General Manager

Elsewhere Wine Bar & Lounge
St. Helena, Napa Valley, CA

Elsewhere Wine Bar & Lounge is a new wine-focused hospitality project in St. Helena built around discovery, generosity, and a slightly unreasonable love of great bottles.

Created by Nick Kokonas and Chef Elliot Bell, Elsewhere will bring together exceptional wine, thoughtful food, warm service, and the particular magic of Napa Valley. Elliot is a 10-year veteran of Thomas Keller’s world-renowned The French Laundry, and his cooking is grounded in seasonality, local purveyors, and the bounty of the region. Nick was the founder and owner of the award-winning Alinea Group.The wine program will be broad, ambitious, and personal, featuring everything from classic producers and rare bottles to small, idiosyncratic wines with stories worth telling.

We are not trying to be another tasting room, another restaurant, or another predictable wine bar. Elsewhere is a place for collectors, winemakers, locals, travelers, chefs, artists, and the wine-curious to gather, connect, and return often.

The room should feel polished but not stiff, deeply knowledgeable but never performative, and personal enough that regulars feel the place remembers them.

The General Manager will play a key leadership role in opening and operating Elsewhere Wine Bar & Lounge. This position will oversee daily service, front-of-house leadership, guest relations, staff training, financial performance, inventory systems, events, and the overall appearance and hospitality standards of the restaurant.

This is a hands-on leadership position. The right person will be equally comfortable managing the floor during service, developing a well-trained team, working with high-end guests and collectors, tracking costs, coordinating events, and building the systems that allow a restaurant to operate with grace.

You do not need to be the loudest person in the building. You do need to notice everything.

• Oversee daily restaurant and wine bar operations, including dining room service, staff management, guest relations, service standards, inventory, opening and closing procedures, and overall appearance of the restaurant.
• Lead, train, schedule, mentor, and manage the front-of-house team to ensure high standards of hospitality, professionalism, communication, and product knowledge.
• Work closely with ownership, Chef Elliot Bell, the culinary team, and the wine team to create a seamless guest experience.
• Help develop and maintain service standards, training materials, pre-shift notes, menu education, wine education, and ongoing staff development.
• Oversee day-to-day people operations and HR matters, including hiring, onboarding, payroll review, performance evaluations, employee relations, and staff development.
• Collaborate with the leadership team on menu updates, wine updates, seasonal changes, and guest education.
• Manage reservations, guest notes, table flow, email communication, menus, and other restaurant administration.
• Support and help develop private events, tastings, winemaker dinners, collector evenings, onsite events, and offsite opportunities.
• Develop and implement strategies to increase revenue, profitability, guest loyalty, and repeat visitation.
• Help create and manage guest loyalty programs, VIP notes, collector relationships, and local community relationships.
• Maintain accurate systems for inventory, purchasing, receiving, consumption tracking, forecasting, and cost control.
• Support proper handling, documentation, storage, and service of rare, optioned, and collector-related wines.
• Ensure compliance with all health, safety, labor, alcohol, and company policies.
• Provide excellent guest service and resolve complaints or service issues in a timely, proactive, and effective manner.
• Maintain a positive, professional, and curious work environment.
• Build relationships with Napa Valley wineries, purveyors, collectors, neighbors, hotel concierges, and local businesses.
• Act as a steward of the Elsewhere brand: serious about wine, serious about hospitality, and not overly serious about itself.

• Experience as a restaurant General Manager, Assistant General Manager, Service Director, Wine Director, or similar hospitality leadership role.
• Experience in fine dining, luxury hospitality, wine bar, private club, hotel, or high-level restaurant environments strongly preferred.
• Extensive food and wine knowledge required; advanced wine certification is welcome but not mandatory.
• Strong leadership, motivational, and people-management skills.
• Strong financial management skills, including labor management, cost control, revenue tracking, budgeting, and sales reporting.
• Experience with event planning, private dining, catering, or special programming.
• Computer literacy and familiarity with restaurant management software, including reservation systems, POS systems, scheduling platforms, inventory systems, spreadsheets, and basic reporting tools.
• Strong organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent time-management skills and the ability to prioritize in a fast-moving environment.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving ability.
• A team-first approach with high standards and low ego.
• California Food Handler Card required.
• Culinary school diploma or BS degree in Business Administration, Hospitality, or related field preferred but not required.

You are part host, part operator, part coach, part air traffic controller.

You know when a table needs attention before they ask. You know when staff need clarity, encouragement, or correction. You understand that great hospitality is not about reciting facts; it is about making people feel more comfortable, more alive, and more connected than when they walked in.

You love wine, but you love guests more. You can talk about Burgundy, Barolo, Napa Cabernet, Champagne, and obscure mountain wines without making anyone feel foolish for not knowing what you know.

You are allergic to chaos but comfortable with a little mystery.

This is a full-time leadership position. The General Manager is expected to work approximately 40–50 hours per week and must be available during core operating hours, including days, evenings, weekends, holidays, and special events.

While we strive for consistency, work hours and days off are subject to change based on the needs of the restaurant.

• Performance-based bonus potential
• Health and supplemental insurance benefits
• Retirement savings plan with employer match
• Paid time off
• Employee dining discount
• Wine education and professional development opportunities
• Relocation stipend may be available for the right candidate