This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Tim Stenebek on Bloomberg Radio.
Well, I'm not gonna lie. Mike and I are actually enjoying our holiday wine over here. Mike and our next guest. Our listeners are actually very familiar with him, who I'm pleased to say is back with us. Yanick Benjamin, a smallier and co founder of Wine on Wheels. This is an organization that works to help with people across all forms of disability, and of course this is something close to his heart. While a car accident left yonic paralyzed two decades ago, he still was able to pursue his
dreams to attend college and become a smallier. He also actually he and partners opened a Contento, a restaurant in New York, and he also joins us on Zoom from New York City to discuss raising money and awareness for people with disabilities, as well as Holiday of Wines. Thanks so much for joining us again, Yanick. It's always great having you here.
How are you very good?
Thanks? Thank you for having me in Happy holidays.
Yes, so, our listeners know you very well because you've been here so many times. But for those who are listening for the first time, who don't know your backstory, Please tell us and walk us through kind of how you got to where you are now.
Yeah, very quickly.
I'm second generation restaurant term. My parents are from France, so.
They came to New York.
My father came here in nineteen sixty three and he worked at a restaurant called Like Gnui, and I basically followed his footsteps and I just stayed on that path. Wine is just a real deep passion of mine. I was very fortunate to work at some really great restaurants and at the age of twenty five years old, unfortunately I was in a car accident that left me paralyzed from the waist down. But I really never allowed that to determine of my dream of actually having my own restaurant and wine store.
It took a while, but.
You know, you know, if it's if it's endurable, then endure it, right, you know, if you can endure it, then and just keep rushing through it. And so, you know, a couple of years ago I was able to open up a restaurant called Contento in East Harlem and it's wine centric. And then just last year I opened up a wine store, actually the very same building that I was born and raised in. My parents would write about it, so it's it's a real family affair. So I'm very fortunate.
I'm grateful. Sure, there there have been some difficult moments in my life, but I think that applies to everybody else, and I was very lucky to be surrounded by some great people to continue to pursue my passion.
That's great. Really quite an inspirational story. Uh And as just mentioned, we are enjoying some wine to get in here. So just like I don't usually drink on the job hard you're saying, we just throw that out there.
This isn't what We only have a little over a half hour left of the program.
If you hear some snoring, I definitely will getting back up. But you know, I'm going to confess I'm not a real expert on wine. I love it. I know what I like.
Myself an expert.
Yeah, well, I guess that's it's such a kind of a loaded topic because you know, you like, I know what I like, but I don't really know how to describe it. I go, I look at the list of the menu, and my strategies always get the second cheapest one you ever want to get the cheapest, but I go second.
Chief, You're like Michael the Chief skate All right, anyway, I digress.
But you got how sort of your for dummies explanation of how a guy like me can at least look smart when he's ordering a bottle of wine? Like, where do I need to start? What do I need to know to start?
Yeah?
Well, I would say, you know, you have to take the Socratic method right, just ask away. You know, I think people are often too afraid to ask questions because they're afraid of being perceived as being dumb or clueless. And I think that's the worst approach, you know. And I think here in New York City, we are one
of the great wine capitals of the world. There's New York, there's Hong Kong, there's London, there's Paris, and certainly New York, you know, has so many great restaurants, so many great wine stores.
There's no shortage of it.
So, like, you know, it's just a matter of finding that right space where you can go into where you feel comfortable and you just ask away.
No one is going to ever expect you to know the difference.
Between Shennon blanc or Reasoning or Cabernet, Sauvigno and Merlau. But you know, there's nothing wrong with asking as many questions as you can because that's the only way you're going to ever learn. And unfortunately, through this process, through this journey that you go through in wine, you know you're going to get wines that maybe don't suit your palate, but that's the whole purpose.
I mean, that's what makes it fun.
And then eventually you start to really discover what you like and what you don't like, and what flavors suit you and what other flavors don't suit you. And then that's the really key. The key is not to be afraid to put yourself out there and just being able to enjoy the journey. And that's the beauty of wine, because wine it's not just about you know, a grape choice that ferments into this beautiful product, but it's about history,
it's about geology. It's a geography and all these wonderful stories, and that's that's the beauty. And this is why I love wine so much, and that's why I love to share it with people such as yourselves.
I just want to point out that Yanik was just rewarded Best of the Year by Michelin Guide, So I'll trick to that. I know it's cheers to that, right of course. So tell us about these latest holiday wines that you're introducing.
