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BYO Whiners
With corkage fees, it’s a battle between diners and restaurateurs
The subject of corkage has inspired a passionate response from CHOW readers in the past (full disclosure: The sommelier quoted in the Table Manners column is my wife). And tempers flared when the San Francisco Chronicle reported last year that Pizzeria Delfina was prohibiting bringing in wine altogether. That column sparked many responses and a follow-up column. Is it acceptable to bring your own wine to a restaurant, and, if so, should you have to pay?
First, the terminology: A corkage fee is what a restaurant charges for opening and serving a bottle of wine that a diner brings in. Corkage fees vary—I have heard of charges as low as $10 a bottle to as high as $50 at expensive restaurants. Even if a restaurant claims a corkage fee, it doesn’t always charge the diner.
I am a recovering BYO-er. I used to bring wine to a restaurant not because it was a special bottle, but simply because it was mine, sitting around and needing to be consumed with a nice meal. I never brought bad or cheap wine to a restaurant and usually called the restaurant beforehand to make sure it was OK, but I was also aware that I was saving money by bringing my own wine. Often, I was not charged a corkage fee—and if I was, my cost was still lower than if I’d ordered an equivalent bottle from the list. Then I married a wine director of a restaurant. For her, bringing something less than great (i.e., old, rare, and expensive) is anathema. I’ve slowly come around to her point of view.
David Rossoff, general manager at the very new, very hot Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles, says that guests bringing extreme amounts of wine is “all too frequent an occurrence.” I witnessed this on Mozza’s second night of business: Four diners arrived bearing 10 bottles of wine—all heavy on the Parker points. Rossoff first told the guests that he would open 2 of the 10 bottles; they bargained him up to 3 bottles of wine and a bottle of Champagne. “They didn’t expect to pay corkage fees,” says Rossoff, “just as they said they didn’t know the corkage policy of the restaurant and still showed up with almost a case of wine. It was simply arrogant, insensitive behavior.” When I talked to him that night, Rossoff was frustrated that he had no clear way to deal with the situation.
My wife frequently comes home with stories of regular customers who come in carrying wine. Some graciously pay corkage if charged, others resist, but it always makes for a difficult situation involving her conflict between appreciating repeat diners by lifting corkage fees and meeting her restaurant’s bottom line every month.
I had a theory that wine subsidizes food costs to a degree; the true product and labor cost of a grilled grass-fed rib-eye steak with a chanterelle reduction, garlic mashed potatoes, and sautéed spinach might not be much lower than the $25 asking price, leaving little room for profit. Rubicon sommelier Lawrence Stone, however, disagreed. “Wine does not subsidize the food,” he says. “Wine should subsidize wine.” He listed all the costs that go into a good restaurant’s wine program: the salaries of one or sometimes two sommeliers, the high cost of quality glassware and its maintenance, the storage costs of carrying a large inventory of wine, the time and personnel required for good wine service. “Wine is not the biggest profit center for a restaurant; liquor is,” says Stone. “But you don’t see people bringing in their own bottle of gin and complaining about the cost of a $9 martini. ... I don’t believe in wine price gouging at restaurants. But people must appreciate what they’re paying for at a restaurant.”
To bring wine into a fine restaurant is to ignore the effort and work that’s gone into crafting a wine list that matches the food being served. Many restaurants allow you to bring your own wine anyway; but in return they charge you a fee.
I rarely bring my own wine anymore. If I do, I make sure it’s a special bottle that’s not on the list. I buy a bottle of Champagne or an apéritif white from the restaurant’s list. I share my bottle with the sommelier. And, if asked to pay a corkage fee, I don’t complain. As one of the letter writers in the San Francisco Chronicle put it: “We must also remember that our fantastic restaurant industry here would not survive on the profits made on just food. ... Bringing your own wine is a privilege, not a right!”
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You live in San Francisco where good (and even great) wine lists are common. I will admit that there are some very good wine lists here in Washington DC, but the average restaurant does not have the kind of wine list that I find in average places in the Bay area.
