Drinking your own wine in restaurants
Iain Hollingshead joins a new wine club that enables him to take his own bottles of wine to top restaurants.
By Iain Hollingshead
Published: 7:00AM BST 29 Jun 2010
BYO
Iain Hollingshead at Aubergine, being poured a glass of his own cheap Spanish white by the head waiter Photo: PHILIP HOLLIS The negative associations that most of us have with the "bring-your-own" curry houses of our student days may be about to change. Last week saw the launch of BYO Wine Club, which has persuaded dozens of leading London restaurants to allow members to bring in their own bottles. Participating establishments include The Ledbury, Tom Aikens, Club Gascon, Oranger, Boisdale, Le Café Anglais and Aubergine. You pay an annual membership fee of £75 (rising to £100 in the autumn), reserve a table, hand over your bottle on arrival and enjoy your meal, knowing you've saved corkage charges, restaurant mark-ups and the patronising smirk of the sommelier as you nervously consult an unfamiliar wine list. Chris and Khadine Rose had the idea for BYO Wine Club back in November 2008 when Chris, a lawyer, hosted a retirement dinner for some of his mentors, all of whom had qualified in 1976. He wanted to base the menu around bottles of Chateau Talbot 1976 but had difficulty persuading good restaurants to allow them to bring their own. The couple sensed a business opportunity, offering other wine buffs a membership scheme that would remove the hassle of negotiating with restaurants. But what about those of us who know little about wine – apart from enjoying it at a reasonable price? Would the club work for us? And how much can you get away with? I brought my own to Aubergine in Chelsea to find out. My BYO Wine Club membership card arrived accompanied by a chirpy list of dos and don'ts. Do not bring beer, cider, alcopops or spirits. Check if you want to bring a bottle larger than a magnum. Discard carrier bags or packaging before entering the restaurant. Clearly, it can be an etiquette minefield – an awkwardness not made any easier on arrival when you have to present your bottle discreetly to the sommelier ("so as not to make other patrons jealous of your rock-star BYO status"). Having handed over my cheeky Spanish screw-top, retailing at £4.69, I feel a pang of guilt and apologise profusely. Aubergine, which used to be run by Gordon Ramsay, had a Michelin star until recently. Its wine list ranges from £20 to £2,000. But Frederic Renou, the charming assistant manager straight out of central casting, is having none of it. "We are here to serve you," he says, escorting me behind a pillar and away from the green eyes of the other diners. "Consider offering the sommelier a taste of your wine," advises the BYO Wine Club. "It's just a nice thing to do." So I do, and Istvan Seres, the head waiter, generously declares that it has a "nice summery hint". The wine goes surprisingly well with my delicious starter of Marble Foie Gras Terrine, Cherries and Brioche, and afterwards, I can simply screw the top back on the bottle and save the rest for next time. Such puerility, of course, isn't really in the spirit of the BYO Wine Club – even if it is an interesting test to note the lengths to which restaurants will go during a recession to humour their customers. Much more of this screw-topping around and I'd get thrown out. "If we didn't have rules, the restaurants wouldn't be on board," says Khadine Rose. I behave better during the main course and produce a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a present from my brother. I cannot cook Roast Black Leg Chicken Breast with Roasted and Glazed Vegetables a tenth as well as Christophe Renou, Aubergine's head chef. Neither can I afford an equivalent bottle of wine in Aubergine. This way, everyone wins – as long as you eat out enough times a year to make the membership fee worthwhile. "It is a really clever idea," Renou tells me. "I think it will catch on everywhere." Although the Gordon Ramsay group refused to speak to BYO Wine Club, Aubergine has had several inquiries and welcomes members at lunchtimes and Monday to Thursday evenings. Tom Aikens allows customers to bring their own only on weekday lunches and Monday and Tuesday evenings. Bentley's has signed up just for Mondays. Jennifer Cowan-Savio, head of dining experience at the London Fine Dining Group, whose restaurants include Aubergine and Oranger, is adamant that it's not a question of desperate economics. "The time has come to be more flexible with diners and more hospitable," she says. There's certainly something enjoyable about mixing your own wine and the restaurant's food – it feels more as if you're a guest than a paying client. The only problem is that, even though the drink has been paid for, you're likely to end up spending just as much on the night: it's amazing how many puddings you can squeeze in for the restaurant price of a decent bottle of wine.
