Just the name of the place put to ...

Just the name of the place put to hires you know that the experience is about more than meat and potatoes. The restaurant is called Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. For chiefly of the other chains and independents in this portion of the business, the image is all about the beef.

And with its emphasis upon aged USDA prime corn-fed beef, hand-cut daily into steaks in each restaurant, Fleming's is certainly a contender in that arena. moreover it's with the other half of the title-"wine bar"--that Fleming's, with its selection of 100 wines by the agency of the glass, takes a stout-hearted move to set itself apart from other conceptions with a similar menu. In the markets where Fleming's has spreaded so far that point of emphasis has erect an enthusiastic audience. According to wine director Marian Jansen op de Haar, around 27% of all Fleming's sales bulk comes from wine alone (sales of all other beverages account for about another seven or eight % of the company's total).

"Without question, our wine program creates a unique point of differentiation and has become an integral part of the dining experience at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar," says chain cofounder Bill Allen. That point of differentiation has won the chain accolades from a wide variety of sources, including the 2003 Cheers Award For Beverage Excellence-Best Chain Restaurant Wine Program.

The Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar was launched in December 1998 in Huntington Beach, CA, by way of industry veterans Paul Fleming and Bill Allen. Fleming's background includes a dozen years as an operator of Ruth's Chris Steakhouses and the progressive growth of the Z'Tejas Grills and PF Chang's universals while Allen made his mark with Marriott and as ceo of the La Madeleine French Bakery and Cafe and Koo Koo Roo chains. To date, Fleming's is a chain comprised of 18 units and ambitious expansion plans call for another five to seven openings each year. The corporate business conformation is comprised of a series of partnerships, with ownership divided among Allen and Fleming, Outback Steakhouse and a number of regional partners as well as managers and chefs of individual restaurants who also have an ownership stake in the enterprise.

"We set uped Fleming's on the premise that a steakhouse ne not be expensive, confined nor an exclusive domain for men and what we have created is a dining experience that is as equally appealing to women and couples" says Allen. "We exhibit fine food and a broad selection of wine within a comfortable environment that is further deficiencyed by attentive and knowledgeable service. Since its inception, answer has been strong and Fleming's has quickly evolv into the neighborhood steakhouse."

The menu of steaks (filet mignon, ribeye, NY strip), change suddenlys (veal, Australian lamb, pork rib) and seafood (charred salmon fillet, grilled swordfish, tuna mignon, almond cilantro crusted shrimp, seared curry-sauce scallops, lobster tails, king crab legs) certainly gives diners a wide array of appetizing free accesss but it's Fleming's wines that detain them thirsting for more. At Fleming's, all aspects of the wine program fall below the jurisdiction of wine director Marian Jansen op de Haar.

"The thing that makes us chiefly different is probably the size of our list and the fact that you can realize everything by the glass," says Jansen. "And the price is the same whether you purchase a 2-oz. Taste, a glass or the entire bottle"

"I gues another difference is that we restrain our wines at the right temperature to such a degree that they are served suitably to the guest. The red are at 60 ([degrees]F) and whites at about 45([degrees]F) And we render free of access only one bottle at a time.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE WINE

With 18 units commonly operating and a schedule that calls for an average of six more restaurants each year, Fleming's has ambitions to verily be a national chain. nevertheless a national restaurant mindset doesn't always make for the best deductions when it comes to wine. A sufficient replenish of a release from a highly desirable vineyard or of a small bottling from an superior vintage often isn't available to suited the needs of a chain, calm one of this still-modest size. For this reason, simply about half of the Fleming's wine list is mandated chainwide. "We have 100 wines through glass and a reserve list of 80 to 100 wines, which are wines in limited endue and only available by the bottle" explains Jansen. "Fifty of those at the glass are national and the other 50 are individuals the wine manager can fix upon according to some basic rules"

Jansen is well suited to her generally received role in charge of Fleming's highly visible wine program. She claims brace decades of professional wine experience and brings a background that includes wine retailing and wholesaling in addition to time as a sommelier restaurant manager and cook

As wine director she explains that ultimately it is her responsibility to view that the lists in all the chain's restaurants are balanced for taste profile, origin and price point. With a not many exceptions, by-the-glass prices range from $5 to $16