Channing Benning/Indian Wells Golf Resort
Vue Grille & Bar at the Indian Wells Golf Resort was named for the views it offers customers.
“For 365 degrees, no matter where you look, it’s stunning,” Scott Winant, the restaurant’s food and beverage manager, said. “Whether it’s the golf-course view or the mountain view, whatever it may be, it's stunning.”
If you are a customer who likes to slowly sip the world’s best whiskeys while you are looking out at the mountains and the golf courses, then all the better.
Two years ago, the restaurant renovated the bar.
“We really supercharged our whiskey program,” Winant said. “We now have over 350 different whiskeys. Probably 50 of those are allocated, which means they aren’t released everywhere. So we have a couple of bottles that we are the only property in California that got one.”
Vue Grille & Bar is one of the only restaurants on the West Coast to have from Woodford Reserve Baccarat Edition, Winant said.
“Young people are drinking whiskey today when they never did before,” Winant said. ”When I turned 21, I didn’t know what whiskey was. I was drinking beer.”
Bourbon in particular is a focus of the restaurant’s selection with a selection of 300 to choose from.
“We also have 50 scotches, 30 different Irish whiskeys, Japanese whiskeys,” he said.
The food is American style, which fits in well with the rich collection of bourbons, Winant said.
“Bourbon is traditional U.S.,” he said. “So it make sense for us to have that. It kind of ties everything together.”
Whiskey is also used in some of the dishes the restaurant serves, including a brand named WhistlePig, which also makes a syrup.
“They have a bourbon-infused maple syrup, which is a killer,” Winant said.
Many Vue Grille & Bar diners start with a whiskey and then move onto wine with dinner.
“We also have a wine list with 700 wines on it,” Winant said.
Collecting whiskey has also grown in popularity in recent years as well as drinking it.
A restaurant like Vue Grille & Bar can help collectors sample the brands they like before adding a bottle to their collection.
The top-priced whiskey at Vue Grille & Bar can go cost $150 to $200 for a single shot.
But that might seem like a bargain compared to the cost of an entire bottle.
“The Woodford Reserve Baccarat Edition is $2,000 a bottle,” Winant said.
Channing Benning/Indian Wells Golf Resort
