I went bicycling on Pelee Island earlier this summer, a bucolic place in Lake Erie that takes 90 minutes or so to reach by ferry. A great place to get away from it all; it's so quiet it's hard to find a newspaper. And home to one of the most innovative and fun dining concepts I have seen.
The island is well suited to growing grapes, and Pelee Island Winery has a large number of vineyards there, as well as a wine pavillion.
This place has a very small permanent population -- something like 175 people. And the visitor traffic seems to be mainly cottagers.
Most wineries seem to have some kind of dining operation, so you can enjoy some of the wine with food. But given the small population, Pelee needed to be clever about this.
So they created a self-BBQ operation. You buy your meat (beef, venison or buffalo burger, chicken, sausage or vegetarian) frozen at the Deli-Hut. (And a small selection of salads, etc.) Then you barbecue it yourself at the free barbecues provided.
After you've finished grilling, you can enjoy your meal at one of the picnic tables overlooking the vineyards. With a glass of wine, of course!
What's even better is that they make the picnic area available to anyone without charge. (There is a small charge to use the BBQs if you don't buy your meat from them.) So regulars on the island tend to frequent the place as a great picnic spot.
Using the power of AND to innovate
I imagine that during their planning process, they wondered, "how can we give people a reasonable food experience with some wine AND very low overheads AND low operating costs AND that doesn't rely on having access to trained serving staff?"
- The winery gives its guests a good food experience with very limited overhead.
- They build goodwill in the community at the same time.
- All those people who come to picnic regularly have a great opportunity to drop in and buy wine while they are there.
- They aren't competing with any of the other local dining establishments, all of whom serve Pelee Island wines.
This was a totally fun thing to do after a couple of hours of cycling, and I highly recommend you try it if you are ever there. And a really wonderful example of innovation in creating a good customer experience.