Lisa Kozloff Director of Beverage Firebirds Wood Fired Grill

The Mark Wine Group

Wow! I couldn’t believe when I read this. That’s crazy. 20 years with Firebirds. How is that possible?

Lisa Kozloff

I have spent the bulk of my adult life and career with this company and I love this group. I had just a few years of bartending and serving during my college years before starting at the orginal Firebirds as a Bar Manager. Throughout the years I have been a General Manager, Regional Manager and now the Director of Beverage.

The Mark Wine Group

Is this the career you always dreamed of?

Lisa Kozloff

I wanted to be a magazine writer, preferably in fashion. My degree is in journalism from UNC Chapel Hill. After graduation I was just going to bartend for a few months while I worked on my resume. 25 years later I still haven’t landed that job at Vogue. It’s the same story everyone has in this industry.

The Mark Wine Group

I have definitely heard it before and it’s really not a bad job, right?

Lisa Kozloff

I get to drink great wine and spirits and get paid for it!

The Mark Wine Group

Exactly! And speaking of drinking; what’s your go to wine or one you would like everyone to try?

Lisa Kozloff

I love Grüner Veltliner and would encourage everyone to drink it. Which is sad as we don’t have one on our list at this time. Just trying to say it can be intimidating for some folks.

The Mark Wine Group

What is the adventure level at Firebirds?

Lisa Kozloff

In the past year it seems the guests are staying in their comfort zone for the most part. Our more distinct varietal sales have dropped slightly. The more recognizable name brands and traditional varietals have increased in sales.

The Mark Wine Group

That’s interesting. I guess the reason for having no Grüner on your list right now. Do you have a training program for your staff?

Lisa Kozloff

We have a “Grapes to Glass” program for our hourly staff. It gives them the basics of wine grapes, production, service and pairings. Many of our servers are new to the industry and have never opened a bottle, never mind described it. We also have tablets in our restaurants that are loaded with wine tasting notes for all items we serve as well as information videos provided by our partners. These are available at any time for our staff to review. Our bar managers take the Hospitality Beverage Specialist Certification offered by the Society of Wine Educations. In addition, our national partners are often in our locations giving tastings and seminars for our team members.

The Mark Wine Group

What percentage of your beverage business is wine sales?

Lisa Kozloff

About 40% is wine, over 50% for liquor and beer rounds out the last 10% or so.

The Mark Wine Group

Is there a particular priced wine that sells the best?

Lisa Kozloff

If a wine has a great reputation and name recognition it sells, no matter what the price point. So, we have a pretty good balance of wine moving across all tiers.

The Mark Wine Group

Do you have a favorite food & wine pairing?

Lisa Kozloff

There is nothing better than a grilled steak and a big, red wine. Firebird’s steaks that are grilled over hard woods taste great with our proprietary red blend. It’s a match made in heaven.

The Mark Wine Group

Wine cocktails seem to be all the rage. Is this something you are playing with?

Lisa Kozloff

Yes. We have both a red and white Sangria that are mainstays on our cocktail menu. The past few cocktail menus have had at least one additional wine or Prosecco cocktail. In addition, we are testing Frosé in our Florida market at the moment.

The Mark Wine Group

For our readers who haven’t heard of or tried Frosé; it’s basically frozen rose wine; a mashup between a frozen cocktail and that summer fave glass of wine. For the record, I actually experimented just recently and kinda loved it. And it may be my daughter’s first memory of wine. What’s your first memory of wine? Of cocktails? Or maybe beer?

Lisa Kozloff

I never drank nor did anyone in my family growing up. I have a very religious family that did not drink. However, they fully support my career choice.

I was the girl that would lecture her friends in high school for drinking beer at a party. The first time I had anything was bid day for my sorority in college. My big sister gave me a bottle of Freixenet Cordon Negro (yes, the bubbly we sell I hinted at earlier) that I drank in about 15 minutes, thinking it didn’t have a lot of alcohol.

Needless to say, I was sick. Despite that I was exposed to cocktails, wine and beer as a server in school. Through staff trainings I was able to better understand and then appreciate wine. The first red wine I loved came years later when I was dating my now husband.

The Mark Wine Group

Do you have a favorite restaurant experience from your childhood?

Lisa Kozloff

My parents would let me pick any restaurant for my birthday celebration. I grew up in Durham, NC and so one year I talked them into taking me to the Angus Barn. It’s a huge building and I would always want to go there when we would drive past. They even let me order lobster – it was so fancy!

The Mark Wine Group

And as I remember from visiting relatives there, they have a pretty huge wine list and wine cellar. Tell us a little about your wine list and how you pick your wines?

Lisa Kozloff

With only 50 wines on our list, we have to keep the selections streamlined and well as represent a variety of styles. Our guests prefer to see names they recognize that are intermingled with some less known, but quality selections as well for our intrepid guests. When changing our line-up, the first step of the process is to identify items that aren’t selling. This gives us a general idea of where we want to freshen up the list. We taste multiple wines for each available slot and choose based on balance of flavor, region, grape and even the bottle’s packaging.

The Mark Wine Group

And speaking of packaging; What do you think of Stelvin caps and other screw cap closures?

Lisa Kozloff

They are fine by me, especially if they prevent cork taint. I hate to see a bottle of wine ruined. In fact, we tend to sell more Stelvin wines, especially with limited time offerings. Our servers are more comfortable opening them.