Corkage charges

[Thomas]

Here's a story to support corkage fees:

A little while ago a gentleman invited me to dinner, to try to sell me some Italian wine he said was new to New York. He negotiated with a restaurant owner whom he knows so that he could bring two bottles of wine for us to have with dinner, and he would give the owner whatever wine remained. The owner pleasantly obliged, and of course gave us use of glasses, et al.

The guy who invited me proceeded to send the soup back for being too salty, and then when the main course arrived, he complained that it needed salt. The owner was reasonable about the whole thing; then, to make matters worse, the guy keeps the bottle of wine that was truly spectacular and he gives the second bottle to the owner, which was a mediocre wine at best. I felt sorry for the restaurant owner for not charging the corkage fee--I can only imagine the tip, if any, that the man left.

In addition, the wines are in New York already.



[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 02-20-2003).]