Food & Drink Awards 2017

LUX - Food & Drink Awards 2017 47 Best Wine Bar & Restaurant - Maricopa County & Culinary Excellence Award for French Cuisine Cuisine & Wine Bistro is a family owned and operated French restaurant business with two locations in the Phoenix metropolitan area in Arizona. We invited Mairead Buschtetz to tell us more about the origins of the restaurant and its ongoing success. Company: Cuisine & Wine Bistro Contact: Mairead Buschtetz Contact Email: info@ cuisineandwinebistro.com Address:1422 Warner Rd, Gilbert, Arizona, 85233, USA Phone: 001 480 497 1422 Website: www.cuisineandwinebistro.com In 2013, Mairead and her family moved to Arizona from France. The family found an excellent restaurant location in Gilbert and launched Cuisine and Wine Bistro Gilbert, in March 2015. Mairead’s husband, Fabrice, who trained extensively throughout France, serves as Executive Chef for both locations, overseeing recipes and menus. Mairead, a native of Ireland, has worked with her husband since they met in Paris almost 30 years ago. She handles day to day operations. Their three adult children, Steven, Killian and Laura serve as Chef, Sommelier, and Waitress, respectively. Daughter-in-law Clementine also is part of the family team, creating and running the websites. Mairead talks about the close-knit nature of the family running the restaurant. “Bringing a family culture to the restaurant, we are blessed to be able to work on a daily basis with our children. We brought our passion for food and good wine with us to the United States. Fabrice is a third- generation restaurant owner and it looks like that our children are establishing the fourth generation.” Providing us with an overview of the sector within the food and drink industry at present, Mairead tells us what it is like being a French restaurant being based in Phoenix, explaining how this enables them to differentiate themselves from other restaurants and make them an attractive proposition for guests. “Within Phoenix, there are only a few French restaurants, and we differentiate ourselves by offering a very traditional European dining experience with traditional and authentic French cuisine. Our goal is not to turn tables quickly, but to ensure that every course of the meal, and every moment of the dinner, tells our guests how important they are and how much care we take with our menu and food preparations.” Following on from discussing the restaurant’s goal, Mairead goes on to explain how the restaurant always aims to achieve excellence, and ensure that only the best food and beverages are served. “Essentially, our customers are very appreciative of the fact that we are a whole family, looking after them from start to finish. Our goal is for them to leave, feeling as though they have joined our family for a meal. We are very different from our competitors because we are such a small structure, with very few employees. We want to keep the service personal. We want our customers to know their server’s name and vice versa.” Furthermore, when working with food and drink, it is vital that all health and safety standards are met and observed at all times. The restaurant abides by the highest standards in cleanliness and respect for the food preparation process, with Mairead and Fabrice providing extensive training to their staff, and encourage them to share and show love and respect for fine food, and the care in which it must be prepared. Going into more detail about the staff that work at the restaurant, Mairead explains how almost everything the restaurant produces is homemade, and how herself and Fabrice ensure that they offer the best service and hire the best people. “At the restaurant, we make almost everything in house. Fabrice spends hours slow cooking the bases for his sauces. He is an excellent saucier. We have five cooks for two restaurants and make most of our food by hand. We use the least amount of technology possible. We try and hire people who are passionate about food. We can teach people how to serve customers but we cannot instil a love of food in someone, who is indifferent. We do not turn-over tables. For us, people who stay a few hours discovering and digesting our food, are people who are living the culinary experience.” Overall, looking to capitalise on the increasing success of the restaurant, Mairead predicts what the future holds for Cuisine & Wine Bistro, and signs off by explaining how the team are looking to further develop some of its food section for new ventures, whilst continuing to provide quality food and quality service to customers. “Moving forward, we would love to someday expand our business. We are developing our Quiche selection and are hoping to propose them to fine food “Bringing a family culture to the restaurant, we are blessed to be able to work on a daily basis with our children. We brought our passion for food and good wine with us to the United States.” distributors. For now, we will continue to concentrate on providing authentic and traditional French food to our guests.”