We were lucky to catch up with Guy Sandin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Guy , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I don’t have any particular stories, but I can just tell you from my personal experience, if we choose to be, we can be a great many people.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Guy Sandin and I’m the Wine Director for BOA Steakhouse on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles.

I moved to Los Angeles in 1996 to pursue a career in screenwriting and like most aspiring artists here, I found myself working in food and beverage in the evenings to allow myself the freedom to write during the days. Well, I fell in love with hospitality and before I knew it, it organically became my career.

What sets us apart at BOA from all other restaurants is our hospitality. We provide a dining experience like no other. We create memories. When you come in to BOA, it’s not just a dinner but a party. You laugh with our staff, eat the.most amazing food, drink amazing wine and when you leave, all you can talk about was the service. How fun it was. That’s BOA.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Our job as directors and as a management team is to find the geniuses among us and empower them. Well the same thing can be said about our guests. When we recognize a guest, that truly shares a passion for food and beverage and hospitality, we provide them with a more educational dining experience, by breaking down the product information to the very core. We give them a more ‘in depth’ dining experience, all while maintaining our fun, personal vibe. In doing so, it illustrates to them that not only are we a super fun staff, but a very well informed and knowledgeable one about the product and recipes we are providing.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

During the height of Covid, when restaurants weren’t allowed to dine indoors, I met a first-time couple in the restaurant. They had never been here before and because it was their first time here I broke the menu down a little bit more in depth for them. Anyway, shortly after their second course arrived, the husband waved me over to the table and said, “I’m almost embarrassed to admit this, but… my wife and I live just down the street. We have for 15 years. We’ve passed this restaurant a billion times but never once have we ever come in. We always sort of thought it was, and please forgive me when I say this, too loud and too young for us. We’ve seen all the paparazzi out front, the cameras, the celebrities, the long lines, and we’ve always just thought it wasn’t for us. But tonight we decided to give it a shot and I have to say, we are utterly blown away. Your food knowledge and service here is like nothing we’ve experienced. This is probably the best restaurant we have ever been to and we are almost angry with each other for never coming sooner. Our favorite restaurant was Cut. We go there all the time. We’re never going back.

I said, “Awww, thank you. We really appreciate that.” I gave them my business card and said, “that’s my personal cell. If you ever want a reservation please feel free to text me and I’ll take care of it for you.” He replied, “oh, we are definitely coming back!”

He’s been in 30 times since then. He’s even invited me and my husband to their house for a private art gallery they hosted and when I was in France last summer for work, I tasted a wine at a vineyard that I knew his wife would like so I brought her back a bottle and gave it to her for Christmas. That’s BOA. We’re different.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.boasteak.com
• Instagram: boasteakhouse