Are they worth the effort and do they work?

Wine dinners, wine tastings, wine pairings and tasting menus are all part of the marketing arsenal for restaurants. Whether you are trying to draw in some new guests, renew contact with regular diners or fill a quiet day of the week, they appear an attractive and easy to implement way of filling seats and at least temporarily increasing cash-flow.

Most establishments choose to work in concert with a wine distributor or vendor and where possible look for financial support with extra cases of wine or if possible the entire wine supply for the event. This in return for the speaking and promotional opportunity for the vintner.

We spoke with several restaurants that hold regular events of this nature, with the goal of discovering if this kind of marketing really worked for them.

"We typically run food pairing events for wine - and even beer - about eight times a year," said John Gallagher, General Manager of the Boston Park Plaza McCormick & Schmick's.

"The idea is to expose both existing and potential guests to some of the things that we do via pairings and tastings." John typically uses items from the regular menu, but also encourages the chef to create something more complex and visually exciting for an event. "Our aim is to impress as soon as the dishes come into the dining room."

John does not view these events as loss leaders, "They are attractively priced rather than underpriced," he said. John holds pairings on both quiet nights and during the slower summer months. He considers the events to be fun. "It allows us to vary the routine and be a bit more experimental." His chef also enjoys the opportunity to try more complex dishes.

I asked him about metrics. Can you measure the effects of the dinners? "I think that it's difficult to measure the results in the long term. We get a very positive response from our guests and expose them to both our menu and potentially a new part of the restaurant." He feels that the events are a win-win and at the very least create a positive response from guests who take part.

Ken Watt, Executive Chef at Audrey's Restaurant in Seekonk casts a wider net with a range of wine dinners, wine tasting charitable events and an Octoberfest. "We are aiming to build a base of guests that we can educate about the food and wine marketplace," said Ken. "We use the dinners to build trade for a particular week day."

Ken does think he can track the effectiveness of his events. "We use a guest management system that allows us to see how many people return over a period of time." He thinks the key to making the wine dinners a success is to make them seem to be good value, innovative, and not too expensive. He relies to some degree on wine vendors to subsidize the nine wine dinners Audrey's holds each year.

"Currently the dinners sell out. I am using email and on-line marketing," he said. He feels that you have to stick with a program and give the associated marketing time to get traction. A new trend for Audrey's is private wine dinners. "Even tour groups have begun to express interest in us holding a wine dinner for them." Overall Ken considers the promotional value easily exceeds both the marketing and staff effort involved.

Joe Boncaldo, owner of Bon Caldo in Norwood has a well developed program of wine dinners. "There are two benefits of the dinners, firstly we can showcase the chef's capabilities and we can also showcase some of our wine list," said Joe. "We don't find them particularity profitable, but they are a great promotional tool." Bon Caldo holds their dinners on a Friday night. Joe feels that he wants to make them accessible to folks who would rather not drink on a work night. "We want folks to enjoy the dinners and be able to taste all the wines on offer."

Joe feels that even regular restaurant guests are impressed with the wine dinners, which Bon Caldo promotes heavily in the restaurant. He thinks they present value by demonstrating that they are able to hold complex dinners with some complimentary high-end wines.

"They are easy to put together, mainly because we have been doing them for three years." He has established a good relationship with his wine vendors and they are more than willing to assist with the wine costs. Just like McCormick & Schmick's, Bon Caldo cannot absolutely say how effective the dinners are in increasing restaurant traffic. "Close to fifty percent of the guests who come to the dinners are repeat customers. Many book well in advance."

Joe promotes his dinners in his check-presenters, on his marquee outside and by fairly heavy email marketing. Overall he sees value in the nine or so dinners they hold each year.

There's something of a common theme here. Don't bother with any kind of wine event like these if you are after a high margin - they won't work. What does seem to be the conclusion is that wine dinners, and the like, work well as promotional vehicles, allowing you to showcase your restaurant's capabilities and potentially fill up a quiet period in the week. Bon Caldo choose to buck that trend by holding their events on Fridays, which definitely works well for them.

All three restaurants hold around eight or nine events a year (basically one a month with time-outs for holiday months). None seem to find them particularly stressful to put on and they give the staff a nice change of pace. It's worth noting however that tipping is always an issue at these kinds of events and it's well worth sorting out a policy for both guests and staff in advance.