Letter from the Chairman

Tony May

I hope that everyone has been enjoying a wonderful summer!

I am pleased to report that Gruppo Ristoratori Italiani and also the recipients of this year's GRI-Giacomo Bologna Scholarship have been featured over the last 3 months in 11 different publications with a total circulation of over 1,300,000. This has provided some tremendous visibility to the organization in support of our mission to enhance and elevate the image of authentic Italian Cuisine through education. Information to access the articles is included in this newsletter.

It is with great pleasure that I welcome our new members featured in this edition: Carmine's restaurants with locations in New York City and Atlantic City; and Frasca Food and Wine of Boulder, Colorado.

Gruppo Ristoratori Italiani is receiving a very positive response with the newly added Individual Membership Program which contributed to the great success of our event held in June during the Fancy Food Show at Macelleria Restaurant in New York City. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Colangelo & Partners Public Relations for all of their hard work and effort to organize and staff the event.

We will be updating you the future scheduled events and activities that are being planned for the rest of this calendar year and into the first quarter of 2010.

Hey guys one last thing, we can really use your input to this organization – time, dues paying and friendship – love to hear from you all!

Italian Cuisine Forever,

Tony May

GRI WELCOMES CARMINE'S

Carmine's: Upper West Side / Theater District and Atlantic City

"The public perception of what makes a good, authentic Italian meal and what we offer is the kinship we feel with the other GRI member restaurants," said Gary Bologna, COO of Carmines. This past June, Carmine's Theater District hosted an Earthquake Relief Event for the victims of the historic Italian town of L'Aquila where $15,000 was raised for the National Italian American Foundation. GRI is proud to welcome Carmine's to our group.

GRI WELCOMES FRASCA FOOD & WINE FROM CO.

If uniqueness, high energy and an unrelenting passion for authentic Italian cuisine is what you are after, especially menu items featuring the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy, then Frasca Food and Wine of Boulder, Colorado is a sure to satisfy. "We would like to view ourselves as ambassadors of the Friuli Region to the United States," Crisitn Napier, Director of Marketing proudly offered. Ever year, at restaurant cost, members of the staff take an 8-day culinary jaunt through Friuli. "We simply want to experience the warmth, culture and true cuisine of the region." With this knowledge in hand, the restaurant transforms itself through excellent service, authentic products and a unique array of events. Napier explained that it's about educating people on the region and what it has to offer.

CREATING YOUR WINE LIST

We came across this article about a Cornell study sponsored by Southern Wine & Spirits about the creation of restaurant wine lists and thought it might be of interest to all of you. Check it out:

Cornell-Southern Wine & Spirits Research Highlights Strategies that Correlate to Increased Wine Sales

Source: Hospitality.net

July 22, 2009
Cornell Hospitality Report Finds Wine List Tactics that Could Result in Higher Wine Sales

Ithaca, NY, A Cornell University wine research study has identified four key strategies that coincide with higher wine sales in restaurants. In a newly released report, "Wine List Characteristics Associated with Greater Wine Sales," certain attributes of restaurant wine lists were analyzed by Cornell University's Sybil Yang and Michael Lynn. The research was made possible by Southern Wine & Spirits of America, partnering with Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research and is available at no charge at www.hotelschool.cornell.edu.

The research found that the following four wine-list tactics were involved in higher wine sales: (1) Including the wine list on the food menu; (2) Listing prices without a dollar sign; (3) Listing wines from certain wineries known for their quality; and (4) Including "reserve" wines or another special section. A fifth tactic, however, was connected with lower sales, namely, using wine style as an organizational category on the list (e.g., sweet, bold, dry).

"We've seen dozens of suggestions for how restaurateurs should present their wines," said Lynn, "but we haven't seen any research evidence of how presentations are connected with higher sales. We tested forty-six different attributes of the wine lists in the 270 restaurants, but we found only four that correlated with higher sales across all restaurants and two others that were effective only in casual-dining restaurants." "Having been in the wine business for over 50 years, I have come to learn about wine list effectiveness," added Mel Dick, senior vice president and president-wine division at Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. "This research confirms a number of wine list attributes that we have always known to be true," said Dick.

