We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Bingham a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jennifer, appreciate you joining us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?
My parents were very impactful in many ways. They always taught me to work hard and follow through, and they placed importance on striving for good results. They did not put pressure on me to follow a particular career path, and they let me learn and explore my passions – which is what eventually brought me to wine, and to a love for creating a business. Balancing a checkbook and learning the value of money and interest was something else they taught me at a young age, and I know this has been why I’ve been able to run a solid business for many years.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I stumbled into the restaurant business through my love for wine! During college I studied abroad in Australia, and I was able to visit many wineries. This sparked a passion and interest in wine, which I turned into a career in Chicago after graduating. At age 28 when my husband, Torrey, and I moved to Tampa, we had the opportunity to open a wine shop and bar – Cru Cellars on MacDill opened in 2010.
A love for great food and dining experiences came out of my love for wine, and as we grew Cru we inched our way into the restaurant business – adding a full kitchen and dinner menu to our concept. In 2018 we expanded Cru to another location in the Armature Works food hall, and continued to grow Cru Hospitality group over the next five years. We opened a few new concepts in 2023 – Bouzy (a Champagne & cocktail restaurant in Hyde Park Village), Small Giant (a neighborhood bar and restaurant on Water Street), and Wine on Water (the Water Street local shop & wine bar). Later this summer, we are transforming our Cru Westshore location at Marina Pointe into an Italian & Mediterranean Restaurant called Vela (which mean sail in Italian!)
One of my favorite things to do is enjoy great food and wine in beautiful spaces, and we have strived to create our restaurants to be that place for each neighborhood they are apart of. We also pride ourselves around authentic education around wine, spirits and food – we genuinely love what we offer and love sharing the knowledge!
I am very proud of all we have accomplished, especially as we have grown so much in the last year. Our CEO, Kyle King, is a visionary, and he has led our amazing team through a lot of change this year! The restaurant business is challenging, and we could not be where we are without our strong “Cru Crew” team.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Having the opportunity to open our second Cru Cellars in the Armature Works food hall in 2018 was a huge step for our small wine bar in South Tampa. When I heard about this concept coming to Tampa, I was adamant that we had to be part of it! I’d seen how amazing food halls could be from visiting other cities. It took many meetings over 6 months with the Armature team to win that opportunity – and I had to really put myself out there and keep following up when I didn’t think they wanted Cru there. Being at Armature during its first five years was huge for Cru – it allowed us to grow and scale our company, and many other opportunities came out of it! I really learned from that experience that you have to ask for what you want and be resilient.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
The restaurant business is full of small pivots on a monthly basis, but a big pivot we have is coming up this summer. We bet on the new Westshore Marina neighborhood, and opened another full-service Cru there in 2021. While it is a good business, we know it could be even better with a concept that better fits the neighborhood. We also love our original Cru on MacDill and feel it will thrive being its own thing and not having a sister concept so close. So, we are pivoting! We are transforming this Westshore Marina location into Vela – an Italian & Mediterranean Restaurant & Tavern. We are excited to share the delicious menu with guests and have a concept that plays of its Marina location! 
Contact Info:
- Website: crucellars.com bouzytampa.com smallgiantbar.com velatavern.com wineonwatertpa.com
- Instagram: @crucellars, @bouzytampa, @smallgiantbar, @velaTampa @wineonwater
- Facebook: crucellars