Sunday, September 28, 2008
Food, Wine, Beer & Spirits, "Behind the Bar"

In good company

Morton’s the Steakhouse offers wine lockers and charitable dining opportunities

By Hope S. Philbrick

Since opening in 1978, Morton’s the Steakhouse has grown from one restaurant to more than 80 locations, becoming the world’s largest operator of company-owned upscale steakhouses. For a report on current initiatives, The Sunday Paper talked to Tim Thurman, assistant general manager and sommelier at the Buckhead location.

Q What’s a wine locker, and how does the program work?
A Morton’s wine lockers are for VIPs who want to be able to purchase wine through us. It’s a great advantage because if there’s a wine that’s very hard to get, we can usually track it down and purchase it for them. Then, when they come into Morton’s, they can enjoy that hard-to-find or highly allocated wine; we’ll keep that bottle of wine waiting for them. The lockers have locks on them, and only I and the general manager have keys to the lockers, so we’re able to keep strict inventory control. I have 28 lockers here in Buckhead; every Morton’s has wine lockers. Each locker holds about two cases of wine, and they’re usually always filled to capacity. I’ve currently got a five-year waiting list for the lockers.

    VIPs are the people who make regular visits to Morton’s—not necessarily just at this Buckhead location, but around the world. On average, a wine-locker guest dines at the restaurant weekly and almost always purchases high-end wines. I know every one of my local VIPs by face. Among the celebrities who have a wine locker with us is Charles Barkley.

    At Morton’s, we do have a core beverage program, a list of items carried at all locations. A good example is Sterling Vineyards cabernet sauvignon—this wine is at all Morton’s locations. Being a steakhouse, American (usually California) cabernet sauvignons are a No. 1 seller for us; No. 2 would be Meritage wines. We have some leeway on how much wine we can bring in that’s not considered core. To me, having the best wine list means making sure that it’s exactly what our guests are looking for. I love it when a guest asks about our wine list. I ask them what they’re looking for, they request a certain body or flavor, I give them a few to taste, and they pick one saying, “That’s perfect! It’s exactly what I’m looking for!” I personally believe that pairing wine with food is completely subjective: There is no bad wine, just wine that might not be an individual’s taste.

Morton’s has a big anniversary this year. Any celebrations planned?
We’re doing wonderful things around the theme “30 wishes for 30 years,” working with the Make-A-Wish Foundation on the largest charitable initiative in our company’s history. [The commitment is to raise a minimum of $125,000.] Across the nation, Morton’s will be hosting special events to raise funds. We recently had Maximilian Riedel [an 11th-generation Austrian crystal maker whose family makes the world’s most famous specialty wine stemware] visit us to show people how big a difference the wine glass makes and how much the glass matters when drinking wine. In addition to participating in the tasting seminar, people could purchase items, such as glassware sets, and that money went to Make-A-Wish Foundation. 

We also have had a great promotion, pricing our prime sirloin burger at $19.78 on Sundays through September—the price honors the year our company was founded by Arnie Morton and Klaus Fritsch, and $5 from each one sold benefits the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Of course, guests can donate additional money if they want to, and many do. On Oct. 4, we’re hosting a special dinner priced at $175 per person with $50 going to Make-A-Wish Foundation. At the dinner, several items will also be auctioned off. One young lady who is terminally ill will be a special part of the dinner. It’s her wish to be a chef at a nice restaurant, so she’ll be working with our chef Tony to make the meal that evening, and her family will be attending complimentary. SP
Morton’s the Steakhouse in Buckhead is located at 3379 Peachtree Road NE. For more information, call 404-816-6535 or visit www.mortons.com.