It's open

by Chris Losh

Can of worms, Pandora’s box... whatever you want to call it, deciding to write about BYO earlier this month kicked off a fair bit of comment from within the trade, some of it reasoned, some of it splenetic, but all of it heartfelt. For an industry that usually wears its passions carefully concealed beneath a smart jacket, it’s obvious that this is a highly sensitive area.

I’d suggest that you take a look at Hamish Anderson’s column in the March issue of Imbibe because (without any prompting from me, I might add) he has some pretty trenchant things to say on the matter as well. Following the comments from our readers (for which many thanks, by the way) there are a couple of points I feel I’d just like to come back on. After which I promise I’ll shut up and move on to something less painful for all concerned.

Comment: ‘Stick to what you do best – publishing – and don’t give advice out of your comfort zone.’

Reply: The blog was not giving advice – it was making comments. That’s what journalists do. And as a wine writer for 15 years and four years editing imbibe, I’d hope that these comments would be taken as worthy of consideration. Surely it can’t be the case that the on-trade only considers criticism from its peers as valid? Are all restaurant critics ex restaurateurs? Are all theatre critics ex actors? You may not like the message, but don’t attempt to pretend that it’s not an issue by questioning the credentials of the questioner. Like it or not, this is something the trade needs to think about.

Comment: ‘If you want to drink the exciting stuff, a restaurant is (or should be) one of the best places to do it. Any significant shift towards diners drinking ‘high street’ byo wines in restaurants is going to put pressure on specialist merchants’

Reply: Absolutely true. And that is a concern, particularly since many of these merchants who supply the interesting wines are under pressure at the moment. That said, I think we’re all agreed that there currently is no ‘major shift’ towards BYO – an area where we differ from Tom C’s Decanter piece. Nor was I advocating such a huge shift. If 90% of restaurant sales became BYO it would ruin most eateries’ economic models over night. My point has always been, rather, that a more welcoming and enthusiastic attitude towards it can go a long way towards deflecting criticism from the national press that restaurants are ripping people off. Equally, a hostile, defensive response is simply going to make the questioner think you really are fleecing the unwary!

Comment: It is as impossible to compare a bottle of wine from your cellar to one sold in a restaurant as it is to compare the price of a couple of metres of cotton to buying a shirt in M and S.

Reply: Not sure about this at all. Sadly, the problem is that it’s all too possible. The good news is that customers will usually turn a blind eye to the fact that their £20 bottle of wine tastes like a £5 bottle because, as you all point out, the service, atmosphere, glassware etc all contribute something to the experience. But I think the trade is deluding itself if it thinks that there is something inherently mystical about the wine list that justifies per se the prices charged. Looked at with the eyes of a diner, you can understand why a £5 steak costs £15 – because it’s been cooked. But what process has the wine gone through other than having its cork pulled? Of course, there are arguments about the time taken to choose it, store it, train staff etc. And there’s the equally germane argument that, if the cost of the meal doesn’t go on the wine, it’ll go on something else – food, water, bread etc. But if the economics of the wine list are taken IN ISOLATION (as tends to happen with sensationalising articles in the nationals) then it’s tough to justify, and the trade needs to be very, very careful about how it goes about doing so.

Comment: If they are happier drinking crap supermarket wines they may as well sit at home eating supermarket food

Reply: I understand the anger in this answer. It must be frustrating when customers reject your carefully put-together wine list in favour of a bottle of Lindemans Chardonnay. But, well, isn’t that the whole point of BYO? That people can bring what they want? Of course, it would be better if everyone were arriving with old bottles of perfectly chilled Puligny Montrachet, but given that over 90% of sales of wine in the UK are under £5, I would suggest that this scenario is somewhat optimistic. If your business is so successful that you are able to take the line that, if people are going to turn up with cheap wine, you’d rather they didn’t come at all, then I’d imagine that you don’t need BYO in any case. However, if you are going to use BYO to drum up a bit of business, then you’ll just have to swallow your pride and accept that the general public’s taste in wine might not be your own.

Comment: What would make a customer happy... is just not realistic! We tend too often to forget that quality has a price.

Reply: Sadly, I think this is true. Considering we are, supposedly, wealthier than we’ve ever been as a country (recessionary blip notwithstanding) we seem remarkably reluctant to pay for anything. I’d agree with Roger Jones’s comment that price-cutting sends out the wrong messages and is a downward spiral. But I still think that offering BYO for one night (and maybe being more accommodating should punters phone up with special requests at busier times) would go a long way towards sending out a message that you are on their side. It gives the illusion of being a cut-price offer, without your having actualy to cut anything.  And it means that journalists such as myself won’t have to write articles about it any more – whether we’re qualified to do so or not!

1 comment

Mark D. 17-02-2011

My original article about BYO in Imbibe was suggested merely as a way to look ways of drumming up business without discounting food. I get offers of 25% off or vouchers from Time out, London eating, and various other dining related issues that block up my inbox.
I hate discounting, because as Roger says it gives out the wrong signals. But i don't see BYO as a discount. I see it as a way in to new customers, to eventually upsell from ones own wine list.
If you are a restaurant who is seeing out this financial storm then that is great and the piece I wrote had little or no relevance to you. But not every restaurant's customer demagraphic is the same. We are not all fighting over the top 20% of earners over the age of 35 who have a knowlege of wine. Some act as nursery restaurants. They take the young or uninitiated diner and groom them until they aspire to go to restaurants such as the Harrow or Texture and drop a ton per head.
That may well mean allowing the new diner to save money by bringing in ‘crap wine’ so they can spend their money on the food, to get them involved in a dining experience, get them to trust restaurants, they will come round to your wine lists eventually.
I spent my first tenure as a Sommelier working in a restaurant in Theatre land. We and just about every other restaurant in the vacinity offered Pre theatre meal deals (money off food, free glass of wine/champagne), and that is pretty much all we did in the two hour run up to 7:30. It was soul destroying. Even then I knew that food discounting was not the best way forward. And that's how I consider BYO…a different way forward. At least there would be something that engages you with the customer. Something to talk about; the let's see what you've brought moment. Rather than plonking two glasses of house white and two glasses of tap water on the table at the beginning of the meal and not having to recieve that glare of rage directed at you should you have the temerity to ask if the customer might like a second glass. ('that's quite clearly not part of the deal is it?')
My original question was ‘have you considered BYO?’ and quite clearly some of you have and it didn't work out for you. But I am surprised and the bile and vitriol the issue has brought forth.

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