The Winery Restaurant in Tustin opened in 2007 and immediately became a go-to spot for exciting cuisine in Orange County.
Partners Yvon Goetz (executive chef) JC Clow and William Lewis created a fine-dining establishment with flawless service and elevated cuisine, not to mention a stellar wine list curated by Lewis, who was in charge of the Morton’s at South Coast Plaza wine list when I first met him nearly 20 years ago.
Lewis and Clow, who served as the Morton’s GM, spent many years at Morton’s before breaking out on their own.
“After working at Morton’s for 12 years, I was hungry to do other things and be innovative,” Lewis said.
“It was urged on by our guests. Once you work for someone for a long time, you want to do your own thing and make it yours.”
Lewis and Clow left Morton’s and, with the addition of Chef Goetz, who spent many years at the Ritz-Carlton, started The Winery Restaurant in Tustin.
“So 13 years—it’s crazy, it’s a long time,” Lewis said.
“It’s been a challenge, especially nowadays. You always have to reinvent yourself to stay relevant. The restaurant business is moving fast, we compete with fast-casual restaurants while sticking to our bread and butter, but we do listen to guests and look at trends in the industry. We want people to have the best experience in our restaurants.”
That’s restaurants plural—the Newport location of The Winery opened in 2014, and a La Jolla location opened in 2017.
Pandemic Pivots
COVID-19 had a major impact on The Winery, as it did on all restaurants.
The Winery saw a need during the first weeks of the pandemic shutdown to help customers with grocery basics.
“We saw long lines in the supermarkets, and we had a lot of perishables and things sitting in our walk-in refrigerator, so we emailed our customers and had them fill out an order sheet with what they needed,” Lewis recalled. “People ordered produce, sugar, rice, milk, whatever we had until we ran out.”
Now that Orange County restaurants can once again open for patio dining, Lewis is thankful that they can continue to make ends meet and make sure their employees can take care of their families.
The Winery Tustin expanded its patio last summer so they’re ready to welcome diners back to the restaurant. The Winery Newport has a patio overlooking Newport Harbor, and they’ve added additional patio dining.
Labor of Love
One last thing: Because Lewis is active in the Tustin location and roams the room checking on guests, many diners assume he’s a GM and don’t realize he’s actually a partner, but as Lewis notes, “I’m not doing this for accolades, I do it because I love it.”
The Winery Tustin, 2647 Park Ave., Tustin, (714) 258-7600, thewinerytustin.com
The Winery Newport, 3131 West Coast Highway, Newport Beach, (949) 999-6622, thewinerynewport.com
