"Susie Biehler and her staff played an invaluable role in the launch
of our new restaurant ANZU. Her input is very focused, feedback is honest and ideas go well beyond the boundaries of being creative. Susie is a consummate hospitality professional. It's a delight to have her as part of our "extended" management team."
John M. Hutar, Vice President and General Manager
Hotel Nikko San Francisco

Pebble Beach Resorts
PROJECT:
Susie Biehler & CO was hired in 1991 to address the public misconception of the restaurants being private, based on the location of Pebble Beach on the 42-mile public drive. Over the course of six years, SB&CO was to launch several new restaurants at the legendary resort, while drawing attention to and heightening the images of the existing restaurants.
PROCESS:
SB&CO conducted a media audit to ascertain the public perception of the restaurants at Pebble Beach. Interviews were conducted with local concierges, well-known celebrity chefs, food media and local residents on the opinions of the restaurants at the resort. A study was compiled to provide the framework for how the public perception could be improved.
Susie launched a media tour that included a cooking class and educational dinner featuring 5-star Italian Chef Guatiero Marchesi. In attendance were local and national foodwriters and editors. The agency helped conceive the revised Club XIX endorsing San Francisco's Hubert Keller as chef consultant. SB&CO also launched Roy's at the Inn at Spanish Bay and held a series of media dinners to introduce the cuisine. The firm coordinated a series of dinners with visiting celebrity chefs including George Morrone, Elka Gilmore and Cory Schreiber oversaw the marketing efforts to garner customer support. Additionally, they organized a series of educational events on the effects of aquaculture and its impact on the industry.
RESULTS:
Major local and Bay Area press resulted including inclusion in San Francisco Chronicle roundups led to a Gourmet Magazine review, the first ever for Pebble Beach. Expansive feature on Hubert Keller’s involvement was illustrated in a pictorial story in the San Francisco Examiner Magazine in 1996. This media leveraged further to garner awareness by other nationals including Bon Appetit, Food Arts Magazine, Nation’s Restaurant News and Wine Spectator. More importantly, Bay Area residents finally understood that the restaurants were opened to the public and not exclusive to members.
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"Unlike your competitors,
you tell us what we need to know,
not necessarily what we want to hear."
Jody Denton, Chef/Partner
Restaurant LuLu

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Bacar
PROJECT:
Launch the restaurant in the San Francisco market.
PROCESS:
Bacar restaurant was one of the most anticipated restaurants to open of its time. Susie began communication with partners David O’Malley, Debbie Zachareas and Arnold Wong, a year before it opened. The restaurant opening was delayed 22 times and the SF Chronicle featured a huge expose on "The Making of A Restaurant” which chronicled all the challenges and frustrations of getting a restaurant opened. SB&CO met with each of the partners, ascertaining their own vision and uniqueness. The agency developed the lists for the opening parties including VIPs, industry, local and national food industry. They helped launch the investor party, which was somewhat affected by a flood in the wine lounge. They hired photographer Kingmond Young, who captured the uniqueness of the wine wall and other design aspects and distributed the photos broadly to the press. When the restaurant was finally ready to unlock the doors, Biehler & CO sent out a one-line press release that simply said “OPEN.”
RESULTS:
Bacar gleaned much of its own press. But it takes two to tango, so everywhere there was press, SB&CO leveraged it for more. A press trip to New York was organized for partner Debbie Zachareas. Susie Biehler and associate Stephanie Holt set up interviews and meetings with Wine Spectator, Oprah Magazine, Details, Elle, W, New York Times, and Wallpaper magazine. Additionally a meeting was held with a producer at Food Network to talk about Debbie’s potential wine show.
The trip was about relationship building – national coverage included Esquire Magazine, Wine Spectator, Metropolitan Home, Travel & Leisure, Bon Appetit, Forbes, Bloomberg, New York Times – overall there were countless local mentions and national hits for the restaurant.
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"Congratulations on the wonderful publicity for Il Fornaio. Keep it up!"
Lawrence B. Mindel, CEO Il Fornaio America

Il Fornaio
PROJECT:
“I want to make Il Fornaio a household word,” commented Larry Mindel to Susie Biehler in the late 80’s. He had just become involved in the bakery cafes and they were screaming for redo, re-concept, re-launch. Larry hired SB&CO to launch the first IL Fornaio in Corte Madera, California.
PROCESS:
Susie organized nine pre-opening events and re-introduced Larry Mindel to the media market – locally and nationally. She worked closely with the restaurant staff and the corporate team from Il Fornaio. She hand-delivered morning pastries to nearby businesses to alert them to the Italian breakfast opportunity in their neighborhood. She attended more than one “family gathering of VIPS” at the restaurant and served as the photographer on a Salmon Fishing Trip out in the Bay capturing members of the Il Fornaio fish team in action.
RESULTS:
Positive reviews, attention locally and nationally. Gourmet Magazine brought favorable light to Il Fornaio. Susie worked on a story on Larry’s garden cultivated by local gardeners growing lettuce varietals for the restaurant– it took almost nine months but the end result was six full pages of coverage in Metropolitan Home Magazine with extraordinary visuals.
Il Fornaio continued to work with SB&CO for its city launch of Il Fornaio Gastronomia. Susie consulted on various other projects working with the in-house marketing directors of the company for six years.
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" Susie Biehler and her associates all listen attentively,
anticipate our needs, and respond in a timely fashion
to requests and opportunities. Susie Biehler & Co. is
a goal-oriented firm that delivers results."
Michael Dellar, Proprietor
Lark Creek Restaurant Group

