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Dear Miss Dish,
As a frequenter of some of your city's excellent restaurants, I was astonished to have a corkage fee of $20 at an otherwise excellent Italian bistro where I had just spent $60 per person for food. I thought this a bit excessive. I have been a collector of wines for over 20 years, and pride myself on matching foods to wines; therefore I usually bring my own in order not to purchase a $100 bottle that arrives at a temperature of 40 degrees, rendering the tastes unrecognizable. I think a corkage of $10-$15 is more than enough. If restaurants would charge a reasonable markup of 100 to 150 percent and be willing to serve bottles at correct temperature, then I would no longer have to walk the streets of Portland with a brown bag. Enough whining--could you run a column about corkage fees and mark-ups?
--Your gentle reader
Dear Gentle Reader,
Miss Dish will answer to the best of her ability (she favors a smartly mixed Manhattan). First, Miss Dish engaged apple-cheeked Brit intern Matt McNally to do her dirty work. Matt called a bunch of fine dinning restaurants both here and in San Francisco and asked about their corkage fees so the reader could get a sense of what's normal if you lug your own bottle in.
The results: Assaggio ($10), Basta's ($15), Cafe Azul ($15), Caffe Mingo ($15) Caprial's Bistro ($15), Castagna ($15), Daily Cafe ($8), El Gaucho ($15/bottle, $30/magnum), Genoa ($20), Higgins ($15), Il Piatto ($15), Jake's Famous Crawfish ($15), Laslow's ($15), Mint ($10), Paley's Place ($20), Pazzo ($10), Portland City Grill ($10), Red Star Tavern ($10), Second Story Bistro ($10), Serratto ($15), Sungari ($8), Taqueria Nueve ($8), Veritable Quandary ($15), Wildwood ($20), Zinc Bistrot ($15).
The average of this sampling is $13.56, while a San Fran sampling yields an average of $19.50, ranging from Elisabeth Daniel's $30 to Bistro Yoffi's $10.
Then, Miss Dish called up local wine writer Heidi Yorkshire to get her opinion on the contentious debate. Heidi told Miss Dish corkage fees are meant to discourage cheap, tacky people. She says countless restaurateurs tell her of huddled masses who ooze into their dining rooms hauling $7 bottles of wine from Trader Joe's and get pissy about corkage fees. However, Heidi says she, too, enjoys bringing special bottles of wine into restaurants. "I don't mind paying a $20 corkage fee," Heidi says. "It's less than I'd pay for the markup on a bottle at the restaurant."
The thing that really yanks Heidi's chain is when she goes to a restaurant and they not only have a lame selection but dare to mark up the price three or four times the actual cost. She says chefs are generally flattered when someone brings a truly special bottle in. When you call to make a reservation, note that you'll be bringing it in; they may go easier on you with the corkage fee.
As far as restaurants mistreating bottles of wine and serving them at the wrong temp, Heidi says this happens at more restaurants than not. Her advice for Gentle Reader? "I think he should go to better restaurants."
WWeek 2015