I often take wine to restaurants in DC (corkage isn't legal in VA and Montgomery County, MD, where I live is even worse, but that is another story.) I collect small production wines, mainly Pinot Noirs. Wines that you might be able to find in a good restaurant in the City, such as an A.P. Vin, a Loring, Kosta Browne, Radio Coteau, Martinelli, Karl Lawrence, etc, are just not availabe here on the east coast. So, since I am fortunate enough to be on their allocation allocation lists I bring them with me when I dine in a DC restaurant that permits corkage.
Of course I have no problem paying a corkage fee, and the sommelier or server is always offered a glass. I usually buy something from the list when I can (often it is just my wife and I and she drinks very little so we don't usually have two bottles of wine with dinner) When I go to a restaurant with a good list, I buy from the list and I often go to restaurants just because of the list.
On the same token, there are restaurants here in DC that have great lists and the owner still encourages me to bring my own wine. (one who is a friend, will go so far as to suggest something from my cellar that he would like me to bring so he can have a glass)
Bottom line, I still take wine with me when I eat at a good restaurant in DC about half the time, the other half I buy from the list. I only take wines that can't be found on lists in DC. I have no problem paying a reasonable corkage fee (fees here range from $15 to $25 for the most part) and I always tip well to make up for the tip the server would have gotten if I had purchased wine.
I suspect the ideal BYO policy can be found in Canada, in the province of Quebec. In that province, restaurateurs can opt either for a regular liquor licence, in which BYO is not allowed, or a BYO licence, which allows only BYO. As a result, established joints understandably go for regular licences. The spots that offer BYO only are usually modest, chef-run neighborhood places in which the chef/owner doesn't want the bother or can't afford the expense of a wine cellar, and is prepared to make it on his food alone. Indeed, most menus at BYO places offer only a prix fixe three-course dinner (so cheapskates can't just order an appetizer to go with their brought-in bottle or two.)
As a result, patrons prepared to pay the pop tend to go to the high-end or middle-echelon restaurants. Though, occasionally, they may join the students and twenty-somethings that tend to patronize the BYO establishments, which are often start-up enterprises by young chefs seeking to make their mark before they go on to higher-rent places, Though some BYO restaurants are little more than feeding stations, there are an increasing number of imaginative, startlingly good places as well, especially in and around Montreal. As a result, diners at all price levels can afford to eat out a lot, and can learn to eat out and - in the case of younger diners - eventually graduate to the higher-end joints. At the same time, the BYO spots tend hone the newer generation of chefs. Everybody wins (or is it wines?).
I forgot to add: rarely do these BYO establishments in Quebec charge corkage.
>>> "Bringing your own wine is a privilege, not a right!"
So is staying in business and having happy customers.
Restaurants with crappy wine lists score big points when they charge a modest corkage fee (or, in some cases, none at all), whereas those with expert sommeliers have every right to discourage customers from screwing up their pairing efforts.
One of my parents' favorite neighborhood places is a terrific family-owned modern Italian place where they started out without a license, encouraged people to BYO, and when they got their license, simply continued the no-corkage tradition. They seem to make plenty of money off of the throngs of people who came for the zero corkage fee and kept coming for the simply and perfectly executed food.
Chef André Soltner never charged a corkage fee at his wonderful restaurant Lutece in NYC, until... Chef Soltner ran to the liquor store around the corner to grab a bottle of vermouth, and saw a regular customer, who always brought a bottle that he called "a little something from my cellar" buying a bottle of wine for the reservation that he had at Lutece in five minutes! Never again did Chef Soltner let a cheapskate pull one on him like that, again!
OK... so which of you would walk into a bar with a bottle of Scotch or a six-pack of beer and say "I'm going to be drinking this tonight. Pour a glass for me, please."? What is the difference?
The same holds with people who walk into a restaurant with a garish birthday cake from the local supermarket and bitch about a plating charge.
I'm from Québec, and here it is a choice - nobody would dream of taking a bottle of wine to a non BYOW resto.
But I can assure you that it isn't just 20-somethings who patronise them. They are popular with office parties and large gatherings (alas often in brochette factories with indifferent food) but also make it possible for people without much money to consume a decent bottle with their meal. There are BYOW places that also have à la carte - I sure wouldn't order ONE starter but I might well order two, or a starter and salad, rather than the often overflowing plates full meals provide.
