Local Duo Acquire Wine Cask
Santa Barbara — Former owner Doug Margerum and Santa Barbara restaurateur Mitchell Sjerven have joined forces to bring back the venerable Wine Cask. Margerum, who owned and operated the award–winning institution since 1981 before selling in 2007, and Sjerven, who owns Santa Barbara restaurants Bouchon and Seagrass both took the restaurant’s closure personally. Rather than simply sit back and allow a permanent demise of the Wine Cask, the duo instead decided to combine their passion and talents. “It wasn’t so much the business side of the equation—things happen, restaurants are tough even in good times—but the personal aspect of seeing what had been the formative decades of my professional career just evaporate,” relates Margerum.
Sjerven, too, believes the Wine Cask magic can be re–created yet still evolve. Many of the old menu favorites will do an encore but, at the same time, much has changed in the way guests approach the dining experience. “Some of the luster of fine dining is gone,” Sjerven admits. “The modern diner yearns for a greater connectivity to the food and wine they savor while simultaneously avoiding the pomp and circumstance of what fine dining has come to mean. They want comfort, value and familiarity and we aim to provide it.”
Now a respected wine maker, Margerum makes Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and other small–production lots at his winery in the Santa Ynez Valley. Margerum will develop the Wine Cask wine program with one eye on the past history and another to the future. “So much has changed in the wine business just in the last twenty years, it defies belief,” states Margerum. If you had told the handful of local wineries in Santa Barbara in the early ‘80’s that in less than 20 years there would be nearly 200 wineries in the County, Pinot Noir would be the top grape in the area and CostCo would be the leading retailer no one would have believed you. Add to that the proliferation of tasting clubs and on–line purchasing and it’s easy to see the retail landscape has—and continues to—rapidly evolve.”
Sjerven looks forward to returning Intermezzo, Wine Cask’s Café sibling, to its former glory. “Our locals made the Gold Room at the Wine Cask the special occasion dining spot,” Sjerven recalls, “but it was Intermezzo that they missed more immediately for that pre–theater or after work ‘quick bite’ and a glass of wine.” Look for local ingredients, great wines by–the–glass and a flavorful line–up of organic, market–fresh cocktails.
Of course service is critical as well, in that patrons are more aware—and savvy—than ever before. “I love striving to provide the ultimate in hospitality,” Sjerven offers, “staff at my restaurants know that we want concierge–level service—anything we can do to make the experience richer, more enjoyable, we will do.”
Sjerven counts time at Wine Cask as a server in the early ‘90’s as pivotal in forging his own career path in the restaurant industry. “Experiencing first–hand the joy diners expressed when enjoying a quality wine dining experience was an unbeatable feeling. I knew that suited me to a ’t’ even then.” What he didn’t know was one day he‘d come full circle as an owner of the very institution that inspired him.
Just exactly how the menu and wine list will ‘evolve’ Sjerven and Margerum aren’t saying. “We want some element of surprise, a sense of anticipation, rather than just reveal everything” says Sjerven, with a wink.
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