Yeah, absolutely, so I chose three wines that These are wines that I think that really over delivered for the price, and these are wines that we actually carry out the wine store at both Pier Wines and Spirits. So the first one right over here is just one of my favorites. It's Michelle Burnet in retails for about fifty dollars. It's purely Chardonnay through and through. It's all grown on pure chalk soils. And this is a one that ages for up to three years before it's actually even released out
into the market. And it's a one that's complex, it's it's enjoyable.
It goes well with food.
I think people make the mistake into thinking that champagne is only something that you open to when you're celebrating, But no, there's nothing better than to have a great dish. Even something as simple as fried chicken. Fried chicken and champagne goes so well together. Sushi, you name it. Champagne is one of the most versatile wines that you can actually pair with different types of food, So I highly recommend it. Just don't limit yourself to like, you know, holidays.
You can do a lot with champagne. So this is why I chose this, because of the creaminess, because of the complexity, the length of finish that it has.
It's just really beautiful.
We should have got some fried chicken too.
I know, you should have gotten some fried chicken. I should have told you. That's my mistake. I should have sent over well, fried chicken.
It's great.
How about what goes good with you turkey? I'm making turkey on Christmas?
Oh yeah, actually so I'll skip around for a second. So this over here is made by a really dear friend of mine and really just an incredible talent. His name is Eduard Parine, and he's out in the Beaugelat region in France. And this is a grip called game and this goes perfectly well with turkey, you know, you know, especially if the red This is a red wine right here, Yeah, for sure, And this is what I would highly recommend. You know, it goes well with the cranberry sauce. It
goes well with the stuffing. You know, when you're talking about turkey, oftentimes you have a mosaic of different ingredients that are happening all at once. So this is something that I would highly recommend right over here. This is from a place called Muravon. Edward Palliine he is, he owns the property. It's called Chateau de Mouravon, and I
absolutely love these wines. It's all grown on pure granite soils and just just a real flavorful wine that has again a lot of depth and a lot of personality to itself.
I love that. I also like some of the a little bit sweeter wines. Like a reasoning, But what kind of suggestions do you have someone on that kind of spectrum of wine.
Yeah, so yeah, so you know, if you if you can't find a reasoning, I would certainly recommend the grip called Shennon blanc, which I absolutely adore. And this is a grip that you primarily find in the northern part of France in the Wire Valley places like Vouvre and all that, and they are actually incredibly affordable generally speaking.
They range a really good h blanc, you know, ranges from anywhere from about twenty five dollars to forty dollars, so I highly recommend that it's absolutely delightful.
And then if you wanted something a bit more drier, over I have over here.
There's a place called Galicia, So it's all the way in the north western part of Spain. It's called the Green Spain, and I absolutely love this part. And this is a great called Albertino, and Albertino is again high acid, salty fresh. It's got notes of peach and green apple and orchard fruits.
It's really a.
Really spectacular wine that's also incredibly versatile, and that's why I chose these three wines because of its versatility. But just like Reasoning and just like Shinnon Blanc, it does have that same versatility too, and that's what that's to me what a great wine is, right, you have.
The ability to pair it with different ingredients but also for different occasions.
And this is made by a winemaker named Roji Mendez along with this partner Alberto Orte, and I think they're making some lovely wine. Spain is definitely on the up and up, without a doubt, some great wines.
I was gonna say, I love the spanishreds. I feel like they're underrated people.
We'll have to leave it here, but we always love having you with us. Benjamin Smali, a and co founder of Wine on Wheels. Always a great conversation, Mike. I don't know about you, but since we are based here in New York City, I always love the holidays because of these When you look at the holiday displays at a number of stores and the lights everywhere in Manhattan, I love it.
I do. I love walking down Fifth Avenue around the holidays. But es I gotta say as a Jersey guy, as a Jersey guy, everybody knows Fifth Avenue is so done.
I was waiting to f you want.
To know where the real holiday shopping is. It's in Elizabeth, New Jersey, at the mills at Jersey Gardens.
That's all right, you are right. And for some background here on our next guest, who is John Carter, chief executive officer at Parker three D. He actually recently opened his largest creation to date, a you have to see it to understand pop up shop called Go Pixel Yourself at. Like Mike was mentioning the mills at the Jersey Gardens mall.
So it's a folks right. I'm fascinated to hear more about this, but a bit from what I understand is it's a photo already interactive, six million pixel digital experience that costs watch this three million dollars Mike to put together. So John is here on Zoom from the mills at the Jersey Gardens Mall in Elizabeth, New Jersey. John, thanks for joining us all the way from over there. You're not too far, just across uh the Hudson over there.
But first off, just kind of set the scene for us and walk our listeners through what you've built here.
