$70 Corkage at L'Atelier

[SYoung]

We're visiting NY and going to L'Atlelier next week, called them and they said the corkage fee is $70 if you BYO. I'm thinking this is rather high, but when someone in another thread mentioned something about L'Atelier charging $60 for a $10 wine , I'm tempt to pay the $70 and bring my own.

What do you think? Is their mark-up really that outrageous? Unfortunately, their wine list is not posted anywhere on the Internet, so I'm hoping someone here can provide some insight. Thanks!

[oakapple]

We're visiting NY and going to L'Atlelier next week, called them and they said the corkage fee is $70 if you BYO.  I'm thinking this is rather high, but when someone in another thread mentioned something about L'Atelier charging $60 for a $10 wine , I'm tempt to pay the $70 and bring my own. 

What do you think?  Is their mark-up really that outrageous?  Unfortunately, their wine list is not posted anywhere on the Internet, so I'm hoping someone here can provide some insight.  Thanks!

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For a restaurant in L'Atelier's price range, that is not so unusual. I doubt you'd get a much better deal at other restaurants in its class.

[SYoung]

Thank you oakapple. I am aware that L'Atelier is quite high end, so my question is not whether it's unusual or that it's a bad deal compared to other high end restaurants. Rather, is the $70 corkage a better deal then ordering off the list with a possible 600% markup? I also heard that the list is not very good.

[JohnL]

Thank you oakapple.  I am aware that L'Atelier is quite high end, so my question is not whether it's unusual or that it's a bad deal compared to other high end restaurants.  Rather, is the $70 corkage a better deal then ordering off the list with a possible 600% markup?  I also heard that the list is not very good.

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I had lunch there a week ago. (dinner charges may be higher)

I was quoted a fifty dollar per 750ml bottle as corkage.

To be honest--I did not get the check--my friend did and paid the bill--I will check back with him to verify what we paid if possible.

The wine list is not that bad--you should be able to find something that would fit your budget.

I think that one should not bring their own wine --unless the restaurant clearly encourages it--or if the wines one is bringing are rare or special wines that are not likely to be on the list.

IMOP bringing wine to save money is somewhat gauche and I can see why restaurant would discourage this.

To be truthful, the food is so complex here that a more simple wine would be a better accompaniment than a very complex wine. A simple white from the Loire or Macon would be great with this food as would basic reds. The list is priced on the high side but there are some offerings that would not cost an arm and a leg.

The food is excellent and the wine should "stay outta the way" IMOP.

[markk]

$60 for a $10 wine , I'm tempt to pay the $70 and bring my own.

At first I thought you meant bring your own ten-dollar wine and pay the corkage fee, but I don't think you mean that. But...

There's a restaurant that I go to frequently on vacation that's upscale for sure, but whose wine list is just horrible, to my taste. The white wines are undrinkable to me. The California whites are all so incredibly oaky that I can't find one I can swallow, not at any point in the list. The Loire wines are green and just harshly unpleasant, even in the $90 range. Perhaps one of their $480 White Burgundies would be acceptable, but I'm not going to experiment with it.

But, there's a wine that's way under ten dollars that I enjoy and buy by the case and ship to myself on vacation. Sure, it's a simple, unassuming wine, but it's delicious. For sure, for very sure, it'd be much more enjoyable drinking than I can get at this place. But as nervy a guy as I am, I don't have the guts to walk into a high-end expensive restaurant with a way-less than ten dollar wine and pay the corkage fee. Not even I can do that, though I'm tempted.

But if you know that a restaurant's not going to have anything enjoyable, and you know that for the price of the corkage fee you can drink something you will enjoy, it's your right to pay the fee and enjoy your wine. In the case I gave above, I think it'd just be inappropriate, as they say.

[SYoung]

Thank you everyone! Sorry for the confusion. I'm not looking for a $10 wine nor is budget a concern as, if it was, I would not be going there.

The $10 wine reference was from someone who said in another egullet NY thread about L'Atelier that they saw a $60 wine on their wine list that was only about $10 retail at the local wine shop. That would be an incredulous 600% mark-up!

JohnL, the point is not about trying to save money; rather, it's about not wanting to be ripped off, and a 600% markup (or, IMHO, anything above 300%) is, to me, in the rip off territory.

I went to Per Se last year ordered wine off their list instead of paying the $90 corkage which was fine. However, their mark-up was not anywhere close to 600% either.

However, this huge mark-up claim at L'Atelier is just one person's attestation and that's why I'm posting this question in this forum to those who have dined there before and thus in the know.

[Sneakeater]

But it's virtually a universal truth that the biggest mark-ups are always on the least expensive bottles on the list. So a 600% mark-up on that bottle (if in fact it's true) doesn't mean there are 600% mark-ups across the board.

Now maybe you have a problem with at $60 bottle being one of the cheapest bottles on the list, but that's a different question.

PS -- Another way of looking at it is, if you were to buy that $60 bottle, then, assuming the other poster was right, all you'd have been "ripped off" was $50 (actually, less, since we'd all agree that some mark-up would be appropriate). In the context of a dinner at Atelier Robuchon, how big a deal is that? It sounds like you're really concerned about your pride, not your pocketbook.

[JohnL]

But it's virtually a universal truth that the biggest mark-ups are always on the least expensive bottles on the list.  So a 600% mark-up on that bottle (if in fact it's true) doesn't mean there are 600% mark-ups across the board.

Now maybe you have a problem with at $60 bottle being one of the cheapest bottles on the list, but that's a different question.

PS -- Another way of looking at it is, if you were to buy that $60 bottle, then, assuming the other poster was right, all you'd have been "ripped off" was $50 (actually, less, since we'd all agree that some mark-up would be appropriate).  In the context of a dinner at Atelier Robuchon, how big a deal is that?  It sounds like you're really concerned about your pride, not your pocketbook.

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Good points Sneakeater!

L'Atelier is not a place where one is going to find bargain priced wines. let's remember bargain and fair etc are relative terms: one man's bargain is another's rip off etc. L'Atelier operates in a rarified atmosphere--the vast majority of the clientel are not looking for a "bargain."--while they are not necessarily unconcerned with costs, they are not price conscious in the way many of us are. That said--one of modest means can chose carefully from both the menu and the wine list and dine extremely well here without a second mortgage.

Wine aside--one can easily spend a few hundred a person on food alone.