October is Dining Month on OnMilwaukee.com. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, special features, chef profiles and unique articles on everything food. Bon appetit!

When Dream Dance moved from the second floor of Potawatomi Bingo Casino to its more spacious digs on the first floor, management looked forward to the increased seating capacity and visibility as well as the larger kitchen and wine cellar.

Oh, and it also has considerably more space to display awards.

In addition to receiving the AAA Four-Diamond Award for the fifth consecutive year, and the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence for the second straight year, Dream Dance received a 2008 Santé Award for wine hospitality.

This is the 11th year Santé magazine, a publication dedicated to food, wine and spirits management and written for restaurant professionals, has held its awards program. Dream Dance will be honored during an awards ceremony Nov. 4 in Napa, Calif.

"Things are going extraordinarily well," Dream Dance general manager Nathaniel Bauer said.

Since this is dining month at OnMilwaukee.com -- and wine is such an integral part of the dining experience -- we talked to Bauer, a certified sommelier and member of the Society of Wine Educators, about the role wine plays at Dream Dance.

With nearly 1,000 bottles in the collection, Dream Dance has the largest and most adventurous wine lists in the state. The selections range in price from $15 to $1,500 and are priced at the retail level.

Enjoy this Milwaukee Talks interview with Nathaniel Bauer.

OnMilwaukee.com: How did you get to your current position. What is your background?

Nathaniel Bauer: I started in the business a decade ago with Bartolotta's, back when it was still (called) Nona's, and I was a server and bartender. The manager at the time left, and there was nobody there to do the wine list.

I had been interested and jumped right in and was hooked instantly. It was just a 65- or 70-bottle list at the time. That pretty much paved the way for the last decade. I've gone to a couple different places, and it has all been focused on wine buying and maintaining lists and selling and doing the whole sommelier track.

I was with Bartolotta's a total of six years. Nona's changed over to Mr. B's. Then, I went to help reopen Grenadier's. I was bar manager and sommelier there. After a while, I thought I wanted to get out of restaurant (work) for a little bit. I did some graduate studies at UWM. That didn't work -- wine called me back. I went to work for Bacchus, back with Joe (Bartolotta) again for two years.

Then, I was going to get out of the restaurant business and open up a wine shop. I had that all squared away. It was going to be a fairly monstrous endeavor. But, the quality of life isn't so nice -- I was freshly married at the time. I liked spending time with my wife. I came to work at Dream Dance while I was planning that (store) and then ran the wine program at Dream Dance and took it from about 250 bottles to 900, where it is right now. I've been the GM for the last two years. It's definitely been all about wine.

OMC: I get the feeling that many diners don't realize what goes into building a wine list.

NB: There is a lot of science / art / psychology that goes into not only selecting the product, but arranging the list and making it as user-friendly as possible. The overarching principle is that people can enjoy themselves and have a really great time with a really great bottle, which is why we have a unique pricing structure.

OMC: I know you're responsible for the wine and the finances of the restaurant. Do you also have a hand in the food, or does that fall on Chef Jason Gorman?

NB: Anything food and back of the house is all chef Jason. He is the culinary genius. We do team up together, definitely, when we're doing wine dinners. I may offer a humble suggestion or two about how a component of a certain dish might work with a certain wine, but he's fantastic when it comes to instinctive and technical pairings.

The opposite is sometimes true, too, we'll do a cheese dinner or a white truffle dinner -- when it's cuisine focused, he'll create the menu and I'll go find the wines for it.

OMC: You and Jason have obviously built a successful enterprise. How would you describe your relationship?

NB: Jason and I are very complimentary opposites. He's the consummate creative artist. He's constantly coming up with new and creative and brilliant ideas. I'm definitely the operations / systems logician of the group. Ironically enough, even though it has been the front of the house that has kind of kept me in this business the last few years, I'm really enjoying the systems and the numbers aspect of things and the financial aspect of running the business.

We balance each other out really, really well in that regard. That helps. The most important thing is that with something as big as Dream Dance, it's a vision that supercedes myself and Jason.

