BYOB / Corkage

[MartyL]

I'm curious as to your views on BYOB and corkage.

Some diners prefer to bring their own wine to restaurants, either because the choices available on restaurant wine lists are inadequate or the prices are too high relative to auction or retail pricing.

Is this a service you believe restaurants should provide? What is the practice at Babbo? Thanks very much.

[David Lynch]

Marty:

A touchy subject in NYC, to be sure. We do not offer any BYOB at Babbo. This occasionally ticks people off. Here are some of our reasons for not allowing corkage:

a) we are very proud of our "all Italian" list and feel that these are the best wines to complement Mario Batali's food

b) our investment in our wine program, in terms of storage and personnel, is staggering. It is not economically feasible for us to offer corkage. And to those who say they'll pay "any price" to uncork their Chateau Lafite 61, I'll reply, "see (a) above." (we've had guys more than willing to shell out top dollar to uncork their brought-in wines, and have still refused)

c) while there are many restaurants who jack up their wine prices, we are not one of them. In fact, our buying power allows us to pass considerable savings on to customers. This, of course, is a Babbo-specific argument.