Mark Sommelier

This is a point thatb really amazes me. For me at least the half bottle format is perfect for restaurant dining. If I am with my wife or rarely by myself at a restaurant, the half-bottle really comes in handy. It is great for pairing with courses for the two of us and makes a reasonable offering for dinner for one. Of course, restaurants with decent half bottle lists are more likely to have good by the glass lists too. Unfortunately, they are all too often meager and boring. I don't mind spending money for a good wine, but I hyate to waste it or feel compelled to drink more than I should. It has been my experience that half bottles and wines by the glass compete with each other, so, in my opinion, either one or the other should be featured to maximize movement of the product. I serve 22 wines by the glass plus another 12 dessert wines by the glass. Half bottles that I offer are almost exclusively moderate to very expensive sweet wines. We sell on average $25,000 a month of high quality wine by the glass with no complaints about the lack of half bottles.

As a bad amatuer musician, I completely agree that children must be introduced to music as early and as often as possible, and I never meant to suggest otherwise. There are many concert settings designed with children in mind or held in places (i.e., outdoors) appropriate for children of any age. When I made reference to the "concert hall," I meant to evoke more formal concert settings. The concert I was remembering was a piano recital at Carnegie Hall. There was a young child who behaved remarkably, even astonishingly well. But he still fidgeted throughout the first half of the show, and often whispered this or that to his mother. These were distractions from Maurizio Pollini's wonderful performance, and I'll never get that performance back. Sorry for the off-topic chat. I was at a Pollini recital at Carnegie Hall 2 or 3 years ago, and the problem I had was not with a kid but with some adults who wouldn't shut up, no matter how much I stared at them. I still loved the recital, however. Nothing like live music. OK, now back to our show... I love opera. I have yet to see someone bring an infant to an opera performance. I was 16 when my mom took me to see Leontyne Price sing Aida at the Met. I remember the camels.

Windows on the World is scheduled to re-open in several years when the new building is built. It was in the NYT this week.

Dear Steve, Citronelle doesn't do corkage. When people actually ask before they come if they can bring bottles, they are politely told no. Unfortunately, people don't usually ask if it is appropriate to bring an infant, so we don't get the chance to tell them, no, maybe this isn't the best place to bring an infant. I started the thread to discern if there was a way to tell people discreetly, other than a NO BABIES sign posted at the door . I have enjoyed many of the answers and will use the feedback with our hostess staff. Another thing, Steve. The guy I work for is French. His frame of reference is Paris 3 star restaurants. I was recently in Paris. I ate at some pretty fine restaurants. According to my boss, infants are not brought to fine restaurants in Paris. The best restaurants rarely accept tables larger than 6, also. When I was in Paris I have to admit that I never saw children in restaurants, nor wild tables of 8 conventioneers whoooping it up, either. Steve, you also said: "Then the marketplace chooses whether your dictates are acceptable or not. And you're covered as long as your dictates are clearly delineated and consistently enforced." Steve, You know that I work in one of the busiest restaurants in town. Apparently, the "dictates" are not much of a problem. Its not that hard to put a coat on and lose the jeans for most people. The wine policy has been discussed elsewhere, so I won't go in to it. I started the baby thread to discover what other people out there thought about it. That's all.

Well, here was the specific scenario last night: Couple number 1 arrives with infant, toddler and granny in tow. They are shown to a small semi-private room in the restaurant where the infant immediately starts wailing and the toddler starts unpacking toys on the floor and singing. Couple number 2 arrives, also with infant and toddler and granny. They are shown to an adjacent table. Mother comes flying to the hostess stand where she complains that the other children are making noise. She is then shown to another alcove in the restaurant where her children can now start wailing and singing without being bothered by the other children. At one point in the evening, it seemed the children at both tables were communicating in screams "I've got this part covered, too". The daddy in the main dining room picks up the infant and starts slowly strolling THROUGH THE RESTAURANT, oblivious to the 4 food runners, 6 waiters, 2 sommeliers, and other 80 customers. This is in contrast to the night before when an African diplomat brought his family, including 3 small children. They sat perfectly poised at the table. The maitre d' offered children items to the parents, pasta and such. He was astonished when the littlest boy said in perfect French "I want the lamb. I really like lamb". It was a rough night.

Some of you know, I work in a very high end restaurant. I had the pleasure of working Christmas Eve and Christmas this year. This happens occasionally in our place, but, these two days saw lots of infants. I'm not talking about quiet, sleeping, adorable babies. I mean the kind that are squalling, talking loud, cholicy, throwing food and untensils, and screaming. What do you do? What can you tell these parents? Lots of other clients were visibly unhappy about the noise. People don't expect babies at Daniel, Jean-Georges, Bouley, Trotter's, or my place. What the hell do you do? Can't tell people not to bring babies. Can't throw them out. Real dilemma. What do you think? Have you had an expensive meal ruined by an innocent baby?

