class wine program that concentrates on value while striving to attract more wine-savvy customers who understand and appreciate our efforts.