When we get together, we want to figure out how can we make this the best restaurant in the city, the best restaurant in the state. We ask "What are the things it's going to take to get there?" You set that bar higher than either of you could possibly do on your own or even barely together and try to make the staff buy into it and be a part of it.

It's a lot of work. I give my staff a ton of credit over the last six months. I've beat them up really hard. To have every guest walk in the door and -- a bad night for us is maybe we miss a temperature on a steak from medium rare to medium. To have the confidence that we're able to deliver that kind of product after so much hard work and really all together trying to strive for that vision of excellence. That's what makes the most difference in working with a chef.

If you've got someone that you can really stand next to and go for it. Then it doesn't matter what the personality differences are. You work past them because you always have your eye on that goal. The end result is guest service and total guest satisfaction.

OMC: What aspect of your job do you enjoy the most?

NB: There is always excitement in discovering an amazing new product. (I) never cease to be a little kid in a candy store when I find that absolute gem from some obscure region at an absolutely amazing price and I get so excited I want everybody to try it.

I think that takes second place to the enjoyment from someone walking through the door and putting themselves in my hand, which happens multiple times every night.

OMC: How do you approach that part of the job?

NB: I go about things a little bit differently. Certain people want a very technical, very austere recommendation -- very focused on the food pairing. When I do tasting menus on a nightly basis, that's kind of how I arrange things.

It may be a little bit unorthodox, but, I really look to see what kind of mood people are in. A lot of it will be practical questions: What do you like to enjoy normally? What do you want to enjoy tonight? I'll give them a spectrum based on style and feel rather than necessarily the technical aspects of acidity or tannin or structure and all those other things that really don't mean anything, anyway.

I'll throw out a little vague fruit style -- something red and spicy a little cherry-raspberry, something deep and dark and foreboding and blackberry. I'll usually give them a spectrum of choices depending on stylistically what they think might fit the flow and course of their evening.

Everybody who walks in is expecting something different out of dinner. Maybe they want a very technically austere, wonderful culinary experience or they just want to kick back and relax and enjoy friends from out of town or something in the middle. It might be two lovers or a couple enjoying their evening over an exciting bottle of wine. A lot of it is going to depend on what the guest is in the mood for.

To come full circle to the original question, nothing really is more fulfilling than taking about a minute and a half, tops, and narrowing down 900 selections.

I have a rule at the restaurant: I pretty much guarantee they like it. If they don't, it's no good for anybody. We'll find something different. My track record, I can humbly say, is pretty good in that regard.

That's the excitement for me. Having someone say "Man, that's good. Thank you," and then being done with it so they can enjoy their dinner and their wine.

OMC: Milwaukee has a reputation as a shot-and-beer town. Are people adventurous when it comes to wine?

NB: Milwaukee has a three-or-four-year-behind-the-curve reputation in terms of, especially, the coasts. I give Milwaukeeans a lot of credit, though. Without drawing demographic parallels, I've found that Milwaukeeans are quite savvy. They are not scared to go out on a limb.

In some cases, the reputation or perception from the sommelier or restaurant people might hinder or sway someone to make a particular selection. A lot of Milwaukeeans are up for just about anything and they are smart about it. They'll take notes on what they like. They'll keep labels. They'll establish a relationship with local retailers. That's the most fun -- really finding those small selections that at my pricing you can afford to play with. Anywhere else, you really aren't going to find them they'd be well over $100 bottles that is just kind of outside that realm of exploratory pursuit.

OMC: Do you get a lot of customers who come in and order the same bottle every time?

NB: Absolutely. I have one of my uber-regulars -- a couple who probably come in every two weeks and drink the exact same bottle of very fine chardonnay every time. That's great. That's what they like. That's what makes them happy. That's what we're here for.

OMC: I guess the customer is always right ...

NB: It really is true. Some people say "Oh, I can't believe they're going to drink that with that ..." or Grandma wins a jackpot on the slot machine and wants to order a rib eye and have some white zinfandel on ice and that's going to make her tickled pink. That's all I care about.