This is how wine by the glass works in better restaurants. Most restaurants choose bottles that cost between $4 and $9 for their wine pours. California is very good about supplying an endless stream of chardonnays, merlots, and cabernets at that price point. They then sell them for $4 to $9 a glass. In the restaurant I work in, the glass pours are wines that cost between $12 and $25 a bottle. When you buy in quantity, you can get some great deals. I can pour Premier Cru white Burgundy for $16 a glass. I can pour classified Bordeaux from between $15-$20 a glass. I sell 5 cases a week of Sancerre at $10 a glass. We offer 2 rieslings. It isn't hard to offer good wines. My trick: the glasses are priced at ¼ of the bottle price.

wineserver, I have recently been offered the '99 and told by the importer that it was great. I have heard other people say that the wine is too fat. I love this wine and have been using it on and off for 20 years here. M. Joly has had many different importers over the years. Currently, Paterno handles the wine. Personally, I love to see the look on people's faces when I decant a white wine. I decant all of the white Grand Cru Burgundies that I serve, too. Should I buy '99 or 2000 for the restaurant?

The expensive wines are not called E&J Gallo, they are called Gallo of Sonoma. BFD.

More like Moo-ex, but the same way you say Aix-en-Provence. I am friends with Edouard, Christian's son. He has just moved back to Bordeaux after having been in charge of Dominus in Napa.

Dang, Our President was on TV this week and said "nookuler" 3 times out loud!!

Please remember that not everyone who opens a restaurant or food store is talented. It is like everything else in life......

Darren, Since everyone making a reservation is reminded that there is a dress code (jackets for men, no jeans, sneakers, sandals), we rarely turn people away. We also have jackets to lend if necessary. We also have no dress code in the bar where we also serve dinner. Citronelle is for most people a special occasion restaurant and they usually dress accordingly.

The Prime Rib and Citronelle are two restaurants that enforce dress codes, neither of which seems to be in danger of going out of business because of it.

I, personally, don't play with half bottles unless they are dessert wines. The wines by the glass I have are better than any half bottles I could buy. Half bottles are usually re-filled from large bottles, many things can go wrong with them.

I, personally, don't play with half bottles unless they are dessert wines. The wines by the glass I have are better than any half bottles I could buy. Half bottles are usually re-filled from large bottles, many things can go wrong with them.

Dear Walt, The writer of this article impressed me personally as someone ( I have stronger descriptors that I am not using on purpose) who has just learned enough about wine and wine writing to do this article. The veiled reference to Bob Parker was cheap ("tasting 70-90 wines after lunch"). Yes, the wines he wrote about are popular. Do they go with food? I don't think so, but, I sell tons of them. The focus of this article should have been that people don't really care about wine pairings, not that they are dead. I have plenty of customers asking me to pair specific dishes with wines. I also have plenty of customers asking me to recommend a single bottle that will "go with" diverse dishes. Pinot Noir is the answer, not Shiraz, Zinfandel, Petit Sirah. I hated this article. The guy was more than snide. "Smirking Sommelier"??? Where is that happening? The old creepy sommeliers that I knew 25 years ago when I started doing this are mostly dead already. I drink these big wines, whether they are chardonnay or big shiraz, alone. Are classic pairings of wine and food dead?? NOT IN MY RESTAURANT!!

Oops! You lost the bourgeoisie there. What's "Baroloses"? Why's it a gaff? IANAS "bleachboy", What do you think the plural of Barolo is???

You say provocative, I say intentionally snide plus sophomorically written. The best gaff: "Baroloses".

I almost fell off the chair laughing when Tom told the first angry vegetarian to "order three desserts".

Yannick opens downtown at 6th and something in March, I heard.

Sammy, WAKE UP. Everyone is in bed with everyone in this business. Hadn't you heard?

SWoody, Sorry you didn't ask anyone here before you moved there. Rehoboth Beach has always sucked in the Summer. It must suck more in the Winter.

Yes, definitely more than Torcolato, but very competitive with top Sauternes and Barsac, where the standard is set, and indeed cheaper than many German TBAs and eisweine. I was shown several German Eisweins yesterday that were under $25 a bottle wholesale. They really impressesed, especially considering the price.

Please all look at the glasses Schott-Zwiesel is making today. They have a new line which competes with the Riedel Extreme glasses and cost $4.95 at wholesale.