Sonny’s Restaurants: September 1999 – January 2004
This well-respected group of four restaurants is situated in SW London & Nottingham. The initial brief was to maintain three accessible lists and write a new one (for Parade, now sold). This involved tasting & selection; preparation of staff training materials and conducting staff tasting & training. Regular wine list reviews and staff training continue. The Phoenix wine list was recognised in the 2002 Harpers & Queen Restaurant Guide as one of the top thirteen wine lists in London. Other restaurants in the group include Sonny’s (two branches), and Bibo, a ‘pizzateca’.

Cinnamon Club: October 2000 – July 2002
This modern Indian restaurant, which opened in March 2001, aims to redefine the public’s perception of Indian food and establish itself as a destination restaurant for fine dining in London, which happens to be serving Indian cuisine. Wine is a key component of the fine dining experience. The brief: to provide the customer with some carefully selected, but familiar choices along with wines that are a match for the cuisine. To this end I put considerable effort into establishing a rational basis for matching food and wine and developed a training programme so that the staff are able to communicate this effectively to customers. I also conducted an in-house course for selected members of staff preparing to sit the WSET Intermediate Certificate. The Cinnamon Club wine list was recognised in the 2002 Harpers & Queen Restaurant Guide as one of the top thirteen wine lists in London.

Bird in Hand: September 2000 – September 2001
The Bird is a country inn and restaurant in Berkshire, whose owners’ ambition is to dramatically improve customer satisfaction. As a key part of this process they wished to offer customers a modern wine list reflecting the best wines available in the UK market. The first stage, completed in 2000 was to select better wines and devise a modern format. I have subsequently been asked to create a significantly larger list to enhance the Bird’s reputation for wine excellence and to undertake further staff training so that the staff are empowered to improve sales and sell better wines.

The Don: April - June 2000
Located in the City of London and a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence winner, The Don is an ambitious new Modern European restaurant. As part of a marketing campaign to build evening business and emphasise the restaurant’s wine values I devised a monthly changing By The Glass programme. As part of this programme there was a selection of recommended wines to match with a set menu.

Searcy’s: July 2000 – August 2002
As well as running large scale event catering this long established company runs on site catering at a number of prestigious central London venues, including the Barbican Centre and the Royal Opera House. Projects completed: selection of new house wines, improving quality while cutting costs; the preparation of a core wine list for the Outside Dining division; and revision of the core wine list.

The Dorchester: October 2001 - present
This famous five star deluxe hotel has asked me to revamp its already impressive wine list so that it will be recognised for its diversity, quality and value for money. As part of the process I am addressing wine selection, selling techniques and buying issues for their two prestigious restaurants, The Oriental Restaurant and The Grill Room, as well as for the hotel’s banqueting and main lists. The list has been awarded a Wine Spectator Award in 2003.

Gala Casinos: November 2001
I was asked by this UK-based casino group to assist them in the selection of both wines and of a sole supplier of wines, as part of a competitive tender process. Their aim was to improve wine values within the group, initially by upgrading the core list from which individual operators choose.

Maggiore’s: December 2001- January 2003
The brief is to create and maintain the ‘ultimate bistro’ wine list for this smart bistro in London’s Covent Garden, offering uncompromisingly good wines at keen prices. I have also revised the wine lists for two other restaurants in the group Big Easy and The Italian Kitchen, with the emphasis on improving customer value for money and client profitability. The Wine Spectator recognised Maggiore’s wine list with an Award of Excellence in 2002 and again in 2003.

Villandry: April 2002 - present
This high-end food and wine retailer located in London’s West End also runs a restaurant and bar. They have retained me to maintain and upgrade the wine lists, train staff and assist with promoting the restaurant and shop as a wine destination.

Groupe Chez Gérard: July 2002
I assisted in the selection of wines for this UK based plc’s three brands: Chez Gérard, Livebait and Bertorelli’s.

Match Bars: November 2002
This highly rated group of nightclubs and bars is committed to high quality staff training. As part of this they have asked me to assist with wine tasting and training for staff.

Golborne House et al: April 2003 – November 2003
This expanding chain of six gastro-pubs is serious about offering wines of quality and diversity to its customers. They retained me to develop a core wine list, which could be modified to reflect the personality and food of each outlet.

Gruppo: May 2003 – present
Oliver Peyton’s high profile restaurant group currently includes Atlantic Bar & Grill, Isola and Mash, with new ventures planned. My brief is to constantly review the wine offer at each outlet, with an emphasis on quality and customer satisfaction, so that the restaurants become known for the quality of their wine lists.

The Zetter: February 2004 – present
This ‘urban inn’ opened in March 2004, with a modern Italian restaurant. My brief was to create an exciting yet accessible wine list, with a strong Italian bias and train the staff in how to sell it.

Moro: May 2004 – present
This well-established, highly rated restaurant, specialising in ‘Hispanic-Islamic’ cooking has always had a strong, Spanish dominated wine list. I have been asked to maintain and build on the existing high standard.

Roast: March 2004
The founder of the Cinnamon Club Iqbal Wahhab has retained me for his latest restaurant project, opening Summer 2004 in London’s Borough Market, which will feature British produce.