Wine & Spirits - Spring 2022 - 48

33RD ANNUAL RESTAURANT POLL
Dining with
the Four Seasons
'I
t was a whirlwind of a year, for sure. " Todd Chatterton,
speaking of his own experience at Pittsboro,
NC's Fearrington House Inn, was also summing up
the stories of any number of wine buyers. " It was one
of our busiest years, if not the busiest year to date, "
said Chatterton, pointing to an explosion in wedding-centered
events business as two years' worth of
celebrations squeezed into one. " It was absolutely unreal. "
The past year saw as many as 100,000 restaurants shutter
across the country, but in those same 12 months, others
flourished, with multiple poll respondents calling it The
Roaring Twenties. But as 2021 got underway, that kind of
boom was no sure thing. Think back three CoVid variants
ago, with January snow still on the ground in NYC's West
Village, when Jeff Harding of the Waverly Inn looked to the
then-stalled fashion industry to drum up business. He put
on three fashion shows on the street to get diners out of
their apartments and bundled up against the cold. Reflecting
on the draw, he said, " It was a lot of fun to pour Champagne
outside in a fashion show in the middle of winter. "
Crystal Pace also looked to create a similar draw for
her Southern Italian restaurant and wine bar, Ilda, no
matter that Sylva, NC (pop. 2,687), is a far cry from the
West Village. In her case, she was hosting drag shows. " I
started talking about it with a couple of the ladies who
work locally, and I said, 'Let's do it at the wine bar.' It's
had a fantastic reception. Some of the girls even come
from Asheville. We did a take on a porn star martini with
passion fruit purée and prosecco. "
As the year went on, the struggle and hustle of winter
and spring blossomed into downright largesse in summer.
" Business was good, much better than I anticipated
it being, " says David Butler of Seattle's Le Caviste. " July
" I'm feeling
more optimistic;
I've started
buying for more
than the week. "
REBECCA BANKS,
BALTHAZAR
was like a party-the whole country thought it was over.
Everyone was masks off; the place was packed. It was the
most fun. It was definitely a window on what the future
probably holds. "
Irene Justiniani at Pastis in NYC's Meatpacking District
reports that packed restaurants last summer may
have been due, in part, to a dearth of options. " We were
booked every night-tremendous support from the neighborhood
and tourists. And I think it had to do with so
many restaurants in the neighborhood shutting down. At
one point, there were only two or three restaurants open
in the neighborhood, and I think that's why we were so
busy for lunch and dinner every day. "
Several respondents told us the big wallets had been out
in force. Dean Fuerth, beverage director at NYC's Sushi
Nakazawa saw " an insane jump in beverage sales and covers.
Our fourth quarter started halfway through the summer, "
and kept pace until the end of the year. " I've been
buying for six months straight, basically. "
Even so, the Roar of the 2020s grew harder for restaurants
to handle as staff shortages continued. " The last
three months of the year, we were working with 60 percent
of our staff, " reported Kamal Kouiri of NYC's Molyvos.
" Everyone was working a lot of hours-six days, Sunday
off. We were running for our lives. " Then the arrival of
Omicron swiftly put a damper on the party. " It was like
someone turned a switch off. "
As most of the country today is seeing case counts trend
down, Rebecca Banks of SoHo's Balthazar is optimistic
about what 2022 may hold. " Having shut down once
before, there's this feeling of 'What's going to happen?
What's going to happen?' I was very hesitant and conservative
until we got past the holidays. Now, looking into the
spring, I'm feeling more optimistic; I've started buying for
more than the week. " -susannah smith
" We were working with 60 percent
of our staff; everyone was working
a lot of hours-six days, Sunday
off. We were running for our lives. "
KAMAL KOUIRI, MOLYVOS
Restaurant
Wines 2021
Here are the brands that earned
multiple mentions from a number
of restaurants responding to our
Restaurant Poll. The sample size is
small, and the year is anomalous,
so the list is unusual, wines for
interesting times.
48
WINE & SPIR IT S
UNITED STATES
Mendocino
Radio-Coteau
(Anderson Valley)
Paso Robles
Daou
Justin
Santa Cruz
Mountains
Ridge Vineyards
Napa Valley
Bonanno
Cakebread
Caymus Vineyards
Chappellet
Corison
Frog's Leap Winery
Hall
Matthiasson
Mount Veeder
Silver Oak Wine Cellars
Stag's Leap Wine
Cellars
Sonoma County
Jordan (Alexander
Valley)
Sonoma-Cutrer
(Russian River Valley)
California
Hess Collection
Washington
Milbrandt Vineyards
ARGENTINA
Catena (Mendoza)
AUSTRIA
Burgenland
Claus Preisinger
Rosi Schuster
FRANCE
Alsace
F.E. Trimbach
Bordeaux
Château Cheval Blanc
(St-Emilion Grand Cru)
Château Latour
(Pauillac)
Château Pétrus
(Pomerol)
S PR IN g 202 2
PHOTOGRAPH BY CARMEN CHAN
Wine & Spirits - Spring 2022

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