Whole Foods Market
PROJECT:
At last San Francisco was going to get a Whole Foods Market! What an excitement for all the foodies in town. SB&CO was the hired agency in to launch and introduce the store to the media.
PROCESS:
SB&CO personally selected key food talent to serve on a research panel to give Whole Foods key players feedback about what they, as chefs and culinarians, wanted in a healthy food market. Interviews and panels were held to gather the research and distribute to the owners. Discount shopping cards were designed and given to all members who participated.
SB&CO worked closely with the Community Service Director who would launch 10% days and give percentages back to non-profit organizations. Chef conducted demos highlighting seasonal delights.
RESULTS:
Whole Foods was well positioned in the media as evidenced by Susie Biehler & CO’s resourcefulness and mindfulness in linking members of the media to the right contacts. The Whole Foods communication system was a challenge in itself. The company was growing almost too fast. The prepared foods department opened up and was very challenged to keep up with its demand. SB&CO took media throughout the store for tours and information meetings and the results were that food editors and writers would call the market routinely and consider them a viable source for stories. Awareness ranged from ongoing hits in the San Francisco Chronicle to coverage in the local publications from San Francisco Magazine, to SF Examiner and KGO Radio.
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" Your ability to clarify a vision and identity, and to reach it through
careful planning is the reason for Hornblower's unparalleled
success this year. Thank you for making me look so good!"
Alison Healy, Food & Beverage Director
Hornblower Dining Yachts

Cypress Club
PROJECT:
Launch the new restaurant.
PROCESS:
“I need a new hot client,” Susie said, as she was chatting it up with writer Bill Citara. “Call John Cunin,” Bill said, gladly giving the number over.
Susie called John who answered his phone directly about six months before he opened. “We’ll probably do our own PR,” John said.
Susie commented, “Well, it’s not too early to get a nice column story in the San Francisco Chronicle Business section,” John said, “Well maybe we should meet.” They met, the deal was struck and SB&CO went on to launch what was the greatest glamorous opening of 1990.
Susie helped brainstorm the name, set up all the pre-opening events and helped communicate the story of Cypress Club and John Cunin to the media. Cunin had worked at Masa’s and had discovered the body of Masa when the famous chef was murdered. When Cypress opened, there were constant inquiries about the death, the unsolved mystery and the experience of John working with Masa. Biehler & CO provided the message in the transition of all this, not to mention helped forge this new club, opening with three sommeliers dedicated to an expansive wine program, food by Cory Schreiber and one-of-a-kind design desserts by Mary Cech.
RESULTS:
The club opened to rave reviews. What was to be a really wonderful wine bar turned into “line up the martini glasses and get ready” almost every night. The crowds came in droves. The media articulated the Jordan Mozer design with descriptives from Alice in Wonderland to Roger Rabbit on Acid. There were 90 artisans who created the club and materials were represented from the old time great dining houses of San Francisco. It was warm, it was outlandish, and it was the hit of its time. And the media clips didn’t stop. The design won numerous awards and the cover of Contract Design Magazine. Local hits ranged from 300 plus with nationals more than 200 including California Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Gourmet Magazine, Bon Appetit, Metropolitan Home, Sunset, San Francisco Magazine, Washington Post, USA TODAY, Wine Spectator, Wine & Spirits, Decanter, to name a few. German, French, Spanish, and Japanese publications all recognized Cypress Club as a celebrated restaurant of its time.
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" Susie Biehler plays a strong role as a member of our team.
She has a desire to help, and insists on excellence from her organization.
They have gotten us a lot of attention, warranted, I hope,
by our quality, but definitely increased by her energy."
Bill Russell-Shapiro, Proprietor
Absinthe Brasserie & Bar

"I have found Susie, as well as her crack staff,
to be cheerful, supportive, positive and instructive.
She makes the introductions that the chef/restaurateur
would be interested in, and helps you present
yourself in a way that is both natural and effective.
Lastly, everybody at her company is really nice.
It is the small things in life that matter."
Gordon Drysdale, Proprietor
Gordon's House of Fine Eats

Starbucks Coffee
PROJECT:
Provide a local contact for media.
PROCESS:
Susie Biehler was chosen out of 10 candidates to represent Starbucks on a local level. After intensive training in Seattle learning the history of this amazing coffee company, Susie returned to the Bay Area to launch 10 Starbucks stores in the course of one year. She positioned the holiday coffee for exposure in the media, she worked with the marketing team at Starbucks to bring favorable light to Alice Waters, who had provided a recipe for granola to be launched in the cafes. She attended managers’ meetings and represented the company at the American Institute of Wine and Food conference in Monterey, CA.
RESULTS:
The Bay Area press appreciated having a local contact for the Company. Numerous mentions in the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner; a coffee tasting was set up showcasing the uniqueness of the project and garnering Chronicle mentions.

"I had unrealistically high expectations
due to the universally positive accolades
you received. I was not disappointed."
Chip Conley, President
Joie De Vivre Hotels

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Susie Biehler Photography