The Mobile Somm

RE: The Mobile Somm

Jackson Rohrbaugh — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 18:50:17 GMT

Now with the Coravin there's even more opportunity to advertise an old badass bottle being offered BTG, and I think twitter/facebook is the perfect platform to do so, as good as having servers verbal it tableside. Have the restaurant's account RT it and you've multiplied your views instantly.

RE: The Mobile Somm

Thomas Price — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 03:00:11 GMT

Yeah, I've never met him, but he is really taking his own position in our world, and in a very cool way, to my mind...

Best,

RE: The Mobile Somm

Rick Bakas — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 06:20:24 GMT

One of my favorite "mobile somms" is Mike Madrigale who does a great job using Instagram to show which large format he's opening each night before the shift. It's simple, but guests do come in to buy a glass of what he's opening.

Newly minted Advanced Somm, Jordan Nova used to work with Mike at Bar Boulud but now he's at 1313 in Napa doing the same thing. He's getting silly wines and advertising them online. It's like throwing chum in the water for wine lovers.

RE: The Mobile Somm

Thomas Price — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 05:48:33 GMT

Rick, insightful stuff, and as someone who has fought the facebookie and the tweeter for years, I must admit that my personal time to embrace this connection and technology is finally at hand...I am gonna have a dope handle when I bring it, yo!

As to the consequence of tweeting, blogging, being on one's phone texting or talking during ANY portion of service by people serving, bartending, cooking, bussing, expoing, etc. I am old school enough to give that one a definitive NO!! Makes me crazy to see it in my own restaurant as well as any other...The guests deserve 1000% of everyones attention at all times, whether it's burgers or a Grand Degustation...

Unless a 4 top of Brillat-Savarin, MFK Fisher, Jefferson and Jancis come in....you gotta blow that one up!

Best,

RE: The Mobile Somm

LGS — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 01:14:59 GMT

and by standards I mean..best possible experience leave restaurant wanting to come back based on human interaction!

RE: The Mobile Somm

LGS — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 01:06:34 GMT

Informative read. I will agree with no service professional should ever be blogging, texting, talking on the phone during service or in the wine cellar (you know who you are). There is always something to be done like make sure the guests experience at every table is up to your restaurants standards. Social media and blogging is an after service duty not during. Your mind should always be on the guest on the floor, not on the "cyber" floor.

RE: The Mobile Somm

Admin User — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 01:37:20 GMT

I might humbly interject that I'd have a much more difficult time doing the math for general relativity or quantum theory, but that's just me.

RE: The Mobile Somm

Osvaldo Gomez — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 06:08:38 GMT

I watched it 3 times and always with some new wines to taste. It's motivating and good to have a better understanding of the grade of difficulty in the MS exam. I've been only in the Certified exam but can imagine how hard the Diploma exam can be, even harder than a Quantum mechanic exam or trying to explain the general theory of relativity of Einstein.

RE: The Mobile Somm

Rick Bakas — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 05:16:21 GMT

Good point, Geoff. It's good to clarify that any mobile geekery should happen off the floor out of site if all other service needs are taken care of. In many cases, that might not be possible as there's always something to be done. However, responding to a guest online might only take a few seconds and might surprise and delight the guest in a way they don't expect (but remember).

RE: The Mobile Somm

Admin — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 23:55:00 GMT

Great stuff. Personally I would be weirded out if, as a patron or proprietor, I saw a staff member tweeting during service. After service, I think this is a great connection with the guests.

RE: The Mobile Somm

Caleb Ganzer — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 15:21:12 GMT

Rick, thank you for a very insightful article. I appreciate your growing series of articles on pushing the Somm brand forward. Bravo!

RE: The Mobile Somm

Rick Bakas — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 04:36:23 GMT

[mention:5ce68d162494410e9bdfb307b9d8aa05:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] guess it depends on what your night looks like. During my nights at Farmhouse Inn I was able to find a few minutes to respond but not everybody can do that mid shift. After the shift while the experience is still fresh is also a good time. Weeks later is not a good time because, "real time is not fast enough" in the social web.

RE: The Mobile Somm

Rachel Voorhees — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 01:43:51 GMT

Awesome article Rick and I couldn't agree more!

RE: The Mobile Somm

Stevie Stacionis — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 01:36:01 GMT

Great article, Rick. Curious, when you say "When patrons share photos of the food or wine on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter there’s no reason the resident somm shouldn’t comment on the photo with a, “Glad you liked it!” or, “thank you for coming in” during the meal as it’s happening" are you advocating doing this mid-shift when somms are on the floor? I feel like being on a smart phone when you should be physically interacting with guests is perhaps controversial. Personally, I think this is inappropriate. Better to respond post-shift or next day?