We try really hard to eliminate any snobbery or pretense involved. It is about something so subjective as taste. One person likes onions; one person doesn't. How can you fault the person who does or doesn't like onions: I'm always up for pushing the envelope and offering some education if that is what they're excited about or open to, but if someone knows what they enjoy the by all means that's why I'm here is to provide that for them

OMC: It seems as if wine is becoming more popular all the time. What advances have you seen in recent years to help that trend? Is it the Internet or the movie "Sideways" that have helped spark interest? Does anything stand out in that regard?

NB: Two things off the top of my head. The first is not necessarily relying on big names. Big names are big names for a reason -- usually for quite a few years, they made some pretty good wines.

Quality is something that is driving people. You have certain wines from around the world that are mass-produced, and the only way to get to that kind of volume is to sacrifice quality.

I tell people I buy wine for a living and rarely do I go to a retail shop and spend more than $15 on a bottle. You can get great wines for great prices and I think people are focusing on the quality aspect. Bigger isn't necessarily better. People are starting to explore hand-crafted, small-produced products from around the world that taste phenomenal for the price.

The other side of that is wine handling has become quite a bit more of a focus for people these days --- appropriate temperatures. With companies like Riedel dominating the market for glassware, people are really getting into how best to enjoy their wine.

A surprising number of guests all have decanters at home and they are very proactive about making sure the wine is going to show just right. That's a big thing.

I'll play with a temperature on a wine or how much air I give it if I'm pairing it up for a wine dinner or want it to show the best for a guest. I found it rather exciting that people are kind of looking for good stuff, but how can I maximize the experience how can I do that.

OMC: What advantages have you gained by moving to the first floor? I imagine the wine cellar is nicer than it was upstairs? Were you involved in the design?

NB: I got to custom design the cellar. It's right off the main dining room. It's absolutely beautiful, so it's not only convenient, but practical. I also have additional storage space elsewhere in the restaurant proper. We've been able to expand the list a bit from the room we had upstairs. To be honest, I see the list maxing out somewhere between where it is now and just under 1,000 selections. Once you get that high, it's basically a full-time job managing it. As much fun as it is for me to taste and buy wine, my bartender, Dylan who is an MIT guy, is pretty much the reason the list is as big as it is. I buy the wine, which is great. He takes care of all the logistics, the cellaring, storing, list maintenance, which allows me freedom to spend time with the guests, but I'm also the general manager of the restaurant, so I've got the financial obligations that come with that.

OMC: Where do you like to go for dinner and a nice bottle of wine?

NB: In terms of restaurants, it's tough. My wife and I would like to get out a lot more. My days off are Sunday and Monday, if I'm lucky. We love to cook at home. We are rarely able to get out and do dinner like I wish we could. When we do go out, I like Nanakusa. They have the freshest fish in town and a gorgeous sake selection.

I like Nessun Dorma, too. The owner, Joe Gilsdorf, is a guy who just loves wine and insists on taking the pretense out.

We probably do a little bit more of the fun, less-time consuming endeavors than hitting Bartolotta or Sanford or some of the other big boys.

OMC: I don't want to get you in trouble, but who are your favorite retailers in the area?

NB: I've got to give a pop to Rick and Orey Laev from Ray's Wine and Spirits (in Wauwatosa). They're Wisconsin's number one retailer for a reason. If they don't have something you want, they'll find it for you. I also like Marc Goodman and the Sendik's group and the guys at Discount (Liquor).

We're very lucky because there are a lot of really cool wine people around town. They try to take the intimidation out of the thousands of selections they have and really try to talk you through it. If they steer you toward a great bottle at a great price, you're going to love it and you'll be excited to come back and look for the next thing.

OMC: What's the next big thing at Dream Dance?

NB: The first floor access is absolutely astronomical. There were some people who didn't want to come to the restaurant because we were on the second floor of the casino.

A lot of Milwaukee area diners, their idea of adventure is the five feet they have to walk from their car to the valet. That's fine. That's the town. To be able to cater to that.

Now, there is no excuse. We are right by the main entrance and we now have multiple private party rooms as well. We can handle parties or board meetings all the way from 16 people up to 50. That's something we never had.

Things are going very well.