Symons earns national kudos for wine list

Chandler Symons spends his days bouncing between his family’s three northern Michigan businesses—two restaurants and a retail store featuring gourmet food and wine. Which one gets most of his attention?

“Which one’s on fire?” he jokes. When everything’s going smoothly, which is most of the time, he splits his time and energy among the three businesses: Symons General Store, Chandler’s restaurant—both in downtown Petoskey—and Pierson’s restaurant in Boyne Falls.

Symons General Store features a deli case offering gourmet cheeses, pates and other specialty items. But the store is best known for its large, carefully selected wine list, which attracted the attention of Food & Wine magazine.

The magazine’s editorial board “scoured the country to find unforgettable wine adventures,” publishing its list of “America’s 50 Most Amazing Wine Experiences”—stores, restaurants, wine bars and festivals (but not wineries) in its October 2006 issue. The article describes the wine cellar at Symons General Store—the only Michigan business on the 2006 list—as “one of Michigan’s best wine hangouts.”

Roots
Symons’ roots are in his family’s store. His father, Tom, opened it in 1956 in Boyne Falls; then in 1960 relocated to Petoskey, at a well-situated corner in the heart of downtown.

Tom Symons was one of the first retailers in Michigan to offer foods like Swiss chocolate and huge wheels of various European cheeses.

“At a time when no one in Michigan was selling products like Toblerone chocolate, the place to get it was up here in Petoskey. My dad was on the cutting edge, bringing great gourmet products back from buying trips in Europe.”

Symons’ love and knowledge of good wine and food are also a family tradition. His parents frequently entertained and took Chandler to California wineries and even to France.

Chandler’s mother, Lynne, now owns the store and restaurants since Tom died. Chandler oversees operations at all of them.

Despite studying hotel and restaurant management at Michigan State University, and later at the Culinary Institute in Napa, California, Symons says he never set out to open a restaurant. Rather, it happened as a natural result of changes made at the store.

Ten years ago the store’s basement was converted to a 5,000-bottle wine cellar to accommodate the growing wine list.

“We wanted to do wine tastings in the wine cellar, so we applied for a liquor license. The law stated that we also had to serve food, so we decided to add just a few simple food items.

“As we worked on this idea and discovered all that went into serving food commercially, we realized it made sense to open an actual restaurant in the building around the corner, which adjoins our store.”
The result was Chandler’s, which opened eight years ago and is now a world-class restaurant with favorable reviews in the local press. The store’s basement now serves as a wine store by day and a dining room for overflow crowds from Chandler’s by night. It is also available as a private dining space.

“For us the restaurant was exactly the right way to go,” Symons explained. “We had a soft opening, without much fanfare, so we had a chance to get it right.”

Four years ago the family opened a second restaurant, Pierson’s, in the Village at Boyne Mountain Resort in Boyne Falls. It is also receiving high praise from locals.

Symons credits the success of all three businesses to two things: the hard work of his parents, who built the family business, acquiring and maintaining its reputation for high quality products and service; and the “amazingly talented” people who have come to work for him.

Excitement
“My staff is dedicated to great food and service. They are excited to be here—you can see it in their eyes. It’s more than a job to them,” he said.

Attracting such talent is crucial to the success of a business, especially a new restaurant.

“It helps a lot that we have a good reputation for quality,” Symons explained. “Word got out that we were opening a restaurant, and people knew it was going to be a quality venture and wanted to be part of it.

“Then, having a few exceptional people on your staff attracts others. If you’re dedicated to exceptional service and quality, you want to work around others with the same dedication to quality.”

Of course, he has had to work to keep his best employees.

One way is by having an open kitchen, from which the cooks can see people enjoying their food. Guests can even thank them directly. Those intangible rewards are important to staff who care about quality, Symons believes.

Symons doesn’t use a large traditional budget for marketing and advertising. He considers his rent to be a kind of marketing.

The store and restaurant have excellent locations in downtown Petoskey. But more importantly, Symons says they strive for consistency with quality products and services, which leads to great word of mouth.

Donations
“Also, what another business might spend on advertising, we put into donations to local charitable functions,” Symons added. “It feels right, plus our businesses get a lot of name recognition. People see our name in connection with these functions and they want to come back, as a way of supporting those who support their community.”

Symons has high expectations for the upcoming tourist season despite tough economic conditions.
“Some who normally might go to Europe or some exotic destination may be cutting back a little by not flying and instead visiting northern Michigan,” he said. “These people are still seeking a world-class vacation experience, including fine dining, celebrating with a fine bottle of wine and finding unusual buys. We’re positioned to provide that.”

Despite the hectic pace and long hours involved with running both a store and restaurants, Symons loves his work. He is cautious about taking too much credit for the success of the businesses.

“I can’t emphasize enough how lucky I feel to have come into this family business and to have this great staff,” he said. “I don’t know if I’d have the guts to do what my parents did—starting from scratch, leveraging everything. You don’t sleep much, you worry and you think about it all the time. But I admire them tremendously and feel such gratitude.”

This article was written by Amy Buttery, Michigan Retailer staff writer.