Baker and Banker Review in SF Chron

originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by drssouth:
originally posted by Brian C:
Damn, that's a mighty fine list for current release drinking.

What about all the '98 Bdx and Burgundy if one wanted "mainstream" wines??
The list is amazing and quite reasonably priced overall...I would search out such a place not disparage it...

There are quite a few things to drink, but the list is not well priced at all. Looks like 3x or even 4x pricing. Boo. Hiss.
I agree... Nice list that I would happily have in my city. But, the pricing seems all over the map. Some, are well priced: the Foillard is about 2x retail and the Selosse is the same as retail in Chicago. Though, the Telquel is at least 3x retail. Never understood how it can fluctuate so much. But then, I don't run a restaurant.
 
originally posted by lars makie:
originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by drssouth:
originally posted by Brian C:
Damn, that's a mighty fine list for current release drinking.

What about all the '98 Bdx and Burgundy if one wanted "mainstream" wines??
The list is amazing and quite reasonably priced overall...I would search out such a place not disparage it...

There are quite a few things to drink, but the list is not well priced at all. Looks like 3x or even 4x pricing. Boo. Hiss.
I agree... Nice list that I would happily have in my city. But, the pricing seems all over the map. Some, are well priced: the Foillard is about 2x retail and the Selosse is the same as retail in Chicago. Though, the Telquel is at least 3x retail. Never understood how it can fluctuate so much. But then, I don't run a restaurant.
Maybe they use a dollar premium (like $25 over retail) as a minimum markup and don't do 2x, 3x 4x retail at all price points.
 
originally posted by Tom Glasgow:
originally posted by lars makie:
originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by drssouth:
originally posted by Brian C:
Damn, that's a mighty fine list for current release drinking.

What about all the '98 Bdx and Burgundy if one wanted "mainstream" wines??
The list is amazing and quite reasonably priced overall...I would search out such a place not disparage it...

There are quite a few things to drink, but the list is not well priced at all. Looks like 3x or even 4x pricing. Boo. Hiss.
I agree... Nice list that I would happily have in my city. But, the pricing seems all over the map. Some, are well priced: the Foillard is about 2x retail and the Selosse is the same as retail in Chicago. Though, the Telquel is at least 3x retail. Never understood how it can fluctuate so much. But then, I don't run a restaurant.
Maybe they use a dollar premium (like $25 over retail) as a minimum markup and don't do 2x, 3x 4x retail at all price points.

Well, they would mark-up based on wholesale. The Pinon Vouvray Brut is 4x front-line wholesale here in NC.
 
originally posted by Tom Glasgow:
originally posted by lars makie:
originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by drssouth:
originally posted by Brian C:
Damn, that's a mighty fine list for current release drinking.

What about all the '98 Bdx and Burgundy if one wanted "mainstream" wines??
The list is amazing and quite reasonably priced overall...I would search out such a place not disparage it...

There are quite a few things to drink, but the list is not well priced at all. Looks like 3x or even 4x pricing. Boo. Hiss.
I agree... Nice list that I would happily have in my city. But, the pricing seems all over the map. Some, are well priced: the Foillard is about 2x retail and the Selosse is the same as retail in Chicago. Though, the Telquel is at least 3x retail. Never understood how it can fluctuate so much. But then, I don't run a restaurant.
Maybe they use a dollar premium (like $25 over retail) as a minimum markup and don't do 2x, 3x 4x retail at all price points.

I've been advocating a non-linear pricing strategy that conforms to what we know from behavioral economics about how people value things. Unfortunately, that falls on deaf ears. All these things have answers but the Drama and English majors in the restaurant biz seem to prefer magical thinking.
 
originally posted by Cory Cartwright:
Especially somewhere where the rent is as high as B&B's must be.
???? They're in an entirely residential neighborhood with no foot traffic, crappy parking, and a building that really isn't any good for anything else, so there isn't a lot of competition for the space. I don't think that the restaurants that occupied the space prior to Quince were especially successful (they tended to last 3-5 years and then go out of business).

