Corkage Question

[mark e]

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

originally posted by kirk wallace:
And given the cost of rent around Jackson Square, labor costs, etc., one can see how a business like Quince might have to weigh the short-term results more heavily than perhaps they would choose to in an "ideal" world.

I think expensive rent is not the only influencing factor.

I draw analogy to the problem getting contractors to work on my little building in NYC: they are so busy that often they don't even answer the phone or return messages. When they do respond you have to book months ahead. (For example, I booked a brownstoner in September so he would come in April.) The only control we have is to write a contract with a large chunk of money withheld until delivery (because if it's only a small chunk of money they'll walk off the job after the previous payment).

All of which is to say, when supply is low and demand is high, the supply-owners call the shots. Thus it is with Restaurant Q. If I want a Restaurant-Q-table, there is only one supplier. If some other table will suffice, I get a lot of leverage back.

Although I think you are probably right, comparing Quince to tradespeople isn't quite correct. Recently I had a breaker blow; I called the electrician and because he is so in demand the problem took a month to get fixed. Meanwhile half of my kitchen was without power. However that is a bit different than the sommelier's brush off.

Quince is in the hospitality business. That to me is the fundamental difference. In California, this continues to be a prickly issue. (NYC restaurants often don't let you bring wine - my favorite story from SFJoe was when a crusty waiter at Peter Luger told him that "even Henry Kissinger can't bring his own wine . . .")

My policy was a reasonable corkage, slightly less for magnums and waiving corkage for those ITB. However when the owners wanted to raise the fee I resisted. We tried a two bottle limit rather than raising the price, but customers complained so bitterly that soon all the waiters considered me their mortal enemy. We got rid of that and raised the amount (I hate rules anyway . . .). However, even a few people ITB took advantage of the waiver and brought cases of cheap wine rather than order a few things off the list. It happened infrequently and we learned to live with it. It's just a matter of being polite, as one size doesn't always fit all.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by mark e:

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
All of which is to say, when supply is low and demand is high, the supply-owners call the shots.

Although I think you are probably right, comparing Quince to tradespeople isn't quite correct.

Firstly, thank you for this very thorough and nuanced response.

Recently I had a breaker blow; I called the electrician and because he is so in demand the problem took a month to get fixed. Meanwhile half of my kitchen was without power.

Ouch.

However that is a bit different than the sommelier's brush off.

Quince is in the hospitality business. That to me is the fundamental difference. In California, this continues to be a prickly issue.

I'm confused. Is California somehow a non-hospitality state?

(NYC restaurants often don't let you bring wine - my favorite story from SFJoe was when a crusty waiter at Peter Luger told him that "even Henry Kissinger can't bring his own wine . . .")

I have also read about Peter Luger's intransigence firm adherence to this position. The best plan I've ever read for subverting it is to get an empty bottle of a wine that you know is on their list, decant your wine into it, bring it with you, order that bottle from the list, and swap when they aren't looking.

This plan is too much fuss for me but I would be interested to hear about someone attempting it.

My policy was a reasonable corkage, slightly less for magnums and waiving corkage for those ITB. However when the owners wanted to raise the fee I resisted. We tried a two bottle limit rather than raising the price, but customers complained so bitterly that soon all the waiters considered me their mortal enemy. We got rid of that and raised the amount (I hate rules anyway . . .). However, even a few people ITB took advantage of the waiver and brought cases of cheap wine rather than order a few things off the list. It happened infrequently and we learned to live with it. It's just a matter of being polite, as one size doesn't always fit all.

Sounds very reasonable. I know there will always be people who try to game any system, though you'd think ITB'ers would act better in this specific circumstance.

 

[mark e]

Quince is in the hospitality business. That to me is the fundamental difference. In California, this continues to be a prickly issue.

I'm confused. Is California somehow a non-hospitality state?

I'm pretty sure you understood exactly what I meant, but certainly not from the way I wrote it. Everyone in California seems to think that bringing their own wine into restaurants is a God-given right.