Cave B's plan A

Destination spot ups service to four-star luxury

GEORGE — Forget that old expression, "to wax rhapsodic." At the Cave B Inn at SageCliffe, they're wining rhapsodic.

Excitement was palpable Tuesday around the new establishment, connected to Cave B Winery and neighboring the Gorge Amphitheater, as last minute work was done to get everything ready for the weekend.

The inn includes a lodge, complete with conference room, boardroom, wine-tasting bar and gourmet restaurant that will be open to the public; 15 one- or two-bedroom cottages and a 12-room inn.

The inn opens for business Tuesday with a soft opening, after employee family and friends test out the new facilities this weekend and critique the service.

"A lot of our workers have never worked in hotels," senior sales manager Jacque Traweek explained of the reasoning for the test-run. "We've hired people that have worked all over the area, but have never worked in a high inn … We're taking it to a four-diamond, four-star luxury property, so (we're) getting that service level up."

A grand opening is planned for sometime in early summer.

Eight rooms will be open next week.

"We have limited availability right now, but we have great interest, broader interest than we have availability at the moment," said Fernando Divina, executive chef and manager of Tendrils restaurant.

Already, the inn is piquing the interest of Cave B wine club members, of hotel and industry people in the Seattle area, and resort home owners of the Crescent Bar and those in the vicinity, said Divina, Cave B marketing director Sherrye Wyatt and innkeeper Shaun Tucker.

Tucker said he worked with MTM Management, a company that manages luxury lodging, on four different properties. He was involved behind the scenes with the Cave B project, and the opportunity opened up for him to be employed there.

After meeting with landowners Vince and Carol Bryant — who plan to also construct an arts-and-sciences center called SageCliffe over the next few years, including an 18-hole golf course, equestrian center, conference center and spa — it wasn't a hard decision for Tucker to make.

The Cave B Estate Winery is its own entity, as is Cave B Inn at SageCliffe, although all entities will collaborate, Wyatt explained.

"The uniqueness of the project," Tucker said of what drew him to the position of innkeeper. "The ownership — these people are pretty amazing people. That appealed to me, and just this whole territory … You dive into it and you see things every day that you didn't know existed or didn't know were there."

The relationship between the hotel and the winery is ground breaking, Tucker said, and the opportunity exists so that people can immediately be immersed into the land and form a relationship with the garden and vineyards.

"To walk through a couple hundred feet of Semillon vineyards, it just doesn't exist (elsewhere)," he said. "We're going to take that and tie that into … the arrival experience … As soon as these people pull onto the property, the experience begins right then."

Divina, renowned chef and co-author with his wife of the book "Foods of the Americas: Native Recipes and Traditions," available online at Amazon.com, found the project while looking to relocate to the West Coast. He decided that the Bryants' vision aligned closely to his own desires.

"The ground breaking aspect of the concept, entirely from SageCliffe down to the menu styles that we're going to be doing here — it's an opportunity to sort of refresh or take a new approach to an already staid regional cuisine…" Divina said.

Tendrils at SageCliffe will offer customers the season's freshest from the region, and an integral experience "like no other with regards to the collaboration between Rusty's [Cave B on-site wine maker Rusty Figgins] wines and regional foods," he said.

The establishment will offer culinary, herb and aquatic gardens, and will reintroduce what Divina called heirloom foods, such as cattails. It's part of an ongoing movement for regional American cuisine that's been taking place over the past few decades, he explained.

"One of the things that we've been doing is looking back to be inclusive of pre-conquest foods and cuisines," he said. "… Being in the Northwest here as a hiker, sometimes people look at it from that standpoint (as) survival food. We've taken the best of natural foods, not just because it's edible, because it's really delicious."

Divina said that every aspect of the property will be celebrated, from its topography to more tactile aspects like gardening.

"What this really is is an extension of the eco-tourism movement that's quite popular right now," he said. "This is really cutting edge, right now, with regards to what we're offering here."

The inn will employ nearly 30 people at peak times, Tucker said, and number in the high teens during slower periods. Many of the new employees are locally. Some positions are still looking to be filled, Divina said, particularly in the restaurant.

Traweek said she has worked for 23 years in destination resorts, most recently in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki.

"Let me tell you — when I came out to take a look at this property, I was emotionally moved by it," she said. "It's just, what they're doing with the concept of the estate winery and then adding an inn, next to the amphitheater — there's no other place in the state of Washington like this. I really felt like I was already attached to the property."

Traweek said that during the inn's high season, occurring June through October, weekend prices will range from $195 to $450. Sunday through Thursday and for groups, rates will be discounted. In the off season, January through April, rates will range from $99 and much lower for groups, or three rooms or more. There are four seasons in total, she said.

Tendrils hours will be 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. A special Mother's Day event will take place May 8 from noon to 7 p.m., and reservations can be made by calling 509-785-3780.

More information can be reached at 509-785-CAVE (2283) or 888-785-2283.