It's a great location for me (2 blocks from my apt.), but not for most other people.
 
originally posted by VLM:
I've been advocating a non-linear pricing strategy that conforms to what we know from behavioral economics about how people value things. Unfortunately, that falls on deaf ears. All these things have answers but the Drama and English majors in the restaurant biz seem to prefer magical thinking.
There are a number of restaurants out here that do follow non-linear pricing.
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
originally posted by VLM:
I've been advocating a non-linear pricing strategy that conforms to what we know from behavioral economics about how people value things. Unfortunately, that falls on deaf ears. All these things have answers but the Drama and English majors in the restaurant biz seem to prefer magical thinking.
There are a number of restaurants out here that do follow non-linear pricing.

Sure. It's done all over the place. It tends to be non-linear only in the sense that the wines are not priced entirely by a linear formula, but more by a magical sense of what guests are thinking.
 
originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
originally posted by VLM:
I've been advocating a non-linear pricing strategy that conforms to what we know from behavioral economics about how people value things. Unfortunately, that falls on deaf ears. All these things have answers but the Drama and English majors in the restaurant biz seem to prefer magical thinking.
There are a number of restaurants out here that do follow non-linear pricing.

Sure. It's done all over the place. It tends to be non-linear only in the sense that the wines are not priced entirely by a linear formula, but more by a magical sense of what guests are thinking.
No wonder Joe has a card reader on staff.
 
The wine pricing is between 32 & 50% cost of goods, across the board, with nearly all of them floating right around 34%. It's on the low side of the standard restaurant markup. Particularly considering our operating costs.
 
originally posted by Collin Casey:
The wine pricing is between 32 & 50% cost of goods, across the board, with nearly all of them floating right around 34%. It's on the low side of the standard restaurant markup. Particularly considering our operating costs.

Then your costs for several wines are substantially higher than here in NC, which would be a bit strange.

34% is ~3x wholesale.

If you sell it at those prices, great. I'm just a simple country boy, after all. It's a nice list, I just don't see it as especially low priced.

Is CA a COD state?
 
originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by Collin Casey:
The wine pricing is between 32 & 50% cost of goods, across the board, with nearly all of them floating right around 34%. It's on the low side of the standard restaurant markup. Particularly considering our operating costs.

Then your costs for several wines are substantially higher than here in NC, which would be a bit strange.

34% is ~3x wholesale.

If you sell it at those prices, great. I'm just a simple country boy, after all. It's a nice list, I just don't see it as especially low priced.

Is CA a COD state?

I see where you're coming from, but you're addressing a different market, with far different costs all around, and yes... much different pricing on a number of wines. My pricing is as low as I can afford to make it. There are excellent values throughout my list. Prices (for everything, I'd wager) are simply higher in San Francisco than they are in North Carolina.
 
Also note: I take big drops of all of my wines, to ensure that I'm paying 10 to 15% less than frontline price. This list has value.
 
originally posted by Collin Casey:
originally posted by VLM:
originally posted by Collin Casey:
The wine pricing is between 32 & 50% cost of goods, across the board, with nearly all of them floating right around 34%. It's on the low side of the standard restaurant markup. Particularly considering our operating costs.

Then your costs for several wines are substantially higher than here in NC, which would be a bit strange.

34% is ~3x wholesale.

If you sell it at those prices, great. I'm just a simple country boy, after all. It's a nice list, I just don't see it as especially low priced.

Is CA a COD state?

I see where you're coming from, but you're addressing a different market, with far different costs all around, and yes... much different pricing on a number of wines. My pricing is as low as I can afford to make it. There are excellent values throughout my list. Prices (for everything, I'd wager) are simply higher in San Francisco than they are in North Carolina.

Generally, because wine is a volume business, prices at the wholesale level for many wines are lower in NY or SF than they are here, often dramatically (e.g. Champagne, Bordeaux). That's just economies of scale. Your fixed costs are much higher. If you don't have to pay COD for everything (which we do here), you can leverage your list a bit.

Like I said, it is a very nice list with more wines I'd love to drink than wouldn't, and that is quite a feat. I'd just get a little pissy about $56 for a bottle of Pinon, that's all.
 
originally posted by Collin Casey:

Also note: I take big drops of all of my wines, to ensure that I'm paying 10 to 15% less than frontline price. This list has value.

Never said it didn't have value, I chose that phrase carefully. I said it wasn't particularly low priced.

You have put together a list you should be proud of.

I have more general issues with how wine is priced to make up for undercharging for food, but that's a whole different thing.
 
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