Naples Tomato Restaurant, an Italian restaurant based in Naples, Florida, announced that it will provide guests with personalized wine recommendations via an Apple iPad instead of a traditional sommelier.
Working with marketing application developer innerbridge, Naples Tomato said it has created an application for the iPad that will let guests browse, search and exertly select from hundreds of wines without being pressured, misled, or upsold.
Naples Tomato said it is currently testing its Personal Sommeliers for iPad application with the restaurant's 550-selection, Wine Spectator-recognized wine list. The iPad application will be regularly available in the restaurant beginning in August. Other restaurants will be able to license the application later this year.
The Personal Sommeliers for iPad application captures the services and judgment of a traditional sommelier. Using iPads provided at their tables, Naples Tomato guests will be able to receive recommendations on different wine pairings for specific entrees, and search wines by any combination of name, price, region, color, taste ("fruity," "dry") or ratings from The Wine Spectator or Robert Parker. They can read complete descriptions and tasting notes for wines. Guests then place their orders with their waiters, ordering by either name or bin number. The staff is available to discuss the recommendations.
"We love helping people - all kinds of people - enjoy wine and weave it into their lives," said Jack Serfass, co-founder and co-chairman of Naples Tomato Franchising. "We have worked with many sommeliers to build the knowledge base into the app so guests get the benefit of many experts instead of one."
Naples Tomato franchises will be the exclusive test site for the application in the Italian-restaurant category, and will receive early access to developments and new features. Naples Tomato is currently in discussions with national restaurant franchises in other dining categories to become exclusive test sites. Because Naples Tomato and innerbridge jointly own the software code, Naples Tomato can create a differentiated version of the application for its franchisees and partners, with features different from those of the general version of the application.