Well, I mean, you know, I used to design all of the New York City Christmas windows, as you had mentioned, and I love Mike's intro. We had wanted to do something close to home. You know, we've worked all over the world. We've worked in Dubai, We've worked in Shanghai, We've worked in London, We've done a large mal decors everywhere. And you know, as a kid, I would walk into these windows and you'd see them and it was behind the glass. Well, we're inviting people inside the glass so
you can see where I am here. If you're watching on YouTube, you're basically in an animated Christmas window, so you get to live inside of it. And we have ten different photo ops in here, and it automatically comes into your email.
We print a photo for people who like a printed photo.
And there's also all kinds of original artwork here to pose with. And in fact, there's the inside of a seven forty seven for the beginning of your journey.
Yeah, I advise if anyone's listening to radio, get to YouTube.
Yes, and right now.
This thing John has created, I'm speechless. John. I it's like, it's amazing, it's awesome. But John, I'm wondering. You know, when Justin and I were talking about this earlier, when I walked down Fifth Avenue this year, it felt a little more over the top than usual, And I look at your thing, and I'm like, over the top. This is over the top of the top. Right in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Has this whole idea of creating these great holiday displays. Has it been ratcheted up in recent years?
I think it has.
I mean I remember when I started doing them, which I am.
You know, it's probably twenty years ago. I started doing these.
We started making it so you could touch the glass and things would interact.
But it's gone further than that now.
I mean today we create the digital video that goes in the back of the Bloomingdale's windows, so those windows are changing constantly, and I think going down the road, you're going to see even more innovations and still keeping a little bit of tradition. If you look behind me, you see all kinds of kind of radical video and whatnot, but there's a sense of tradition about it.
And I think if we can onto that tradition, but we can also believe.
It or not explore AI and augmented reality and virtual reality.
I think that's where we're.
Going to see this going because you can't avoid those technologies, but I think we can learn to experience them in a more friendly way.
John, whenever I think of malls, especially in the wake of COVID and how much pressure they were going under when everyone's under lockdown. Obviously, as we come out of COVID set the scene for us as far as what it looks like in the people that are there right now for the holidays, because even just a year ago, it still felt like we weren't quite back yet. Right Like I even had COVID on Christmas a year ago. What do things look like now, because it seems like we're back to normal, right.
I had to really fight to close this space right now. And I don't know if you can hear it from there, but it sounds like we're in MetLife stadium.
It's just a mob scene out there.
And so I think, you know, any of the younger shoppers are feeling like they want an experience, not just a product. And when they come to the mall, you see them with their camera is up and they're experiencing people, and they're experiencing displays, and they're buying things, but it's all part of an.
Experience, especially the gen Z.
There's been some articles about gen Z, like specifically saying I want to buy things in person, I want to talk to a person, I want to try it on. So there's almost been a backlash. It's a novelty to come to a shopping center now and it shows just you can barely walk out there.
Hitch, And I was going to ask you, I mean, how much does sort of the selfie Instagram influence have now on your work?
It has a lot of influence. I mean I've been doing all kinds of sculpture. I did street art, I did environmental sculpture installations. And I think the fact that people now have cameras and they want to capture something gives us a new way to look at it. It used to be went to a museum and you paid and you just looked at things. But now people want a photograph. And if you go to the Van god Museum in ancester Dam, you're not even allowed to photograph.
So here we encourage you to photograph.
So I think that has definitely changed the way people interact with things. And I think people also expect now because of the Internet, which you know, think of how young the Internet is. People want to interact. So there's going to come a time in the very near future here where you will take a picture and AI will make you into something else.
They'll make you into the Statue of Liberty, They'll make you into the Sphinx.
So it's way more interactive than just looking at something.
John talk to us about the business and costs behind putting something this gigantic altogether for a holiday season.
Well, I mean, you know, we used to do you know the windows soup to nuts and those are always at least six figures occasionally seven. I still do mall holidays all over the world, and those again are always six figures, very seldom less than six figures, and sometimes seven.
In this case, we spent three million dollars bringing this together.
About half of that is just playing technology, and we think it matters because this place will be completely different next week, and the week after that it will be completely different again. And without that expenditure. Without that investment, it doesn't have legs like it does with the way we've done it here.
John, the only thing I will say before we let you go, if you're in Elizabeth, do not leave that city before you get some Sorrentino's pizza. That's my only my closing remarks.
I love that a tidbit for bike here. Well, John, thank you so much for joining us. John Carter, chief executive officer at Parker three D. He was joining us on zoom there from of course, the mills at Jersey Gardens Mall and Elizabeth, New Jersey. We appreciate his time walking us through all that in the beautiful displays there that he over there