This San Francisco Michelin star restaurant converts its dining room into a wine shop

San Francisco's Michelin star restaurant, Spruce, has transformed its dining room into a wine shop. San Francisco's Michelin star restaurant, Spruce, has transformed its dining room into a wine shop. Photo: Andrew Green/ Bacchus Management Group Photo: Andrew Green/ Bacchus Management Group Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close This San Francisco Michelin star restaurant converts its dining room into a wine shop 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

When Spruce closed last month to offer take-out and delivery only, another project to keep the business afloat was in the works. For the Michelin star restaurant, it meant converting its former dining room into a local wine destination.

The familiar dining space has been cleared out to make room for lengthy tables stocked with a variety of red and white wines available for purchase.

“We’re trying to serve our neighborhood,” said Andrew Green, partner at Bacchus Management Group, the hospitality group behind Spruce and eight other restaurants around the Bay Area.

The wine shop debuted on March 26, and since then they've kept an inventory of 100 cases on the shelves, which is restocked daily. Green and Jaime Pinedo, wine and beverage director at Bacchus Management Group, said they were both thrilled and surprised with the positive feedback they’ve received from customers.

“A buddy of mine showed up with an empty stroller and [bought] three cases of wine,” Pinedo said. “Some folks have loaded their cars with cases. The response has been tremendous.”

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Pinedo, who was also the former sommelier at Spruce, said that sales made in one afternoon were comparable to the wine sales Spruce used to have on a typical Friday night before shelter-in-place orders were issued.

Inside the shop, bottles of Sauvignon Blanc, red and white Burgundy and Champagne are available for $7 to $100 a bottle. The bottles are a blend of classic to international selections.

Customers have been given empty wine cases, in lieu of shopping baskets, to carry the bottles as they wander throughout the store. Often, the empty slots in wine cases have been filled with recommendations offered to guests by staff.

Pinedo said he’s recently recommended a $15 bottle of Grüner Veltliner from an Austrian winery, Weingut Nigl. He describes it as a light, crisp white wine with notes of arugula and saffron. It pairs well with Asian take-out, he said.

“I think one of the beauties of this operation is that it lets us identify one of the wines that people may be less familiar with,” Pinedo added.

Aside from the 12 sheets of paper that collectively read — WINE SHOP OPEN — on Spruce’s storefront window, the restaurant hasn’t done a lot of marketing. Most customers have heard about the shop by word of mouth, or on Pinedo’s personal Instagram account.

“It’s been organic,” Green said. “People come in, and the next thing you know, they tell their friends.”

Before the wine shop debuted last month, Green said that Bacchus Management Group had to make the difficult decision of laying off 800 employees and partners.

“There was no runway to keep going,” Green said. “We want to put all the restaurants in a position where there’s money in the bank and be in a position to rehire once we’re able to.”

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At this time, the hospitality group has about 30 employees after the layoffs and temporary closures of some of its restaurants. A small fraction of employees have stayed at Spruce and help run the wine shop.

“People wanted to stay busy,” Green said. “Between DoorDash and what’s going on here at Spruce, we’re trying to give people opportunities.”

Green said their wines have been sourced from every restaurant owned by Bacchus Management Group. In total, they’ve collected about 60,000 bottles.

“We have enough wine where we can do this for the next 10 weeks without having to buy wine from anyone,” Green said.

Green is hopeful Bacchus Management Group will be able to get back to the hospitality business once the shelter in place is over, but he knows it will take time.

“I don’t think people really understand how challenging it’s going to be for small businesses to turn things back on,” Green said. “It’s going to be a gut-wrenching process throughout the city and the industry.”

Spruce is located at 3640 Sacramento St. and open from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Susana Guerrero is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: Susana.Guerrero@sfgate.com | Twitter: @SusyGuerrero3

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