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Pelican
Press
May 14, 1998 Owner Celebrates 10 Years at
Hillview Grill by Phil Colpas
 Now is the perfect time to enjoy the Hillview Grill's Caribbean and Cajun cuisine and fine selection of wine. This month, Miles Millwee is celebrating his 10-year anniversary as owner.
Miles enjoys the restaurant business because of the people. And he believes that's what most individuals in the business like about it as well. I guess overall, everybody likes it because of the interaction with the people—the staff as well as the customers," he says. " That's what makes it fun. It's a real people-oriented business."
The Hillview Grill prides itself on being a neighborhood restaurant—the place "where everybody knows your name." Miles and his staff say they know by name 50 percent of the regular lunch clientele and 30 to 40 percent of the dinner customers.
Miles started working in restaurants when he was just 12 years old. While attending college and working at Steak and Ale, he decided to pursue a career in the restaurant business.
He followed his Steak and Ale duties with nearly two decades of cumulative experiences as manager at Bodega, an upscale south Florida-based regional chain, and then as general manager at TGI Friday's and
Bennigan's.
Although he enjoyed his work, his responsibilities as general manager for a national chain kept him on the road a great deal. Miles and his wife,
Mindy, wanted to settle down in one place to raise their children. They decided Sarasota was the perfect place to do that.
There's an old adage: "Necessity is the mother of invention." The need to settle in one area prompted Miles to seriously consider the dream he'd had most of his life: to own his own restaurant. Although he and his wife were struggling, he made sure they could make it through one year debt free before he began his search for a viable restaurant location in earnest.
Serendipity struck when a broker who'd been keeping a vigilant eye on the market hooked Miles up with the Hillvew Grill—and the rest is history.
There are three components of the restaurant business Miles has always considered most important: ambiance, service, and food. Right from the beginning, he asked himself how these areas could be improved at the Hillview Grill. The restaurant already had a built-in local clientele, but miles wanted to increase quality and the number of customers.
He recently built a sidewalk café addition with three tables, installed new kitchen equipment, purchased new chairs, expanded storage facilities and added a wine cellar. "Now we can store all or red wines at cellar temperature
rather than room temperature," he says with pride.
Starting this past year, the Hillview Grill began featuring Wine Maker Dinners with various food and wine pairings to spice up the off-season. "I'm sure we'll do that again this year," he says.
Lunch selections include: Mahi-Mahi ($7.25), prepared chargrilled or blackened and served with soup or salad and choice of black bean and rice salad, house salad, potatoes or fresh fruit; Bayou Chicken sandwich ($5.95), seasoned with Cajun spices, pan seared and tipped with provolone cheese; and Chicken Gilroy ($6.25), chunks of chicken breast, brocoli and cashews sautéed in sesame, soy and sherry over linguini.
Dinner selections include: Grouper Picatta ($18.95), sauted with lemon, caper, mushrooms and white wine. served over fettuccini; Eggplant Lobster Roulade ($14.95), eggplant slices rolled with lobster, spinach and three cheeses, over linguini with marinara sauce; and Louisiana Delight ($11.75), shrimp and scallops in a spicy cream sauce, served over linguini.
A variety of appetizers, soups and salads are also available. The restaurant features a large selection of fine wines and offers beer and mixed drinks.
Photo caption:
Miles Millwee is celebrating his 10th anniversary as owner of the Hillview Grill.
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