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Pelican Press
November 1997
A Restauranteur's Recipe for Success
by Phil Colpas
Miles Millwee, owner of the Hillview Grill, has
worked in restaurants most of his life, and he continues to be
driven by the desire to provide his customers with the best food
and service he can.
Miles started in restaurants when he was just 12 year old. He
realized early on he wasn't destined for a regular 9-5 job.
Miles liked dealing with people and food and enjoyed the
variety. "A job where I'm always moving suits my
personality," he says.
When he went to college, Steak and Ale was a brand new chain.
After working there during his freshman year, he decided he
wanted to pursue a career in the restaurant business.
After a while with Steak and Ale, he moved to Bodega, a
restaurant in South Florida. "Bodega was a quality regional
restaurant in between casual and fine dining," Miles says.
"It was a good training ground." He spent six years as
a manager with that company, then worked for TGI Friday's as a
general manager. After three years there he was recruited by
Bennigan's, which was trying to emulate TGI Friday's at the
time. He spent six years at Bennigan's as a general manager.
Miles had come full-circle: from a chain restaurant to and
upscale restaurant and back to a chain. He had learned all
aspects of the business well. But he wanted to get out of the
chain-restaurant business, which formed him to move all the
time. Miles and his wife, Mindy, had fallen in love with
Sarasota and they had children they wanted t o raise here.
Since his early management days, Miles had dreamed of owning his
own restaurant. Although it took him 10 years to save money and
establish a plan, he remained passionate about his goal.
"My wife and kids and I were struggling, but we made sure
we could live debt-free before we even considered this," he
says.
Miles purchased the Hillview Grill, 1920 Hillview Street
(952-0045), in April 1988 from the then-owners, who also owned
Oasis Restaurant. "We lucked into this spot through a
broker who'd been watching the market closely," Miles says.
The Hillview Grill already had a local following and a nucleus
of a menu people really liked, Miles says. "After we knew
it was for sale, we came in and ate a few times and looked for
ways we could make it better." Miles felt that by improving
the ambiance, service, menu selection, and wine selection he
could turn a good restaurant into a great one.
His experience with wine began during his Bodega years. The
owner stressed fine wines, which he purchased himself from
Europe. He made certain that all of the Bodega restaurants had
an exceptional wine list. " I was 22 or 23 then, and I
became fascinated with wine," Miles says. It is a
fascination that continues to this day. The Hillview Grill
offers 125 different wines, and Miles does all the selecting and
purchasing.
For the first couple of years, Miles also did all of the
cooking. He now has two chefs: George Kingston and Christine
Earp. "They're a great team–they share responsibilities
and each have things they do best," Miles says.
Miles and his wife made sure one of them was always in front of
the restaurant to make certain customers were receiving the best
service possible. Miles now has a full-time day manager and
night manager, but he still works the door five nights and two
to three lunches a week.
Everything was going well. But then, in his sixth year, a freak
fire burned his restaurant down. Although it took a while, Miles
not only rebuilt but expanded–more than doubling his seating
capacity from 68 to 150 seats.
Wonderful food is the main reason people came to the Hillview
Grill. The previous owners were from the Panhandle and featured
several spicy Creole dishes on the menu. "About one-third
of our menu and three or four of our most popular dishes are
still Creole-inspired," Miles says, 'but we make everything
to order. You can get the dishes mild if you want."
The Hillview Grill also specializes in Caribbean food, which is
less spicy that Creole–"Caribbean food uses spices, but
mixes it up with fruits and softer flavors," Miles says.
Still very passionate about the business after a;; these years,
Miles continues to look forward to new things. On the horizon
for the Hillview Grill may be a sidewalk café
addition–permits are pending. Miles also plans to buy new
chairs and kitchen equipment and expand his storage facilities.
In the meantime, he is constantly looking for ways to improve
what he describes as the three important components of any fine
restaurant: ambiance, food, and service.
But rest assured, Miles will not stray from his niche which has
secured him such a loyal local following: a casual, personal
restaurant with high-caliber employees concerned with providing
quality food, quality wine and good service– and it doesn't
cost $50 per person. " I could make it more fancy
overnight, but I want to be able to remain in our price
range," he says. "We don't want to see people just on
their anniversary. We want to see them three times a week.
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