To celebrate the grand opening of the High Roller Tiki Lounge in Solvang, owner Michael Cobb commissioned a special tiki cup to be made. The blue and white vessel is emblazoned with the new name and the image of a mermaid holding up a pair of large dice.
Anyone who doesn’t know Cobb’s background might assume the mermaid is a nod to Solvang, but that’s only half true, he told the Sun.
“I was killing two birds with one stone,” Cobb said.
Cobb had a past employer in mind when choosing the mermaid image—Disney. Cobb worked as a chef, sommelier, and restaurant manager at Disneyland for 17 years, he said.
“I feel like the inspiration behind everything I do somehow goes back to Disney. I learned so much there,” Cobb said. “I couldn’t help but soak in everything they had to offer. Even if I’d just been the guy sweeping the floor there, I would have learned a lot just by keeping my eyes and ears open.”
Managing wine for many Disneyland resort properties, such as Club 33 and the Tahitian Terrace, prepared Cobb for a prosperous career in the wine industry. He moved to the Central Coast to begin work at a Santa Ynez Valley winery, and only two years after relocating, Cobb launched his very own label: Sort This Out Cellars.
Today, Cobb runs the Sort This Out Cellars tasting room, where he has specialized in wine-based cocktails for the last eight years.
“I’m not going to say I invented wine cocktails, but I never really saw anyone else do them when I started,” Cobb said. “Now I see them here and now along with other things, like wine margaritas and stuff like that.”
Recently, Cobb transformed the tasting room’s lounge area into his latest pet project, the High Roller Tiki Lounge. What was once more of a “man cave” than anything, the lounge is now a tiki bar straight out of the 1960s, complete with tiki themed décor, swizzle sticks, and umbrella toothpicks.
“Most tiki bars are small and cozy, that’s part of their charm,” Cobb said. “I felt like the lounge area was already the perfect size for a tiki bar. I saw this as a great opportunity to stay unique and fresh. Most tasting rooms nowadays want you to feel like you’re in rustic France or Italy rather than Hawaii, for example.”
The High Roller Tiki Lounge features Cobb’s signature “winetails,” along with wine-based versions of classic tiki drinks, like the Mai Tai, Navy Grog, and the Painkiller. Cobb also ties Solvang tropes into his menu, offering custom drinks such as the Solvang Siren, Suffering Scandinavian, and Bloody Viking.
“People are responding positively, and not just about the drinks, but the atmosphere, the detail, which again goes back to Disney for me,” Cobb said. “They’re the masters of detail, true perfectionists. That is the quality I strive for when it comes to making everything flow. The music, décor, lighting, everything.”
High Roller Tiki Lounge and Sort This Out Cellars are located at 1636 Copenhagen Dr., Solvang. Both the lounge and tasting room are open Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, call 688-1717 or visit sortthisoutcellars.com.
Intern Caleb Wiseblood wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, email, or mail.
This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 2, 2017.