The findings are that wine sales at fine-dining restaurants behaved differently from those at casual restaurants. For one thing, you might expect sales to decline as price increases. That was generally true at the casual-dining restaurants, but price seemed to have no relationship with sales at fine-dining restaurants. The correlation between having a longer wine list and higher wine sales was found to be true at casual-dining restaurants, where wine sales increased with the length of the list, up to about 150 wines. Lynn is a professor of consumer behavior and marketing at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, where Yang is a doctoral candidate. Both have direct experience in the restaurant industry. Yang and Lynn caution that their wine research was based on correlations and not causation. Additionally, some of the tactics they tested may be effective but so subtle that they could not be seen in this study.

About The Center for Hospitality Research | A unit of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, The Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) sponsors research designed to improve practices in the hospitality industry. Under the lead of the center's 77 corporate affiliates, experienced scholars work closely with business executives to discover new insights into strategic, managerial and operating practices. The center also publishes the award-winning hospitality journal, the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly.

GRI IN THE NEWS

GRI is pleased to announce that over the past couple of months we have had some great write-ups in the press. Most of the media attention was centered around the GRI-Giacomo Bologna Scholarship that was hosted by Frescobaldi, and another great article came out about our annual member trip to Puglia from the spring. To read the pieces written on GRI and the promising culinary students by the San Diego News Network, the Daily Record (Parsippany, NJ), the Charlotte Hospitality News, the Charlotte Observer and La Palma please visit www.gruppo.com/news.php. To read Mort Hockstein's piece about the Puglia trip in John Mariani's newsletter, visit www.johnmariani.com

JUNE 30th AT MACELLERIA

At the end of this year's Fancy Food Show in New York City, Gruppo Ristoratori Italiani held a wonderful event at member restaurant Macelleria ("www.macelleriarestaurant.com). The theme of the evening that turned out 80 italophiles was Sardinia. A beautiful tasting was offered featuring Cannonau di Sardegna and Vermentino wines (red & white) and an offering of pecorino sardo, pane carasau and an array of other cheeses and sweets.

GRI used this venue to officially introduce the new branch of individual membership. GRI signed up a few new members as a result of the event. The night was a huge success and everyone in attendance had a wonderful, fun time! Be on the lookout for information on the next GRI event that will happen in September!

HAVE AVERNA SURVEY

Corporate member Averna is kindly requesting members' help in filling out a survey (click this link) pertaining to your establishment's experience and uses of the spirit. In return for completing the short survey, if your establishment does not carry the original Averna amaro, GRI will send you a bottle for free! If you already carry the amaro, GRI will send you a bottle of each of their new expressions: Averna Sambuca, Averna Sambuca Liquirizia and Averna Limoni di Sicilia.

So please fill out the Averna survey and fax it or email it back to info@gruppo.com or 646-624-2893. Thank you!

FRESCOBALDI PROMOTION

Gruppo Ristoratori Italiani (GRI) is proud to cooperate this summer with our Corporate Member, Marchesi de Frescobaldi, in promoting its line of fine Tuscan wines. Frescobaldi, a Florentine family with thirty generations dedicated to the production of great Tuscan wines is asking restaurants nationwide to introduce their wines to their dinning patrons.

In grateful return the Frescobaldi family is offering a unique line of incentives as its way to thank GRI restaurant members for participating:

2001 Limited Edition of the 2001 Nipozzano magnums uniquely labeled and individually numbered. Criteria: Nipozzano placed by the glass (a by the glass placement is considered as minimum purchase of 3 cases). One magnum is available per three case purchase September 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009 – while supplies last as quantities are limited.

Castiglioni Chianto print: Limited edition print by artist Gianni Raffaell pays homage to the vineyard that produced the Castiglioni Chianti each framed and uniquely numbered. Avaialble while supplies last. Criterion: New Castiglioni Chianti by-the-glass pour.

Laudemio Olive Oil: This oil was produced from early harvested Tuscan varieties of Frantoio, Moraiolo and Leccino olives grown and pressed on the hillside estate of the Marchesi dei Frescobaldi in Chianti Ruffina. This oil is clear and intensely green, fruity, full, well-rounded and spicy. Criteria: 2 bottles of Laudemio olive oil per 6 bottle purchase of Montesodi through December 31, 2009.

If your restaurant is interested in trying Frescobaldi wines and participating in this truly unique promotion, please contact David Ernst (646-624-2885 ext. 117; membership@gruppo.com) at our GRI office. A Frescobaldi sales representative will be sent to your restaurant to introduce its line of wines and take your order.

Send us your recipes!

We would love to report to the rest of the membership what you are up to. Please let us know of your goings on by writing to info@gruppo.com.