Photo Credit: Joe Albert Signature Series
In Celebration of the Diamond Anniversary, The Bistro, Gervasi’s Cornerstone Restaurant, Gets Refreshed
Celebrating a decade of success and growth makes for an opportune time to hold a number of events and celebrations. Gervasi Vineyard’s Diamond Anniversary encompassed many special events including the introduction of new wines.
It is also a great time to give The Bistro a refreshing update. The Bistro is where it all started at Gervasi Vineyard (originally named Gervasi Vineyard & Italian Bistro). The 200-year-old barn was completely restored and renovated in 2009 to house a rustic, upscale Italian restaurant serving small and large plate portions and award-winning Gervasi wines, signature cocktails and premium spirits. The award-winning restaurant recently named one of America’s 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in 2019 by Open Table.
General Manager Scott Swaldo said, “In this industry, it’s easy for things to get tired and worn out and lose their original shine. We pride ourselves on our commitment to keeping our facilities beautiful and pristine, and we remain diligent on keeping up with our high standards.”
Photo Credit: Joe Albert Signature Series
Perfect Time to Refresh
Swaldo said, “With our 10th Anniversary this year and our commitment to excellence in everything including our facilities, we thought it was a perfect time for some updates to The Bistro. The updates will help us maintain our long-term sustainability and success. The Bistro is the cornerstone of Gervasi, it’s iconic and historic. It’s where the original winery was located, and it’s where guests first experienced our Italian foods and Gervasi wines.”
In addition to offering regular dining hours six days a week, The Bistro at Gervasi Vineyard holds numerous special events at The Bistro throughout the year including wine pairing dinners, Flights & Bites, Sunday Breakfast and Sunday Supper.
Recent Renovations to The Bistro
Recent renovations include updates to the structural integrity of the 200-year-old barn, kitchen equipment, floors, dining tables and the balcony space.
Swaldo said, “From the beginning, The Bistro was an amazing renovation of the original barn to what you see today. Part of our recent updates included restoring and maintaining the behind-the-scenes structural integrity.”
For the kitchen, a new dishwashing system was installed. It’s a more sophisticated system that gives glasses and dishes more shine, which in the past the staff was polishing the dishes by hand.
Photo Credit: Jacob Hall
The floors in The Bistro were made from reclaimed barn wood 10 years ago and after a decade of use, the wood needed reconditioned. Gervasi worked with a long-standing partner, Olde Wood Limited, to give the floors an extensive reconditioning, deep cleaning, and light sanding to provide “an incredible new finish”.
The Bistro is normally closed on Mondays and Swaldo said they closed it for two additional days to have the floors refurbished. The work started on Sunday evening after closing and wrapped three days later.
There has also been some fine-tuning of the floor plan on the main level of The Bistro along with adding some new tables on both the main floor and the balcony area.
Photo Credit: Joe Albert Signature Series
“The updates to the floor plan and the furniture sizes better meet the needs of our guests. We replaced all of the tables on the main floor to help improve the guest experience. The updates are based on the feedback from our customers telling us they prefer round tables and they needed tables to accommodate larger parties,” Swaldo said.
Swaldo said guests will find 25 new tables on both levels of The Bistro including newly added round and square tables for seating up to 10 people. All of the chairs and some of the previous tables have been refurbished as well.
Photo Credit: Joe Albert Signature Series
“People really have an interest in the barn when they dine with us. The recent improvements are a really nice face lift and deep cleaning of the restaurant. It’s a matter of maintaining high standards, quality of work life for our staff, as well as the guests’ experience and comfort.
“The Bistro has always been so beautiful, and we want to keep the high standards Gervasi is known for having,” Swaldo said. “It was the right thing to do and at the right time. Our guests can be assured, while we made the updates, we were careful to leave the essence and the ambiance of The Bistro.”