Iain Hollingshead joins a new wine club that enables him to take his own bottles of wine to top restaurants.
By Iain Hollingshead
Published: 7:00AM BST 29 Jun 2010
BYO
Iain Hollingshead at Aubergine, being poured a glass of his own cheap Spanish white by the head waiter Photo: PHILIP HOLLIS The negative associations that most of us have with the "bring-your-own" curry houses of our student days may be about to change. Last week saw the launch of BYO Wine Club, which has persuaded dozens of leading London restaurants to allow members to bring in their own bottles. Participating establishments include The Ledbury, Tom Aikens, Club Gascon, Oranger, Boisdale, Le Café Anglais and Aubergine. You pay an annual membership fee of £75 (rising to £100 in the autumn), reserve a table, hand over your bottle on arrival and enjoy your meal, knowing you've saved corkage charges, restaurant mark-ups and the patronising smirk of the sommelier as you nervously consult an unfamiliar wine list. Chris and Khadine Rose had the idea for BYO Wine Club back in November 2008 when Chris, a lawyer, hosted a retirement dinner for some of his mentors, all of whom had qualified in 1976. He wanted to base the menu around bottles of Chateau Talbot 1976 but had difficulty persuading good restaurants to allow them to bring their own. The couple sensed a business opportunity, offering other wine buffs a membership scheme that would remove the hassle of negotiating with restaurants. But what about those of us who know little about wine – apart from enjoying it at a reasonable price? Would the club work for us? And how much can you get away with? I brought my own to Aubergine in Chelsea to find out. My BYO Wine Club membership card arrived accompanied by a chirpy list of dos and don'ts. Do not bring beer, cider, alcopops or spirits. Check if you want to bring a bottle larger than a magnum. Discard carrier bags or packaging before entering the restaurant. Clearly, it can be an etiquette minefield – an awkwardness not made any easier on arrival when you have to present your bottle discreetly to the sommelier ("so as not to make other patrons jealous of your rock-star BYO status"). Having handed over my cheeky Spanish screw-top, retailing at £4.69, I feel a pang of guilt and apologise profusely. Aubergine, which used to be run by Gordon Ramsay, had a Michelin star until recently. Its wine list ranges from £20 to £2,000. But Frederic Renou, the charming assistant manager straight out of central casting, is having none of it. "We are here to serve you," he says, escorting me behind a pillar and away from the green eyes of the other diners. "Consider offering the sommelier a taste of your wine," advises the BYO Wine Club. "It's just a nice thing to do." So I do, and Istvan Seres, the head waiter, generously declares that it has a "nice summery hint". The wine goes surprisingly well with my delicious starter of Marble Foie Gras Terrine, Cherries and Brioche, and afterwards, I can simply screw the top back on the bottle and save the rest for next time. Such puerility, of course, isn't really in the spirit of the BYO Wine Club – even if it is an interesting test to note the lengths to which restaurants will go during a recession to humour their customers. Much more of this screw-topping around and I'd get thrown out. "If we didn't have rules, the restaurants wouldn't be on board," says Khadine Rose. I behave better during the main course and produce a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a present from my brother. I cannot cook Roast Black Leg Chicken Breast with Roasted and Glazed Vegetables a tenth as well as Christophe Renou, Aubergine's head chef. Neither can I afford an equivalent bottle of wine in Aubergine. This way, everyone wins – as long as you eat out enough times a year to make the membership fee worthwhile. "It is a really clever idea," Renou tells me. "I think it will catch on everywhere." Although the Gordon Ramsay group refused to speak to BYO Wine Club, Aubergine has had several inquiries and welcomes members at lunchtimes and Monday to Thursday evenings. Tom Aikens allows customers to bring their own only on weekday lunches and Monday and Tuesday evenings. Bentley's has signed up just for Mondays. Jennifer Cowan-Savio, head of dining experience at the London Fine Dining Group, whose restaurants include Aubergine and Oranger, is adamant that it's not a question of desperate economics. "The time has come to be more flexible with diners and more hospitable," she says. There's certainly something enjoyable about mixing your own wine and the restaurant's food – it feels more as if you're a guest than a paying client. The only problem is that, even though the drink has been paid for, you're likely to end up spending just as much on the night: it's amazing how many puddings you can squeeze in for the restaurant price of a decent bottle of wine.