I think we need to also recognize the difference between a BYO place that is such because it does not have an alcohol license and thus couldn't serve wine anyway, and a restaurant with a wine list that offers corkage to its patrons.
In places like RI (I beleive) and at one time NJ (and maybe it is still the case) places that had an alcohol license could not offer corkage as it was illegal for patrons to bring alcohol into a place that also served it.
On the other hand, in DC, only licensed establishments may offer corkage (at the restaurant's option). Thus there is not the type of BYO places that are so common in NJ and PA for example. As I noted earlier, in Virginia, corkage is not legal unless at a "private club" and in Maryland it is even stranger. The county I live in is the only legal wholesaler, restaurants must buy their wine from the county, and corkage is not legal. Otherwise, in other parts of the state, there are restaurants that do have BYO licenses.
There are other states where corkage is not legal, but I'm not an expert so I won't try to identify them.
Bottom line however, some restaurants embrace corkage for a variety of reasons, others hate it. (One place in DC has free corkage on Mondays to encourage business, another has a great wine list and does not permit corkage because it is full every day.)
I don't see any problem with doing the BYO thing, as long as you're not a jerk about it: bring one bottle (not 10) of something good that the restaurant doesn't offer, happily pay the corkage fee, offer a taste to the server, etc. I can understand why top-notch restaurants with full-time sommeliers would discourage diners from doing BYO, but there are many, many more good neighborhood restaurants out there with just-OK wine lists and no sommeliers that are happy to have customers bring wine if it means they'll come in to eat more often. I know that's the case in my town. xo Tina (winebroad.typepad.com)
Don't think that I hold a "no BYOB" policy... it's how it's done. One of my top customers was a well-know wine figure to whom we never charged a corkage fee. He truly enjoyed the hospitality, service & food we offered, coming frequently for business as well as pleasure. He arrived with his wines in good condition, and made sure that the Chef & I got to try them. When he learned that one of my captains was in the Sommelier Society's Wine Captain's Class (and was waiting on his party) he included him on the tasting. He was not bringing in a bottle that he had just picked up in the local liquor store just to save a buck... and, I repeat, was never charged a corkage fee.
Ask first about the BYOB policy, find out who runs the wine program in the restaurant, bring in something good and/or unusual (does not have to be expensive) and offer a taste. You might be pleasantly surprised.
But birthday cakes? Never! Jamais! Nunquam!
When I am home in San Francisco, I wouldn't consider BYO. The restaurants know how to put together a proper wine list, store their wines and serve them in proper (and expensive) glassware. I consider going out to eat a great opportunity to explore wines I haven't tasted before, from lists that are thoughtful.
When I travel to Michigan, I cringe at $50 Pepperwood that's corked, served in glasses akin to juice glasses! THAT is a travesty and an offense! These are the times I would INSIST on BYO!!!
I think Quebec has it all figured out. I have no problem with corkage fees and respect the guidelines, but if it was a yes/no situation depending on the restaurant there would be nothing to debate.
It's nice to bring a couple bottles to a restaurant for a special occasion, but if the restaurant was BYO only then I wouldn't be obliged to buy something from the list as well.
I don't know about bringing in my own wine, but I regularly bring my own appetizers. Sometimes I go to a seafood restaurant and they don't have chicken wings or popcorn shrimp or potato skins, so I just bring my own. I never understood why the restaurant made such a fuss. I mean, they don't serve jalepeno poppers, so why can't I bring them? You should have seen how rude the waiter was when I asked for appetizer plates for each individual jalepeno popper. I prefer that the jalepeno poppers not touch, so I usually need six separate plates.
Bottom line, I'm all for BYO anything and I think it's absurd to be charged for doing so.
I agree with not bringing wine to a restaurant with a carefully thought out wine list, a sommelier, and reasonable markups on the wine (say 1-2 times retail, which restaurants pays less than retail). But I am all for BYO when I go to a restaurant that wants to charge me $60 for the $16 bottle (almost 400% markup!) that I don't want to drink on my night out. In that case, I'll bring my own $35 bottle (not on their list of course, and always offer some to the server) and happily pay the $25 corkage to drink decent wine. Many of the restos that do this DO NOT have a sommelier or store wine etc. They're just making a quick buck where they can. I refuse to be gouged.
Thanks for all the responses. I love bringing my wine into places. I wish there were more BYO joints in SF. I'm also happy to bring in my own stemware and relieve the restaurant entirely of responsibility. And, yes, there are even restaurants here that have so-called "decent" lists, but when I visit I still want to bring my own wine because I know that I won't be able to find something I want to drink at a price I can afford. However annoying that is I fight against my desire to bring in a wine, as it's just not cool.
In fact, it's a testament to how much I like the food (and I have one restaurant in mind) that I continue to go back despite the wine list and the poor stemware.
Seems to me if you eat at home you can get exactly the food you want for a very reasonable price along with the wine you like. Why go out and put up with 400% markups that may be necessary to pay the staff, utilities, rent, taxes, etc.
hominaray,
Call me stupid, but you are over my head. Are you being serious or a smart ass. If it is the later, that's hysterical. If it's the first than your clueless.
Here's an idea: boycott the places with a 400% markup. There are many excellent restaurants that use a more reasonable 100-200% markup. Simply give those places your business.
I've never actually done the BYOW here, as it was just recently made legal in Ontario. That said, it's great to talk about how a restaurant may have put a lot of thought and energy into developing their wine list. BUT, I don't have loads of money to eat out all the time. Generally, I find myself ordering a delicious dinner and then having to order the 'cheapest wine that won't suck' off the wine list, because I'm mostly there for the food (and have maxed out the budget on the food). When I'm already paying $60 (before tax and tip) for food alone (for just me....my hubby will be another $60....), so we're already talking about $160 on food....I can't just take my pick off the wine list. I generally order a bottle in the $30-40 range, because even that means it's about $50 after tax and tip. I don't mind paying a markup on delicious food, where a lot of talent and craftsmanship has gone into preparing and serving it. But when there is a wine I can get for $15 at the liquor store, and some restaurant is charging $55 for it (plus tax and tip, bien sur)....if I can BYOW and then pay a $15 corking charge....it's awfully tempting at that point.
At any rate, I'm just saying that sure, restaurants have lovely wine lists, but if you can't afford the good stuff, and end up drinking house wine or close to it....what's the harm in bringing a favourite bottle, even if it isn't a pricey one? (Again, assuming that it's okay with the restaurant....).
It's different city to city in the US. Here in Chicago we have a lot of nice BYO places, and also a lot of places that have good, well thought out, not overly marked-up wine lists (we also have crap places with crap wine lists, but we don't go there :)
Some places that have good lists that also allow BYO with reasonable corkage policies. Some even waive corkage on one night a week, or for all bottles over 10 years old, or whatever.
But it's incumbent on the customer not to BYO with stupid wine, or things already on their list. If we are really set on BYO, we usually go to one of the places that is BYO only.
I hardly ever bring my own wine. When I do, it is a special bottle and most likely has not graced the restaurant’s wine list, or is long gone. In the few instances that I do BYOW, I call ahead and speak with the sommelier, GM or beverage manager about it. I have always been prepared to pay a corkage fee, but have never been charged. I always offer the sommelier and the chef a glass to share with us. If these are declined, I go to our head-server, even offering tastes to his/her team.
As stated, there is far more to the cost of providing wine to the client, than just the cost of that bottle. I am well aware of most of these costs and respect the restauranteur’s decision on corkage.
I am far more likely to bring my own stemware, than wine. Were I a restauranteur, I’d be put out if a client, even a good one, showed up with 10 btls. of wine. Next, it will be a case of prime steaks, and a request that they all be done medium-rare...
There have been several topics on the CH Wine Board, regarding BYOW. Many revolve around wanting to bring inexpensive wine, so as to not pay any markup. These folk still seem to want good stemware, and “proper” wine service.
Maybe I’m just fortunate, that my wife and I are good cooks, so if we have special wines growing too old, we prepare a dish to accompany the opening of these in our home, or the home of other wino-foodies. Just did a “cellar cleaning” at dinner over the holiday for that very reason.
Hunt
Anyone wishing to bring wine to my house will not be charged...if you break any glasses, I might be angry.
<a href="http://takealotofdrugs.com/2006/05/sc... fees for restaurants in Orange County, CA</a>